Summer diaries: Bracing for winter and storm-watching

We're in the midst of a very busy autumn and business is looking very strong. We've just done an exclusive-use wedding and it was lovely – the nicest guests and lots of fun for the team. We do get a little quieter towards November but that's traditionally what we would expect.

Our November bookings tend to book in October at very short notice. I think people are either looking for lovely weather to go walking on the beaches or an absolute blaster of a storm, so they can come on one of our storm-watching breaks and curl up next to the fire while listening to the immense noise of the waves below.

We're also progressing with the plans to refurbish our main restaurant and kitchen, which will happen between January and March. We had a big town hall with the team yesterday to share the designs and they're all really excited. We're aiming to have one of the nicest commercial kitchens in Cornwall, maybe the south-west. It will be full induction with a Josper charcoal grill.

This week's energy announcement, has dropped our estimated energy costs, there's still a 207% increase, but it's in the scary zone, not the sleepless night terrifying zone. We are also getting our application for solar panels together.

This week I have the graduation for the young people on our summer placement programme, which will be wonderful.

All 10 are going to continue coming in on Saturday mornings, they love doing it so much and want to keep earning money.

This week we've also welcomed seven new young people with additional needs, who are on a year placement and will be with us every Friday. Last year they came in on Mondays, but thought that was too quiet. As well as that, we have a fantastic young chap joining us in our grounds department, which is super exciting.

Debrah Dhugga, COO, the Apartment Group

I'm just catching up with the mini budget announced this morning and I think its terribly disappointing. It's heartbreaking for small independent operators who are being crippled by VAT and business rates. The huge hikes in energy bills and the lack of staff just add to it.

We need some critical change for hospitality; some financial assistance. The industry has already been hit hard enough and everyone I speak to says it's a crisis. The fall in the pound and interest rates going up don't help the hospitality industry either.

From a businesses perspective, the summer season in Northumberland has been successful because we are playing catch-up in terms of weddings, and our staycation numbers have been great too, which is reassuring as it's 50% of our revenue. However our bars and restaurants have been negatively impacted by the stretch on money in people's pockets.

Staffing is an ongoing challenge and was throughout the summer, although we are lucky as we've been able to spread our workforce across our portfolio using people in busier locations. As I've said previously, we need to examine our grassroots intake into the industry and work more closely with colleges, schools and apprentices. As we move into the autumn and winter, if we don't focus on new talent, 2023 is going to be very difficult in terms of resource. We can't always rely on seasonal staff on breaks from college and university.

As an operator or a manager you have to try and stay motivated to keep your teams motivated. You have to have the energy to keep going. To stay positive as well as scrutinising costs!

We've implemented some initiatives that help our staff with their financial challenges. We've bought a car that is being shared by staff to get them to and from work, to help with fuel increases and travel costs, and we've helped individuals with the increased cost of school uniforms. You must have a culture of listening to your teams, to have the infrastructure to support them, and to refer them to people like Hospitality Action if necessary.

Sam Harrison, founder, Sam's Riverside, Hammersmith, London

Sales have been great. Obviously we couldn't be sure what impact the sad announcement of the Queen's death would have, but actually there was a respectful but special mood among diners, with people keen to celebrate the best of British. We actually had a bumper week, with the busiest Saturday night ever.

I thought the week after the Queen's death might have been a downer, but not at all. We close on Mondays so the funeral didn't have an impact, though we did keep our little shop open – which was booming.

When the death itself was announced the restaurant was close to full so I made an announcement to make people aware and said that though we would remain open, if anyone would like their bill so that they could go home, we'd happily oblige. But everyone stayed and there was a lovely spirit with many people raising a glass. Just around the corner at the Eventim Apollo the Mercury Music Awards were cancelled too so we picked up a lot of people all dressed up with nowhere to go.

The only problem is our sales are heading on one direction and our staffing the other. If covers are going one way you need extra staff but those extra staff just aren't coming – and there is quite a high-profile west London new opening which may have turned some heads.

So it's quite brutal for the staff we have.

We're about to open our second shop too and for the first time ever the builders are ahead of me. We only need four or five people on a busy day, so it'll be a little team of 10 members of staff on a seven-day rota, but our big problem is recruitment. I had hoped I might move people from the restaurant across at least for the opening, but I just can't so we'll have to delay our opening for a week or two.

In terms of energy costs we're yet to fully analyse the support but it seems like good news. It should buy everyone a bit of time and for us should reduce what I was fearing. Those numbers were terrifying. The question now is what happens after six months.

Julie Crump, chief operating officer, Caviar & Chips

Over the summer we finally opened our boutique wedding venue Stockton House. As we approach the end of the crazy wedding season, I've been reflecting on the journey the business has taken to turn this Grade II-listed manor house into the most beautiful wedding venue.

When Caviar & Chips was founded in 2017, we worked with venues all over the UK to deliver bespoke menus for clients, but as we worked at these various venues, we realised that we didn't have a complete handle over the entire experience. We could give our couples the exact menu they wanted, but were dictated in terms of format by the venues.

We started out looking for a barn we could convert into our own wedding venue, and instead stumbled across this 18th-century disused stately home in August 2018. We got the keys in October 2020, and I don't need to tell you how many delays we ran into when the world was all wonky. But we remained optimistic – we knew the pandemic would end and people are always going to fall in love and get married.

We opened on 13 August 2022, five months over our target date, due to all these delays which out of our control – even on the morning of our first wedding we had builders on-site and we were making the beds in a panic at the last possible moment. We were going to move heaven and earth to make that wedding happen and everything was ready just as the couple and their family came down the drive. We went on to give them the dream wedding, it was so emotional for us – and them, because at the end of the day, we sold them a dream, because they had viewed the property in their wellies months before when it was still a building site – it was a complete transformation.

This journey for the business started three years ago, and we're already getting enquiries for 2025 and our summer weekend weddings at Stockton are fully booked for 2023. Having the venue allows us as a catering company to see our pipeline a lot earlier, and while we realise the next few years will still have its challenges, I truly believe that if you stick by your values and you're guided by them, it'll be OK in the end. Because through all of the challenges we went through, we dealt with them and it's wonderful that this unloved venue now has a purpose. We can look to the future and carry on offering our couples something a bit different and get stuck into our job of creating moments and memories.

Stosie Madi, chef and co-owner, the Parkers Arms, Newton-in-Bowland, Lancashire

The summer has definitely gone with a loud bang. The weather is grey and dull, and the death of the Queen has signalled a halt in trade, it feels like a jolt of reality.

I don't think the government energy support package is good enough. Talking to colleagues, people don't think it's good as they're still going to be paying more than double what they were before [energy bills rose], which is nuts. The fact it is under review in three months is too late, by that time some businesses may have already gone under.

We always close for November and take our annual holidays as it's the quietest time of year for us. I must say I cannot wait for then. I'm a bit wary about the months that are coming. The bookings are not coming in as fast as they normally do.

I'm not sure if I have confidence in the next few months, though I have confidence in myself and the team and what we can do. It's going to be a case of knuckling down and trying to get through the winter.

I am worried about the autumn and winter months. There's going to be a lot of strategising and we're planning every day. We're trying to work out what to do to make it worthwhile to keep it attractive for people to visit us.

Tom Kerridge is launching a £15 lunch menu, but I'm not sure how that's going to work. I don't personally believe in heavy discounting. Small companies like us would make a loss. It's OK to get bums on seats and make no money if you're a big company but we cannot do it. We're not going to go down that route for sure.

There have been a few Christmas bookings which is encouraging. That's helped me feel positive. A good Christmas can help pull you out of the weeds, big time. The main aim is to get through to Christmas and hope it delivers. What we need is for people to start spending and for that we need people to be in a good mood.

I think sound, solvent businesses who plan will get through the next few months, but after everything we've been through you want to more than that.