As Covid has hit the economy over the past year, one of the industries that had born the brunt of its impact the most is hospitality.

The staple of the Great British pub was closed, while restaurants and cafes were reduced to takeaways while the pandemic impacted their revenues. Just last month, a study by the House of Commons Library found that almost one in five of hospitality businesses had “low confidence” in being able to survive the next three months.

That’s not the case in Andover, however, where businesses told the Advertiser they are feeling increasingly optimistic about the future.

Kelly Jones, of Canto Gelato, said they were “quite excited for the future”.

“It’s nice to have faces outside again,” she said. “All the regulars are back, and it feels a little bit normal again.”

Her husband Steve agreed. “We’re back as a society,” he said. “It’s been 12 months of it being a ghost town, but the town as just as good as it can be for now.”

The business has been offering takeaways during the pandemic, and is continuing to develop its offering to better suit the retail climate, including the introduction of new products.

“We now do bagels, which have gone down well,” said Kelly. “We’re also offering a choice of disposable cups and ceramic ones, giving customers an option to make them feel safe.”

She also said new members of the team were coming on board.

“Our new staff are coping really well,” she said. “They’ve just had takeaways, so it’s a lot of new stuff all at once. But they’ve stuck by us, and it means a lot.”

Customers on the high street were also embracing the opportunity to try new things, with some playing chess outside Canto Gelato, while Tracey and her friend took the opportunity to sit down for breakfast at Café Nero.

“We hadn’t planned to eat out,” she said, “and we were going to get a takeaway. But we thought, 'why not?' It's not raining too much, and it's a good opportunity".

It was a similar picture at pubs, with The Angel and The John Russell Fox reopening their outdoor areas today.

“It’s back to reality,” said a drinker at the former. “It’s lovely.”

At the latter, a pubgoer said: “I like drinking outdoors. I was in my garden during lockdown, but it doesn't compare to a pub.”

Both venues have been popular, with customers coming in from opening and taking advantage of the sunny afternoon weather to enjoy a drink in the outdoors.

While there’s still a way to go, businesses believe there’s light at the end of the tunnel if everyone sticks to the Covid rules.

“We’re quite excited for the future,” said Kelly. “We’re hopeful things are heading in the right direction.”