From farming to supermarket self-checkouts, robots have long been creeping in and taking the jobs of their human counterparts – but is a robot waiter a step too far?
Right here in Greater Manchester, there’s a Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet where your food is brought to your table by a robot. Yes, really.
The Chinese Buffet, or TCB Unlimited Dining Experience, has two sites in the region – one in Bolton. another in Wigan – and both use robots known as ‘Bella Bots’ to run food and drinks to diner’s tables.
These four shelves mean that ‘Bella’ can serve multiple tables at once, and even ‘chat’ with diners thanks to AI programming.
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Customers order all of their food from a bespoke app, then it’s brought to their table by the robot, which has shelves down its back and scoots confidently across the restaurant floor without bumping into anything around it.
You can order as much as you want for a fixed price, starting from £12.50 for lunch going up to £21.99 for a ‘Grand Buffet’ on Fridays and Saturdays.
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What’s on offer to you depends on the restaurant and the sitting time, but even at lunchtime for the cheapest price, you’ll still have a choice of roughly four soups, 11 starters, 16 mains, 3 sides and 9 desserts to get stuck into.
Video: The Manc Group
The robots were first introduced to the restaurant during the Covid pandemic, when strict rules required hospitality businesses to operate as table service only to stop the spread of the virus, but have proven even more useful as staff shortages continue to plague the industry.
She ‘never tires’, does not get sick, or require time off. She has also helped owners weather the storm of staff shortages and recruitment problems, during a period in which hospitality has faced some unprecedented challenges.
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And at a rough price of £14,500 a pop, ‘Bella Bot’ costs the owners of TCB much less than it would to employ a food runner or waiter for 40 hours a week on minimum wage.
Now that restrictions in England have been lifted, bosses have decided to keep her on as a valued member of the team – saying that she makes life easier for their human staff, too.
Paolo Hu, TCB managing director, told the Liverpool Echo earlier this month: “The hospitality industry is facing unprecedented challenges in recruiting staff at the moment, so anything we can do to make team members feel more valued and their jobs easier goes a long way towards keeping staff motivated and happy.
“Bella Bot is a great new addition to the team, making it possible for front of house staff to spend more time attending to the needs of our customers.
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“Bella never tires, she just keeps on going, making the return journey between kitchen and tables, literally hundreds of times a day, so our people can spend more time helping our customers have a great time”.
Feature image – TCB
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‘Do not let Britain’s independent businesses disappear on your watch’ – Manchester bakery makes heartbreaking plea to Andy Burnham
Clementine Hall
A beloved Manchester bakery has issued an open letter to Andy Burnham ahead of the Budget begging him for help.
Barbakan Deli in Chorlton is basically an institution at this point.
The legendary bakery and delicatessen has been serving the community for 62 years, famed for its freshly-baked loaves of bread, its handmade sandwiches, and its pastries and cakes inspired by bakes from across Europe.
Posting on Instagram last night on Thursday 18 September, Frankie Dyer the director of Barbakan, issued an open letter addressed to Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
Images: The Manc Group
It read: “Dear Mr Burnham, As an independent business owner in the hospitality sector, I am begging you to please read this.
“Really read it. And seriously consider what businesses like mine are telling you before the upcoming Budget.”
It continued: “In just the last two years, we have self-funded new bakery machinery, new catering kitchens, essential repairs and renovations and opened a second retail site, creating another six local jobs. We have won more than ten national awards for the quality of what we do.
“We have invested. We have grown. We have employed more people. We have worked harder than ever. In short, Prime Minister, we are doing everything you keep asking British businesses to do.
“And our bank balance is finished. That is the reality.”
The letter finished by Dyer inviting Andy Burnham to come visit the bakery and pleading for a ‘fighting chance’ to save the business: “We need action. We need meaningful reductions in the tax burden placed on employers.
“We need Employer National Insurance looked at urgently. We need a business-rates system which allows independent high-street businesses to survive. We need VAT reform for hospitality. We need Corporation Tax to reward businesses which reinvest, employ and grow.
“And we need proper grants and incentives that help established independent businesses invest and expand — not schemes with endless criteria which most ordinary businesses can never access. We need you to do something.
“And we need more than one token gesture in the Budget. A band-aid for a bullet wound. So I am asking you, Prime Minister, to come back to Manchester and see it for yourself. Pop an apron on and stand behind our counter.
Images: The Manc Group
“Come into our bakery in the middle of the night and meet the people making Manchester’s bread while most of the city is asleep. Look at our payroll, our energy bills, our rates, our supplier increases.
“Look at what leaves our bank account every single week simply for the privilege of keeping 50 people employed and our doors open. You said you wanted a government that understood the regions. You now have an opportunity to prove it.
“Independent businesses across this country are not asking for a handout. We are asking for a fighting chance. I sincerely hope your next Budget gives us one”.
Drinks prices revealed as Manchester Airport’s first-ever Wetherspoons pub opens inside T2
Emily Sergeant
It’s official… Manchester Airport’s first-ever JD Wetherspoon pub has officially opened its doors inside Terminal 2.
The 300-seater pub – which welcomed its first customers earlier this week – is named The Belle Vue after Manchester’s historic showground.
Throughout the pub, you’ll spot design features that nod to the city’s sporting heritage – including vintage event posters and memorabilia, a ‘locker wall’ hosting trophies and other sporting exhibits, and a cricket-themed design in the carpets and bar panels.
Creating around 150 jobs in the process, The Belle Vue is the final planned new eatery to open in the airport’s redeveloped Terminal 2, marking one of the final steps in the super-terminal’s decade-long, £1.5bn transformation.
Manchester Airport’s first-ever Wetherspoons pub has opened inside Terminal 2 / Credit: Supplied
According to the MEN, pints are priced from £6.20 for Carling and Coors lager, £6.45 for Budweiser, £6.60 for Guinness, and £6.70 for Poretti and 1664 Biere.
Prosecco is £9.20 for 175ml glass and £37.10 for the full bottle, while spirts and mixers are £6.80 for singles and £10.20 for doubles.
There’s also the classic Wetherspoons tea and coffee machines, where you can refill as many times as you like for just £3.60.
“It’s a proud moment to see the final new retail unit opening in our new-look Terminal 2,” commented Richard Jackson, who is the Retail Director at Manchester Airport.
“To be rounding off this 10-year programme by adding such an iconic name as Wetherspoon to the terminal is particularly special and we know that it will prove extremely popular with passengers. We think they’ll love the nods to Manchester’s heritage in the décor and design – and of course the name.”
Georgina Pellant -
28th February 2022 
