Bounce Back Loan helps local restaurant Yamas Meze and Tapas launch two new services
Family fun restaurant Yamas Tapas and Meze opened in Nottingham in 2001. It’s so popular that owners, the Ktori family, had completed renovations to double its capacity just weeks before lockdown forced it to temporarily close.
The restaurant applied to the government’s Bounce Back Loan Scheme through Santander UK for funding to help safeguard the business through the lockdown. Its successful application was processed, and the funds made available on the same day. The funds enabled the restaurant to launch two new services to help bring in income during the lockdown. A delivery service which uses a local taxi firm, plus a range of meals that customers can order chilled, and heat at home.
The restaurant reopened in July with social distancing measures in place. Its new delivery and meals at home services are so popular with customers that it plans to keep both alongside reopening the restaurant. The restaurant also participated in the government’s ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme from 3 – 31 August.
Savvas Ktori, Owner of Yamas, said: “The Bounce Back Loan Scheme has been a real lifeline. Not only did we receive the funds just hours after making our application, but it helped us to launch our delivery and meals at home services. So, despite the many challenges, something good has come from this situation. We’re really pleased that both have proved to be so popular with our customers.”
Kelly West, business banking manager at Santander UK, said: “I’m so pleased that we could support Yamas and so many other small businesses through the Bounce Back Loan Scheme. Yamas is a fantastic family restaurant and the whole team has worked incredibly hard to overcome these challenges.”
Santander UK has published new research exploring the impact of the pandemic on businesses. The research revealed that a third of SME leaders feel anxious about the future of their business with only a fifth (19%) expecting to return to normal operating levels by the end of 2020 and almost a third (32%) by July 2021.
The majority (60%) of leaders at SMEs are worried about their ability to attract customers back as the economy re-opens, with nearly a fifth (18%) concerned about the level of investment in marketing needed to restore customer spending to pre-coronavirus levels.
The findings come as Santander launches a business support programme, ‘Survive and Revive’ designed to help businesses transition successfully out of the lockdown and ensure they have the capabilities and tools to prosper in a post-pandemic environment.
More information on Santander’s ‘Survive and Revive’ programme, including webinars and a list of other helpful resources is at www.santanderbreakthrough.co.uk/coronavirus.
