The lessons Britain's restaurants can learn as Europe reopens

Across Europe, Berliners are returning to their local bars to enjoy a beer, while Parisians are spilling on to the pavements from the city’s numerous cafes.

Germany allowed restaurants and bars in some states to reopen last month, while France's President Emmanuel Macron hailed "the return to happy days" as food and drink establishments in the country were given the green light to reopen this week.

Stricter rules have been maintained in Paris, where the outbreak has been more significant, and diners are only allowed to sit in outdoor terraces, while away from the capital customers can sit inside but groups must be spaced at least a metre apart.

Laminated, wipeable menus and paper napkins have become mandatory across Germany’s restaurants, while pubs and bars are only permitted to open if they serve food.

In the country’s higher-end establishments, white tablecloths have been replaced by disposable paper coverings and in cafes diners have reported servings of sugar being brought out by a waiter on a single teaspoon as businesses try to cut down on waste while adhering to safety standards.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs have noted “tentative” signs of a recovery in Germany’s hospitality sector following a rebound in diners seated in restaurants and searches for holiday accommodation in the country.

According to data from online reservation platform OpenTable, restaurant bookings in Germany were up by almost a third on Monday this week compared with the same day a year earlier. Reservations also nudged up 0.3pc on the Sunday, sparking hopes of an early recovery for the hospitality sector.

The figures, however, should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Many states in Germany have made reservations compulsory post-lockdown in order to maintain social distancing, making booking through websites such as OpenTable a more recent trend. Meanwhile the data is skewed to days falling on Germany's bank holiday 'Whit Monday', the date of which was different last year.

As of Tuesday, reservations in Germany made through OpenTable had fallen again to levels 39pc lower than a year ago.

Germany’s hospitality sector appears to be taking social distancing in its stride. The country’s 1.5 metre rule is thought to be easier to maintain due to restaurants generally being larger in size, but there are fears it could force some smaller dining spots out of business.

Nigel Parson, a leisure analyst at Canaccord Genuity, says reducing the UK's two metre social distancing rule to the World Health Organization’s one metre guidelines will be crucial in allowing hospitality firms to reopen.

"The tricky bit is when you open up and you put 100pc of your cost back in place and then only the 75pc or 60pc of your revenue comes back, it just doesn't work. And that's the conundrum," he says.

"Unless social distancing rules are reduced to a metre, I'm not sure you're going to see a huge rush of operators looking to reopen."

In France and Italy, the popularity of al fresco dining and availability of space has supported smaller premises in reopening while social distancing remains in place.

But while increased outdoor dining options in the UK are being considered by ministers as a way of easing the lockdown, experts believe that a lack of existing outdoor space will make it difficult for many firms to operate.

Cutting staffing numbers is expected to be one way restaurants will resolve the issue of social distancing while also lowering costs.

More than half of Germany's restaurants, hotels and recruitment firms slashed jobs during the first three weeks of April ahead of their reopening in May, according to the IFO Economics Institute which is based in Munich.

Mr Parson believes British restaurants and other hospitality firms are likely to take the cue from their German counterparts.

The UK's employment laws will allow firms to deploy this as a temporary solution in getting business back open, he adds, an option which is more limited in highly unionised countries such as France.

"French employment laws are quite tough, and therefore, the ability to hire and fire people is much lower," he says. "In the UK because it's easier to fire people, it's easier to hire people, which means labour is more flexible."