A Plymouth bakery has decided to stop taking cash as coronavirus cases continue to rise, Plymouth Live has reported. Jacka Bakery on Southside Street is only taking card payments in a bid to protect its staff members, as well as minimising the risk to its customers, many of whom are tourists.
Currently, there are no confirmed Covid-19 cases in Plymouth, but there are 25 cases across Devon and Cornwall as of March 12.
Carly Laughton, Co-Owner of the Barbican bakery, said that due to the germs that coins and notes can pick up, staff will only allow customers to purchase items if they have a card.
She said: “We are thinking about our staff and customers. It’s just to protect them. We just want to reduce the risk wherever we can, if everyone did the same it could help massively. We’re lucky to have not been affected yet.”
Carly hopes that by taking extra precautions customers will feel confident in shopping on the Barbican, as if people “are afraid to leave their homes, it will have a huge impact on the Barbican.”
She said: “We don’t want people to panic buy, it’s just daft, but people should think about those that are self-employed and small businesses. If people stop coming down to the Barbican, it will affect us massively.”
The business dates back to the early 1600s and is owned by head baker, Owen Laughton, wife Carly and his parents, Sue and Paul. Alerting their customers to the change on Facebook, Jacka Bakery said: “During this tricky Coronavirus time, we’d like to ask our customers to pay by card.
“Cash literally passed through millions of hands, so to help reduce any risk we’d like to try and be card only please. Obviously we continue to wash our hands regularly and sanitise contact points such as tables, our counter, sauce bottles etc and door handles. Thank you for the understanding and wash your hands regularly!”
