‘Pain and anxiety’: Support on the way for Hobart businesses

With many businesses left feeling the pinch after the border reopening, the City of Hobart is hoping to ease the burden. NEW INITIATIVES >>

THE City of Hobart is hoping to introduce new measures to support small businesses affected by the increasing number of Covid cases.

CEO Kelly Grigsby said the council had already rolled out a suite of support measures to assist business owners.

“We’ve waived fees for outdoor dining, encouraged traders to pop up outdoor dining, we’ve established some of our own outdoor eating equipment in key locations,” Ms Grigsby said.

“We’ve got a dedicated business concierge, they’re working with businesses to help them apply for available grants.”

New Hobart City Council CEO Kelly Grigsby. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

The council is now considering additional support, with a report set to go before council on Thursday to push the changes through as soon as possible.

A key measure is to provide more space for diners, utilising small outdoor parks and other spaces and repurpose furniture from the Taste of Summer.

“They’ll be ones that are neighbourhood parks, there are a couple of smaller parks in North Hobart,” Ms Grigsby said

“We could encourage them to be used for that purpose and there’ll be use for road reserves and parking.

“It really is the ability to be able to trade safely in a Covid safe environment, the more we can do to activate our outdoor spaces the better.”

The council will also look at parking spaces which are used less often at night.

Co-owner of Collins Street takeaway shop Bahn Mi N’Grill, Carl Nguyen, said the business had been struggling.

“When the borders opened, the tourists started coming in, the locals were afraid of going outside,” Mr Nguyen said.

“That had quite an effect on us.

“There’s a loss of new customers coming in and regular customers don’t go to our stores as much.”

Co-owners of Bahn Mi N'Grill in Collins St, Ares Nguyen and Carl Nguyen, Changes to outdoor dining rules by council are hoped to attract more customers. Picture: Richard Jupe

He said outdoor dining would encourage more customers to visit the business.

“Normally, we have people sitting on the benches in Collins Court, now we’ve asked permission for some of the tables.”

“For us, it’s a completely wonderful idea to increase outdoor dining and it’s summer time so people enjoy sitting outside.”

The council is also offering a new parking incentive to lure shoppers to struggling retailers, with free parking at the Regatta Grounds until February 4 and working with landlords to get creatively use shop fronts while suitable tenants are sought.

“It’s about getting that balance right and filling any gaps where there isn’t business support available,” Ms Grigsby said.

“We’ll be taking our lead from the business community in terms of what will make the biggest difference at this time.”

Cafe finds new way forward amid new support for Hobart businesses

The City of Hobart said it will waive fees for restaurants, bars and cafe owners to use public spaces for outdoor dining, in an effort to ease the burden on struggling businesses.

The council said it will also waive application fees for businesses to create Covid-safe outdoor dining areas.

The fees will be waived until the end of March this year.

“We feel the pain and anxiety suffered by the Hobart community and business owners as we all learn to deal with the spread of omicron,” Hobart lord mayor Anna Reynolds said.

“This support package will save individual businesses money when they need it most, as well as helping to create new spaces in which people can stay connected, see friends and family while supporting our local businesses.”

Alicia Tyler Daci & Daci employee at the Hobart cafe outdoor dining area. Hobart City Council is waiving the outdoor dining site fees for three months. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Cr Reynolds said it was one of several measures which were planned to assist business owners and the arts community as increasing Covid cases continue to affect the industry.

“Over the coming weeks we will work closely with the State Government and other key organisations to roll out further measures to support local businesses and help the community feel safe as we learn to live with the spread of Omicron,” Cr Reynolds said.

“We encourage everyone to follow public health advice by wearing masks, socially distancing, washing your hands frequently and making sure you are fully vaccinated.”

Co-owner of Daci & Daci bakers Cheryl Daci said the main Murray Street store had been affected by the ongoing Covid situation, with some employees having to isolate.

“We have had a few, I think we’ve had about six to eight employees so far,” Mrs Daci said.

“It’s been a credit to the other employees who have stayed behind, they really care about the business, they’re happy to jump in.”

Mrs Daci said she’d taken control of the situation.

Alicia Tyler Daci & Daci employee at the Hobart cafe outdoor dining area. Hobart City Council is waiving the outdoor dining site fees for three months. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“Today we interviewed eight potential employees which seems promising,” she said.

“To make this situation work, employees will have to isolate, all you need is a bigger pool of employees to be able to swap people out.

“It’s just what’s going on in the world, you always have to adapt your business to be in control and you have to be creative, that’s the key to a successful business.”

For more information visit the City of Hobart website.

Back in business: Restaurant ready for reopening

URBAN Greek, one of Hobart’s most popular restaurants, is back in business.

The restaurant, which has about 20 staff and operates seven days a week, reopened on Sunday after being closed for a week because of Covid affecting staff.

Owner Frank Ortega was delighted to reopen and hopes loyal customers will return.

He’s optimistic there will be no more closures.

“I want to give hope to others who have closed that it is very tough at the beginning, but we’re back so please don’t despair,” Mr Ortega said.

“We couldn’t run the restaurant when critical kitchen staff got the virus but everyone is just glad to be back now.”

Co-owners of Urban Greek restaurant Naomi and Frank Ortega will be reopening on Sunday evening after being shut for a week because of Covid-affected staff. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Mr Ortega would not put a figure on the financial loss but said there had been countless cancellations – including a table of 90 booked by a regular who has an annual staff dinner at the restaurant.

“It has been a significant loss for us,” he said.

“I think we’ll be right now because we got hit quickly and the five staff who had Covid got it from close contacts not in the restaurant.

“It has been very hard for staff but it has given them a chance to refresh after a heavy workload and they’ve been really supportive.

“It will be a soft start, we won’t be open for lunch and we will cap the number of diners due to the availability of staff and we can still do takeaways.”

Mr Ortego said staff had accessed leave while the restaurant was shut.

“Staff who don’t have Covid but are in isolation are super keen to come back when they can,” he said.

“It’s a great feeling to be open again.”