National fast-food chains are starting to reopen some outlets in the UK, with limited menus and home delivery, although they can see that demand at the moment is almost unlimited.

Burger King currently has four restaurants open in the country, feeding customers and aiming to distribute 1,000 free meals a week to local NHS sites.

Alasdair Murdoch, the CEO of Burger King UK, told CGTN Europe it will open more if the company is happy with the strict safety measures that have been introduced.

"There is undoubtedly demand from consumers. We see that we are fulfilling a service. I think we will continue to open more, in a steady, measured fashion. 

"Maybe between four and 10 a week, progressively over the next few weeks. Again, largely concentrating on drive-thrus or restaurants that have very big kitchens that enable us to do social distancing."
 

It has been a month since pubs, bars and restaurants in the UK were told to close and not reopen until further notice.

The industry has been devastated. The latest figures show restaurant sales were down almost 60 percent last month – and the lockdown only started on 23 March. This month is expected to be much worse.

Government grants are helping keep some businesses afloat – but many fear months of further hardship, especially after Michael Gove, the cabinet office minister, said "areas of hospitality will be among the last to exit the lockdown."

Everywhere you look, restaurant doors are shut. The industry is on its knees and has been forced to adapt in a frantic fight to survive.

Paul Kemp runs the popular Beerd pizza restaurant in Bristol, in South West England. He managed to make the switch to delivery only within two days of the lockdown being announced, but he told CGTN Europe that his three traditional pubs have had to close.

"I was surprised by the level of demand that was there, so it's enough for me to be able to keep some staff and not furlough them." (Furlough is the UK government scheme to pay 80 percent of the wages of staff during the lockdown).
 

But adaptation doesn't work for everyone. Pubs and bars are far more reliant on customers coming through the doors.

The same is true for those that supply them.

A survey of almost 300 businesses by the the Society Of Independent Brewers (SIBA) found that on average, sales are down 82 percent and more than half were unable to access any government support.

Neil Walker, the SIBA spokesman, told CGTN Europe that "A lot of businesses in the hospitality sector can apply for a grant from government, because that business has been shut down because of the lockdown measure of COVID-19. At the moment, breweries can't apply for that grant. They are not classed as a hospitality businesses in the same way a pub or a restaurant is, so that money is entirely locked off from them. So what we're asking government to do is include them in that."

Edson Diaz-Fuentes owns the critically acclaimed Santo Remedio Mexican restaurant in London.

The menu and style of cooking meant there was no easy overnight switch to takeaways, and he is worried things won't get much better when the lockdown eases.

"Once everything is 'back to normal' we aim to adapt, and react quick. There are huge margins for error in our industry. The risk of the cash flow element is terrifying for small operators like us. We don't know if we staff for a minimum and we actually won't hit that minimum for a long period of time, that will be dramatic and will be the end of a lot of businesses, not only in this country but around the world."

With the UK lockdown set to last at least until early May, and a hugely uncertain period after that, it seems the only certainty is that those in the hospitality industry face many more months of hardship.