Natasha Purdom and sons behind the bar at the North Star pub, Swiss Cottage

THE landlady of a pub in Swiss Cottage says finances are on the brink and fears that the relaxation of Covid rules on hospitality venues may not last.

Bars and restaurants with outdoor areas can start serving customers again on Monday. But Natasha Purdom, who runs the independent North Star pub in Finchley Road with her family, said the future remains unclear for everybody in the industry.

“I’m not convinced that this will be the last time that we have to shut. I am a bit jaded as we’ve seen and heard it all before,” she said. “Before we reopen we’re already being warned about a third wave this summer. If they shut us down again, then I think that will be it, this is the last one we can afford, we’re down to the wire financially.”

She added:“It’s been a case of trying to grab a little bit of money here and there to try and make it work. It costs us between £5,000 and £8,000 with every shutdown, and we’re still waiting for information on the restart grants.”

North Star has expanded its beer garden so it can take 104 people under its covers, and is set to screen the FA Cup semi finals, and the Carabao Cup final between Spurs and Manchester City on April 25 on its televisions outdoors.

Work will eventually mean the garden can accommodate 130 guests. The pub is offering barbecue food on its menu, meaning it will also be cooked outside.Unlike other pubs it’s running a mixture of pre-bookings and allowing people to walk in, as they don’t want to spoil the spontaneity of going for a pint, Ms Purdom said.

“It’s what people do. You’ve had a bad day at work, you want to go for a pint – you want to meet friends and just decide to go for a drink.” She said it also was not going to do restricted time slots.

“As customers when me and my husband have been out, you end up having to plan your night like a military exercise, and it takes the fun out of it,” she said.

“We could be wrong, but we’ll see how it goes. I’m looking forward to seeing people and having conversations again, and hopefully not about Covid. It seems that everything now seems to come back to Covid.

“It’s just about seeing what people are up to and getting back in a normal routine, with the kids back at school and people starting to go back to the office.”

People looking to use pub gardens across the borough from next week are being recommended to try midweek, or during the daytime.

One pub that was flooded with reservations from opening time is The Stag in Fleet Road, Gospel Oak.

“We’re happy to be opening up and seeing people again,” said supervisor  Nicklas Backman. “We’re basically fully booked for the whole of the month, right through to the middle of May.”

Another is The Grafton in Prince of Wales Road, where bookings have flown in for the six tables on its roof terrace, and it’s fully booked from when it opens at noon, for the first two weeks.

Despite the forecast on Monday being set to be 10C, general manager Zee Nobadula said he was not concerned about so-called “no shows”, where people reserve tables, blocking others from doing so, but then do not show up.

Last year some hospitality venues took non-refundable deposits to clamp down on the practice, which can cost them thousands a night.

His pub will be open from noon. “We’ve not looked at that yet, but we will see how it goes. “It will just be so good to see happy smiling faces again, that’s what you get into this business for, to give people a good time,” he said.