LCN Award winner on fighting back after Covid tragedy

The owner of LCN’s Bar of the Year for 2022 has told how clinching the award was validation for the whole team after coming through the trauma of Covid, which hit his family in the hardest way imaginable.

Trevor McCann, who lost both his parents to the virus at the start of last year, said getting his Corner House Bar in Derrymacash back up to speed following the tragedy wasn’t easy but he was lifted by the support of a community that his business serves.

He explained: “My dad took ill on Christmas Eve in 2020 and then my mum Anne too. We lost both of them nine days apart in January.

“My dad had some health issues, but my mum was fighting fit and it was heart-breaking as you can imagine.

“With your business closed down it was hard to think about picking things up and putting on a smile and giving back to the community, but people rallied round, and my parents are both buried in the cemetery next to the bar, so it is a nice feeling that they are both still there and looking over me.”

And Trevor has tailored the business to the new post Covid normal, meaning he and his staff have a good work/life balance.

He told LCN: “Coming out of Covid we tried to do seven days and then made the decision to go Wednesday to Sunday. We still had to adjust that as you don’t always get it right so we withdrew the lunchtime Wednesday offering which gave our staff a good two-and-a-half days off which meant we could hit the ground running on Wednesday evening and also focus on the value of sport with investing in Sky and BT and catering for those who want to come and watch a game on Monday, Wednesday and Thursdays.”

“Covid has changed people no doubt but there is a work/life balance and you want your staff to be happy for them to thrive and offer good hospitality; but the balance has to be towards work as everyone still has bills to pay.

“Paying over minimum wage is key and its is matter of getting the message out there that this is a job you can travel the world with and make a career out of if you learn it and learn it well.”

Read more in the upcoming edition of LCN magazine.