It’s
great to be back in business! That’s the verdict of bosses at Clacton Pier
after their first weekend in operation for more than three months.
People
turned up in their thousands to enjoy the iconic attraction which has been
closed for its longest period since the Second World War.
A
dull day on Saturday kept numbers down but that allowed staff to test out the
new measures put in place to combat Coronavirus.
And
as things got much busier on a sunny Sunday staff continued to take details at
the entrance to enable the track and trace of visitors if necessary.
Pier
Director Billy Ball was delighted with the outcome and said that all the preparations
had been worthwhile.
“We
achieved the prestigious ‘Good To Go’ status and did everything we could to
ensure that customers and staff were as safe as possible,” he said.
“It
has been a lot of hard work to get all measures in place, but people responded
well, followed the guidelines and used the sanitization equipment that we provided
around the landmark.
“We
were very encouraged and are now confident that we can run a business in this
tricky situation without compromising people’s health and safety – provided they
stick to the rules.”
A
major part of the Pier was open to the public, excluding the soft play and
bowling.
“After
months of almost silence on the site it was fantastic to have our attractions working
again and families having a great time,” added Mr Ball.
“There
were lots of happy smiling faces and that is what we want to see. It was great
to be back and to be able to welcome people of all ages to Clacton Pier.
“We
hope that things will continue in this way and that we do not have to go back
into lockdown at some future point. But that is in everyone’s hands and we all
need to play our part to ensure that does not happen.”
Ends
