If you’re a Zone 1 hospitality venue owner like me, I bet you’ve spent this week staring at your booking diary with the same dread a sailor has for a storm cloud.
The latest London Tube strikes didn’t just stop trains; they struck at the heartbeat of the London F&B sector. When the Central Line goes dark, the restaurant floor follows. All my hospitality pals have seen a wave of precautionary cancellations where, understandably, groups of 10 office workers decide to stay in the suburbs rather than risk a £60 Uber ride home.
But here’s the bit that really grinds my gears: the strikers are fighting for their “value” while simultaneously destroying ours.
I know I keep on banging on about the £160m in social value that UK pubs provide every year, allowing people to meet to solve problems, celebrate wins and decompress. But you can’t provide social value if your customers are stuck on a gridlocked bus in Holborn.
Every strike day costs a city-centre venue between 20% and 30% of its daily revenue, and that money that isn’t delayed is gone forever. You can’t eat two Tuesday lunches on Wednesday to make up for it.
So, here’s my Tube Strike Survival Strategy:
- The local-first pivot: When the commuters vanish, your social value is invaluable. Stop chasing the tourist or the office worker. This week, your marketing should be laser-focused on the people who live within a 15-minute walk. Offer a “Strike-Sufferers Happy Hour” for the locals who are WFH and desperate for human interaction.
- Prep your socials: Have your game plan ready to go – feel free to use/amend the template below.
Stuck at home because the Tube isn’t? 🚇❌ We’re turning our venue into the ultimate Strike-Sufferers Refuge
☕Free Bottomless Filter Coffee for all laptop-warriors until 4pm🔌Dedicated Power-Plug Zones (first come, first served!).🥪The ‘Commuter’s Commiseration’ Lunch Deal – [Insert Price] for a main and a soft drink.🍻The Strike-Sufferers Happy Hour: Starting at 5 PM – because if you can’t get home, you might as well have a pint.-Support the local hub that keeps the community moving when the trains don’t.📍Find us at: [Insert Address]
- Monetise the ghost kitchen: If the front of house is empty because people can’t get to you, take the food to them. Ramp up your delivery radius or offer meal kits for the locals. Don’t let your high-margin inventory rot just because the RMT is having a bad week.
The UK hospitality sector is already feeling the April Squeeze, and having the capital’s transport network pull the rug out from under us is a slap in the face to every founder who has navigated the last three years of chaos. If the trains aren’t running, we have to run twice as fast.
So I say don’t let a strike day become a wasted day. Turn your venue into a refuge for those who did make it in, because a cold beer and a warm welcome are the only things that make a two-hour commute bearable.
Matt started his Food & Beverage journey aged 19 working at Thresher’s in Brixton. With a WSET diploma in wine and spirits under his belt, he went on to establish wine merchants Planet of the Grapes in 2004. Now – at the ripe old age of 52 – Matt’s empire includes multiple venues around London including bars in Leadenhall Market and East Dulwich as well as restaurant Fox Fine Wines & Spirits at London Wall.
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