Dorchester welcomed a new café bar during lockdown - and it's going from strength to strength.

Glenn Chadwick, owner of Hardy's Pub on Trinity Street, opened The Last Post on June 21 in South Street

Due to it being a listed building, there is only so much advertising that can be put outside, so the team have been promoting it through social media, word of mouth, and particularly one of them standing outside talking to people and letting them know the café is there, which, Glenn says, has worked really well.

"Because we're building on the personal touch, the old school customer service, meeting and greeting people at the door has gone down really, really well," he said.

"We do things here that other places don't do, like give coffee with a little biscuit… people are really noticing the difference, it's gone old school; old school values."

Glenn has received a lot of positive feedback since opening.

He added: "Everyone is loving it. We get comments all the time on our customer service."

Customers at the café can enjoy live music on Friday and Saturday evenings, as well as outside the café on Saturday afternoons.

The Last Post is a combination of Glenn's background and what business used to be at the venue, and he credits his wife with the name.

"Generally, people are really, really impressed. People aren't aware of the link between the Post Office and my military background until we explain it, but generally, people say 'that's fantastic, really clever'.

"I've had a couple of criticisms about [the sign behind the bar], one is that it is disrespectful.

"My response as an ex-serviceman is not enough is done to highlight veterans, I'm not just talking First World War and Second World War veterans, but the Gulf War, Afghanistan, the Falkland's. Not enough is done, so that's why I disagree with it being disrespectful.

"But overall, people love the theme. Veterans love it, they think it's very respectful, it's bringing home a point, they feel comfortable here."

Glenn also offers a veteran discount.

Despite opening less than two months ago, The Last Post is also providing a vital service for the town.

"Because we get a lot of holidaymakers in here, we've been pointing them to other attractions, like the museum, Sculptures by the Lake, Monkey World, because it's such a shame we lost the Tourist Information Centre," he said.

"I hear all day long from tourists coming here, 'where do we go for information?'

"There needs to be a huge tourism boost, staycations are going to be here for sometime, I think the majority of people are going to stay at home, staycations are going to be big so why aren't we doing something about it and promoting it?"

He also wants there to be a push for the night time economy and he is a big believer in supporting and promoting other local businesses by showcasing work from Every Cloud Boutique, Ali's Attic and Jacqueline Redfern Art.

He added: "It's important for me to work with other businesses around me because at the end of the day, we've all suffered, we've all had problems, why wouldn't we have each other's backs to try and build the town back up?"

Give The Last Post a visit and enjoy some food and live music.

For more information, visit The Last Post's Facebook page.

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