ROYAL Castle is back. And it is bigger and better equipped to serve its customers, just nine months after a disastrous fire gutted its Lombard Street location, and two other neighbouring businesses.
The spanking new 4,000 square feet, two-storeyed building, which is situated at Garnett and Sheriff Streets, was constructed at a cost of approximately US$825,000, even though the owners have not yet received a settlement from the insurance companies.
Proprietors, Mr. Bryan James and Mr. Eddie Boyer, revealed to the media on Thursday afternoon, when they hosted a tour of the building and offered samples of its menu, that they have invested a lot of time and resources into the quick “come back” of the fast-food restaurant.
"We spent a lot of time streamlining the operations to push the quality of our service," said Mr James. He added that 60 percent of the employees from the Lombard Street location are now working at the new location.
The new structure features a children’ play area and an outdoor dining section. And, beginning this weekend, customers can make purchases either by calling for the home delivery service, by using the “Drive Thru”, or by visiting the restaurant.
During the last nine months, the management of Royal Castle had kept in contact with all its employees, who were kept on the payroll.
Mr. James said that the present location is now the Royal Castle Headquarters in Guyana. He pointed out that he and his partner are making plans for the construction of two or three more Royal Castle branches in and out of Georgetown. This will include the rebuilding of a Royal Castle facility at the Lombard Street site, which they still own.
According to Mr. James, some of the employees were trained abroad on how to operate the computerised systems in the new restaurant.
Mayor of Georgetown Mr. Hamilton Green, one of the officials present at Thursday’s opening, congratulated the partners on their achievement and explained that there are lots of concerns about the quality of buildings that are being constructed throughout Guyana.
The Mayor said there are substantial changes to be made to Sheriff Street, since it is one of the busiest thoroughfares in Georgetown. He pointed out that the restaurant was an example of what is needed.
Mr Boyer told the Chronicle that the original design for the new Royal Castle had to be changed after the fire, mainly because of storage. "The fire has been a setback. We had planned to use that location to supplement this one...so there were changes," he said.
"But no one thought we could have done this, and we did it. We are still a family," he concluded.
Around 22:30 hrs on November 15 last year, a massive blaze started after a container truck reportedly ran into an electric pole and burst a power transmission line, resulting in sparks which then evolved into the fire. The blaze started from an area at the back of Auto Supplies and then spread to Royal Castle and Mohamed's Enterprises.
Later it was estimated that the disaster caused losses of over $1 Billion, and left some 150 employees jobless.
The truck driver of John Fernandes Company, Khrishnadat Singh who was subsequently charged, was recently acquitted of the charge after evidence from the Prosecution's sole witness, had no bearing on the case.
Mr. Max Perreira was the architect of the new Royal Castle. (Renu Raghubir)