LANDLORD Paul Silcock made sure kitchen staff were kept busy during lockdown by signing up with Deliveroo to keep his regulars supplied with their favourite vegetarian food.
Now the Gardener’s Arms in Plantation Road, north Oxford, has fully reopened and the pub boss is helping his customers to get used to the new social distancing measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
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Mr Silcock, 45, who lives with wife Katie and their Husky cross Maple, is confident his regulars won’t be put off by being asked to sign up in case they need to be contacted for the Government track and trace scheme.
He added: “We didn’t furlough any of our kitchen staff when lockdown happened in March because we signed up with Deliveroo so quickly.
“The bar staff were on furlough but some of them have started to come back.
“We trust our customers to be responsible so we do not have to be too draconian.
“We are limiting it to six people per table at the moment - we don’t want to give them any cause to feel less safe.”
Mr Silcock arrived at the Gardener's Arms in 2004 and thought he would only be there six months ‘to help out a mate’.
But he decided to stay and after starting out as manager in 2004 he took over as landlord in 2013.
His varied taste in rock and pop is reflected in the vinyl LP covers which adorn the walls of the pub.
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“I’m a big fan of the Beatles and Julian Cope,” he said.
“I’ve got thousands of albums but I’ve only got a few here - most of them are stored somewhere else.
“Our dog likes strolling round the pub - she’s a bit of a star.”
Burgers and calzone are popular items on the menu and the kitchen staff are being kept busy.
Mr Silcock is a real ale fan, and his pub is backed by real ale enthusiasts CAMRA in Oxford as it is a free house which sells beers supplied by local breweries.
He added: “We do Loose Cannon beers from Abingdon, the XT Brewing Company, the White Horse Brewery and LoveBeer, a microbrewery based in Oxfordshire.
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“I cycle through beers from about 12 different breweries so we are definitely popular with the real ale enthusiasts.
“I try to support local brewers and I’m getting in touch with The Cotswold Brewing Company for their lager.”
The landlord said he was reassured by the behaviour of customers since he was allowed to reopen on July 4 when lockdown restrictions were eased.
He added: “I think we have a conscientious clientele and from the get-go we established trust and made it as safe and as welcoming as possible.
"We have a front room a back room and a garden which has cover and some space so it’s not too bad. I would say we are already up to about 50 per cent of trade compared to where we were before lockdown and if we can reassure people that customers are not getting really drunk and that there are no problems then I’m confident it will keep improving.”
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The Gardener’s Arms opens 12-2.30pm, 5pm-10pm Monday to Saturday and Sunday noon until late.
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