Burgess Hill restaurant owner thankful for loyal customers during coronavirus pandemic

Mustak Miah talks about his career and how business has been affected by Covid-19:

I opened my first Indian restaurant in Bath in 1996 and after running it for three years I sold the business. It was so tough to run a business, and I thought I would work for someone which is a lot easier.

I moved to Burgess Hill in 2001 to work as a chef which was my passion and loved it.

I changed my career in 2003 and became a taxi driver in Mid Sussex. After six years I decided to go back to the curry business which is my root.

I opened Flavour on December 1, 2009, and have been running very successfully serving the local community.

The last four months have been very tough for everyone with the Covid-19 pandemic.

I must say our regulars and new customers have been very supportive.

During the peak, when the UK reported nearly 1,000 people passing away a day, I realised that it was not possible to continue our takeaway service as the risks to my family, staff and customers was too high therefore, we decided to close the restaurant completely for four weeks.

We carefully monitored the advice from the Department of Health and decided to re-open the restaurant to do takeaway collection and free home deliveries following the UK Government’s advice to ensure the safety of my staff and customers.

As a thank you to the NHS heroes for their hard work throughout this pandemic, we are giving a 20% discount for takeaway collection orders to all NHS staff.

I have been in talks with my fellow caterers in Burgess Hill and they all said their takeaway delivery business was doing very well but the restaurants that closed due to the pandemic were affected significantly.

The Government support has been vital in keeping my restaurant going, furlough scheme, business rate relief and the small business grant was a great help to me and many others as we faced uncertainty.

Mid Sussex District Council has released the grant money very quickly so this was again a big help for a small restaurant like mine.

As the lockdown eased and we have re-opened our restaurant dining section with all Covid safety measures in place, the response has been slow however, this is understandable as the public are still nervous of the implications of the virus.

Hopefully as the infection rate comes down, more customers will feel confident to go out.

I am delighted to be living in Mid Sussex where people have respected the government restrictions and safety measures along with other parts of the country.

Sadly we will see many business closing completely due to current situation if not supported so I therefore urge everyone to shop local and support their local small businesses at this very difficult time.