Sunak's discount dining scheme delivers sales boost for restaurants
Diners flocked back to pubs and restaurants in their droves to take advantage of Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out to Help Out subsidy in the days after it launched, figures show.
Sales at Britain’s managed pub and restaurant groups were a third higher last week than in the previous seven days as customers raced to take advantage of the discount which runs from Monday to Wednesday during August and offers up to £10 off a meal.
It marks a stark contrast to trading in July when some of the UK's biggest pub and restaurant groups suffered a 50pc slump in sales after reopening as lockdown lifted.
Food sales on Monday 3 August were double their level a week earlier, according to data from industry consultancy CGA, with a 95pc surge on Tuesday and the biggest rise of 106pc on Wednesday.
Sales were also higher than a year earlier in an encouraging sign for the industry, with a 31pc increase on Monday, a rise of 34pc on Tuesday and 43pc growth on Wednesday.
However, the uplift failed to offset slower performance on Thursday and Friday and at the weekend, with sales for the week as a whole down 9pc from last year.
Over 10 million meals were sold as part of the Chancellor’s scheme last week, according to HMRC. Operators have praised the scheme, which has encouraged some diners to visit restaurants for the first time since lockdown while boosting sales at traditionally quieter times of the week.
According to a separate survey conducted by CGA, 39pc of people who used the scheme in its launch week were making their first visit to a pub or restaurant since the end of lockdown.
Karl Chessell, a director at CGA, said: “Along with operators’ stringent hygiene precautions, it is encouraging consumers to venture out and see that they can have a safe as well as good value meal out.
“As the scheme goes on it will hopefully begin to have a positive impact on footfall on other days of the week too—though it is already clear that the sector will need sustained support from government after the scheme ends at the end of the month.
