Businesses close to the Reading Festival site are gearing up for a busy weekend as thousands of revellers flock to the town.
It is estimated that Reading Festival adds around £31 million to the economy due to the increased business the visitors bring.
Among those beneficiaries are the businesses located in Richfield Avenue, a main entrance to the festival, and Caversham Road, one of the prime walking routes between the site and the town centre.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service interviewed businesses to ask whether the festival is beneficial and how they are preparing.
Dan Haustrup, the manager of Toby Carvery, said: “We get all the festival goers coming here and all the workers as well, and usually it’s a good laugh with lots of people.
“It’s entertaining just to invite new faces coming down here.
“I’ve worked during seven festivals in the past, it goes really well usually.
“There are good people, with a good friendly atmosphere, and everyone’s having a good time because they’ve went to the festival.
Asked whether the period sees an increase in business, Mr Haustrup said: “Yeah, we do. Less so these days because they’ve started getting rid of the traffic a bit on Richfield Avenue, but we still get busy, because people love a Toby!
“We do breakfast from 8am to 11am and then we do carvery from 11.30am onwards, it’s all fairly normal for our operations here, just with the new faces from the festival.”
During the event, steel barriers are installed around the perimeter of Toby Carvery, Premier Inn, The Village Hotel, Mercedes-Benz and other businesses along Richfield Avenue, with plastic barriers near the roadside to prevent pedestrians darting across the road.
Big beneficiaries of the festival are the convenience stores in Caversham Road, with the nearest being the Premier store, which recently won permission to sell alcohol until midnight each night.
Shiraz Ali, the manager, said: “Yesterday we stocked up on alcohol, vodka, beer and cigarettes.
“We have two storage areas in the back, and we’ve filled up, so we are very, very prepared for it.
“It’s very beneficial for us. Last year we had to close at 11pm, so we lost lots of customers, because the main acts at the festival finish around midnight, then the festival-goers come back from their venue, so they need a water or a beer, that sort of stuff.
“So now this year we have a late-night licence, so it’s like a benefit for our business.”
Your Local Store has obtained special permission to stay open until 1am during the event to serve revellers.
Parmji Singh, who was working at the time, said: “We are totally prepared for the Reading Festival.
“We’ve built up our stock of water, soft drinks, and alcohol as well.
“And we’re selling everything at our original price. We never change our price to make sure we cater for festival-goers and regular customers alike, so we try to give our 100 per cent.
“On Friday, Saturday and Sunday we will be open from 6am to 1am.”
Businesses are allowed to stay open later than their usual permitted hours through temporary event notice (TEN) licensing applications to the council.
A single location can have a total of 15 TENs per year, costing £21 per application.
The nearby Budgens store will be open even later. Usually it is open from 7am to 11pm on weekdays and 8am to 10pm on weekends.
On the three main festival days, it will be open from 6am to 2am.
Taya Balasubramanian showed off the cool room at the shop, which was stocked with boxes and four packs of lager and cider.
The store changed from a Nisa Local to a Budgens around five months ago, with Post Office services being maintained.
Other food businesses near the site include The Gorge Cafe, The Moderation pub and kitchen and the River Spice Indian restaurant.
Last year, Ana Fonseca from The Gorge Cafe said that it is rammed all weekend offering regular-sized, large and veggie breakfasts to festival-goers.
