Derbyshire businessman invents outdoor dining pods to help save hospitality industry

A Derbyshire businessman has created a unique outdoor dining shelter to help save the hospitality industry during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Freedom Pod, designed and built in Derbyshire, enables people to remain in their social bubbles during the coronavirus outbreak.The Freedom Pod, designed and built in Derbyshire, enables people to remain in their social bubbles during the coronavirus outbreak.
The Freedom Pod, designed and built in Derbyshire, enables people to remain in their social bubbles during the coronavirus outbreak.

Richard Sleigh, 50, from Stanley village near Ilkeston, believes his Freedom Pod – modelled on the Second World War Anderson air raid shelter – will solve the dilemma facing bars and restaurants of keeping customers socially distanced.

The pod enables people to remain in their social bubbles during the coronavirus outbreak while enjoying a new outdoor dining experience in their favourite restaurant, pub or hotel.

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Unlike marques or parasols, the innovative heated pods allow restaurant owners to keep entertaining guests, al fresco, summer or winter, 365 days a year.

Mr Sleigh, whose business specialises in the food and drink sector, said the Freedom Pod will reinvent the industry.

He said: “After 18 years working in the events and hospitality business, I felt driven to do something.

“When you work in the hospitality sector, people form close bonds and everyone feels like they’re in it together. So when the coronavirus hit, and restaurants and bars feared that they wouldn’t make it, we stepped in to try and help.

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“The restaurant trade supports hundreds of thousands of families across the country. We couldn’t sit by and watch their businesses collapse.

“We thought about restaurants and bars and hotels and asked what they were going to need to survive this pandemic and that’s when the idea for the Freedom Pod was born.

“We believe the pod will help the hospitality sector survive one of the worst economic crises the world has ever seen.”

The Freedom Pod comes flat packed, can be easily assembled. It is a solid, insulated, weatherproof structure, which doesn’t need planning permission.

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It is easy to put together and can be supplied with flooring, dining tables and bench sets, electricity, USB sockets, sound systems and heaters.

Mr Sleigh worked around the clock during lockdown to bring the vision to life and likens the Freedom Pod to the famous Anderson shelter that was used to protect lives during the London Blitz.

As part of the design, it features corrugated steel and forms a curved-shape similar to the 1938 air raid shelter.

Mr Sleigh said: “The Anderson shelter was dug into people’s gardens to protect families from air raids.

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"More than two million shelters were issued to families during bombing raids.

“Who would have thought that all these years later, we would create a similar shelter to protect people from something equally catastrophic – a global pandemic?

“During these challenging times for those in the restaurant trade, we want the Freedom Pod to help keep businesses afloat.

“Businesses will be able to make the most of their outdoor space, allowing more guests to return with safer social distancing rules in place.

“For the restaurants who feared collapse during Covid-19 – this could be a crucial lifeline.”

Visit www.freedom-pod.com for more information.

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