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By Ian McConnell

The owner of a landmark Glasgow restaurant has expressed surprise at having to take on more staff to meet buoyant demand in a “miracle” reopening from lockdown, having retained all of the existing workforce throughout the pandemic.

Marco Giannasi, who owns the Battlefield Rest on the south side of Glasgow with wife Yellena, observed that some other restaurants were also taking on staff amid strong trading.

Mr Giannasi said: “It looks like everyone is looking for new staff.”

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He has taken on two additional members of staff since reopening after the most recent lockdown. This takes the workforce to 20, including Mr Giannasi and his wife.

Mr Giannasi tweeted: “I have to say that the reopening of Battlefield Rest after the last lockdown has been amazing and such a positivity among staff [and] customers. I thought I would never see the day that we had to employ more members of staff. There is a new energy [and] a new hope for a better future.”

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The restaurateur told The Herald: “The restaurant is going full steam. It is very busy at the moment.”

The Battlefield Rest has begun opening on Sundays, increasing its number of trading days per week from six to seven.

Social distancing requirements have seen its indoor seating capacity cut from 65 to 35. However, Mr Giannasi said that outdoor seating for 35 to 40 people had compensated for the effect of this reduction.

He also highlighted the benefit of now being able to serve alcohol indoors as well as outside with the easing of restrictions, and the importance of this having happened in time for the Euro 2020 football tournament. Euro 2020 matches are being staged at nearby Hampden Park.

Mr Giannasi declared: “That just came at the right moment.”

Commenting on how business has been going since reopening in the spring, after offering a takeaway service at weekends during lockdown, he said: “It just worked out the trading is going full blast. Lost seating capacity indoors is compensated for by outdoor space.”

He revealed trading had been much more buoyant than expected.

Mr Giannasi said: “I just think we got caught by surprise. We were prepared, but not quite as prepared as it happened.”

Declaring he was “quite happy and surprised about it”, he added: “It is a miracle things have worked this way.”

Mr Giannasi highlighted the importance of focusing on staff wellbeing as trading moved from having come in “dribs and drabs” to being buoyant and at times “intense” following reopening, while noting that handling busy times was also something on which employees thrived.

He said: “I think it gets staff a little bit stressed out. After a year of dribs and drabs, you go for a swim and you get hit by one of those freak waves and it takes you down for a little bit...I am monitoring the response and reaction of the staff. All of the hospitality [industry] will have the same effect...It is new ground again.

“You need to balance it. When the customers arrive, you are more than happy to welcome them. By the same token, I am concerned about how the staff will maintain that kind of pace.”

Mr Giannasi added: “In a way we thrive in that type of moment. You feel, ‘I am not going to get out of the storm’. Then you feel, ‘We made it’.”

He highlighted good feedback from customers, and appreciation for the service provided by staff in a busy environment.