STACK SEABURN, which opens its doors for the first time to the public this summer Bank Holiday Weekend is to launch its booking system ahead of its planned opening on Friday, August 28.

Located on Sunderland’s magnificent coastline, STACK Seaburn will feature bars, eateries and lifestyle businesses all housed in shipping containers. The hotly anticipated venue will be welcoming customers from next Friday and due to the current social distancing guidelines laid out by the Government, customers will be encouraged to pre-book a table. Tables can be reserved free of charge for a two-hour time slot.

“Although we would love to just open the doors and allow customers to socialise freely, the current pandemic means we need to do things a little bit differently for a while,” said Neill Winch, CEO.

“In order to comply with the Government’s current guidelines, we have put in place a booking system to ensure people feel safe visiting us. For this reason, we will be allocating the majority of our benches throughout the venue for bookings. This is to ensure we are operating with social distancing in place.”

Table bookings are free and available on a first come basis with timings staggered to limit queues outside of the venue. Each booking will be allocated a space for two hours. Wherever possible guests will be accommodated for as long as they’d like to stay, however they may need to move on at the end of their booked slot to allow for the next slot of guests to be seated.

“As responsible operators the health and safety of our customers and our staff has to be the highest priority,” added Neill.

“There will be some capacity for walk ups and we hope that we can welcome anyone who would like to visit. The current restrictions won’t be in place permanently and as soon as the guidelines are relaxed, we will go back to our normal operation without guests needing to book.”

“Bookable benches are situated on both the lower and upper plaza areas and the number of guests you can bring is very much determined by Government guidelines around “households”.

Household booking information:

2- 6 guests can be from more than 2 households.

7 –10 guests must only be from 2 households and a social bubble.

Any bookings for 2 -3 guests will be located on a shared bench with no more than 6 guests in total. The benches can usually accommodate up to 12 people, so this will ensure people are seated physically distanced from other guests.

Although STACK is primarily an outdoor venue, extra safety measure are being put in place which include; table service, perspex screens at all of the bars, automatic hand sanitiser stations at entry and exit points, and the introduction of one-way systems and directional signage to guide customers safely around the site.

COVID Marshalls will also provide help and guidance to customers and ensure social distancing is being practised.