Hospitality industry glad to have customers back inside );
);
THE hospitality industry will welcome customers indoors for the first time in four months next week.
People will be able to meet in groups of up to 30 outdoors or six inside under the third stage of easing lockdown restrictions on Monday.
Some pubs, restaurants and cafés re-opened last month but others couldn’t provide outdoor service or decided to wait a little longer.
Shellfish Cow, a restaurant in Reading Road, Henley, will re-open on Tuesday.
The steak and shellfish restaurant, which employs 10 people, first opened in December 2019 but missed out on a significant amount of trade last year due to the pandemic.
It feels so good to be open again, say traders );
);
BUSINESSES in Henley are celebrating a partial return to normal after the third national coronavirus lockdown was eased.
From Monday, shops not considered “essential” by the Government were permitted to
re-open with social distancing measures in place and customers and staff required to wear face coverings and sanitise their hands.
Restaurants, pubs, bars and cafés, which could only serve takeaways after the lockdown was imposed on December 28, can now serve food and drink outdoors to groups of up to six people from different households.
Beauty salons, barbers and hairdressers can also trade while taking precautions, including partitioned areas for each customer and regular cleaning of tools and workstations.
Fund for sick girl axed );
);
AN appeal to help a little girl with a rare and aggressive form of cancer has been scrapped because there is no hope of saving her life.
Elara Foxley, three, of Knappe Close in Henley, was given the all-clear after being treated for stage 4 neuroblastoma last summer but the disease has returned and this time it can’t be treated.
Her mother Nicky was aiming to raise £241,000 to take her abroad for an experimental therapy and the fund had almost reached the target in less than two weeks when it was halted on Wednesday.
Cafe customers flood toilets
);
STAFF at a Henley café were baffled when two customers seemingly flooded the toilet on purpose.
The couple, who were in their mid-forties and smartly dressed, ordered their food and drink at Harris + Hoole in Duke Street and took it to a table without making any fuss.
Once they had finished eating, they both visited the toilet in turn before calmly putting their coats back on and leaving together.
Soon afterwards, a customer warned staff that the room had flooded so they went inside to find a sink had been blocked with toilet paper and a tap left running.
Business window display competition has fitting winner );
writes Gee Harland.
Timber Windows in Hart Street was one of more than 25 businesses judged for this year’s contest, which had the theme of “Christmas in Henley”.
The business has only been open for a year so this was the first time that it had taken part.
The winning display featured a golden nutcracker figurine on a boat full of gifts and was designed by the shop’s marketing team.
“They did a fantastic job it’s very Christmassy,” said Lynette Tweedy, a showroom assistant at the store. “I wanted the boat and the river because we’re right next to the River Thames.” The Helen & Douglas House charity shop in Duke Street, which won the competition last year, was runner-up with its winter wonderland display.