Eat Out to Help Out: Restaurants extend scheme voluntarily

Pizza Hut and a string of Mayfair and Belgravia restaurants have joined the list of venues funding their own extension of Rishi Sunak‘s meal deal scheme.

The chains will continue the 50 per cent discount into September, which the Government has financed through August.

More than 64million meals were eaten under the scheme during its first three weeks, according to data released on Tuesday.

Around 84,000 restaurants signed up to the scheme, which provides the discount up to £10 between Mondays and Wednesdays, to drive more customers into their sites after reporting weak footfall following the lockdown.

The move is a last roll of the dice for many restaurant chains which teeter on the edge and have had to shut stores after being battered by the pandemic.

The chains will continue the 50 per cent discount into September, which the Government has financed through August (file photo)

A last roll of the dice? Chains continuing the Eat Out to Help Out scheme

  • Pizza Hut
  • Mayfair and Belgravia restaurants 
  • Harvester
  • Toby Carvery
  • Bill’s
  • Three Cheers Pub Company
  • Stonehouse Pizza and Carvery
  • Q Hotels Group
  • Signature Pub Group
  • True North Brew Co
  • Cityglen pubs
  • The Coconut Tree
  • 56 North – Edinburgh
  • Smiths Restaurant, Uddingston
  • Peru Perdu, Manchester
  • Craft Dining Room, Birmingham
  • The Wilderness, Birmingham
  • SIX, Cambridge
  • Harleys Smokehouse, Staffordshire

Bill’s has said it will keep offering the discount through September, while it will also be launching a discounted set menu starting at £10.

Popular chains Toby Carvery and Harvester have also said they will continue the offer through the first two weeks of next month after seeing strong customer numbers.

Q Hotels Group, which runs 21 sites, said it will also extend the scheme, with plans to have reductions on meals until November.

Restaurants in Mayfair and Belgravia in central London will all continue the discount into September after landowner Grosvenor Estates stepped in to foot the bill.

Grosvenor said it will extend the across participating restaurants, including the Mayfair Chippy, as ‘Central London is not yet back on its feet’ despite receiving a boost from the dining subsidy.

Amelia Bright, executive director of the Grosvenor’s London estate, said: ‘We’re doing all we can to bring people back to the West End to enjoy its world class retail, beautiful architecture and fantastic restaurants.’

Venetian restaurants Polpo also announced it will continue the scheme into September at its Chelsea and Soho sites.

Takeaway delivery giant Deliveroo also said it will offer customers a discount in September to encourage them to ‘eat in to help out’, after the scheme ends.

It said it would offer £5 off an order of £20 or more during the first three days of each week in September.

On Wednesday, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) became the latest organisation to call on Government ministers to extend the scheme into September after hailing its success.

Q&A: When is Eat Out to Help Out on?

When is it available?

It runs every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from August 3 to 31.

What is it?

A 50 per cent discount when you eat in up to a maximum saving of £10 per diner.

What are the restrictions?

No discount on alcoholic drinks or service charges.

Do I need a voucher?

No. The discount will be automatically applied by the participating outlet. The saving can be used alongside other offers and discounts.

How do I find participating outlets?

Treasury has set up a postcode finder that will list outlets offering a scheme within a two mile radius – here

The hospitality sector was one of the industries hardest hit by the virus, with 80 per cent of firms halting trading and 1.4million workers being furloughed in April.

Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed that 26.6 per cent of hospitality workers remained of furlough in the two weeks to August 9.

On Tuesday Mexican chain Wahaca announced it is to close more than a third of its restaurants, after becoming the latest dining firm to be hammered by Covid-19.

The group, which was founded by former Masterchef winner Thomasina Miers and Mark Selby, said it will close ten of its 28 sites.

The founders said they intend to ‘try and save jobs’ wherever possible, in an email to staff.

A spokesman said there were currently no plans to extend the Eat Out to Help Out scheme into September. 

Sites in London, Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool, Chichester and Southampton have been earmarked for closure, after it saw a ‘significant’ depletion in cash reserves over the past four months.

It said it has seen the rent, as a percentage of sales, of sites in city centre locations increase dramatically, making a number of these restaurants ‘untenable’.

The group said it decided to only reopen restaurants it believes will not lose money, even if sales are significantly reduced, in order ‘to avoid putting the entire business and every job at risk’.

Restaurants in Mayfair and Belgravia (file photo) in central London will all continue the discount into September after landowner Grosvenor Estates stepped in to foot the bill

Restaurants in Mayfair and Belgravia (file photo) in central London will all continue the discount into September after landowner Grosvenor Estates stepped in to foot the bill

Wahaca said it is considering a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) restructuring deal in order to facilitate its cost-saving plan.

The announcement comes after a number of dining chain rivals, such as Byron Burger and Pizza Express, have announced permanent closures in the aftermath of the lockdown. 

Earlier this week, Wetherspoon warned the coronavirus crisis will push it into the red despite a ‘rapid acceleration’ in sales this month thanks to the Eat Out To Help Out scheme.

The pub chain told investors that equivalent bar and food sales in the 44 days to August 16 were 16.9 per cent lower than in the same period last year.

The slump came despite the opening of 844 of its 873 pubs following their closure in March as the virus lockdown was imposed.

Wetherspoons founder and chairman Tim Martin, 65, said the loss of business means it expects to post a loss for the year to July 26.

But as with other pubs and restaurants, trading at Wetherspoon improved this month after the Eat Out To Help Out scheme was launched.

Which chains and restaurant groups are registered for the Eat Out To Help Out scheme?

Atalian Servest

Atlas Hotels

Bakers + Baristas

Bannatyne Health Club

Bar + Grills

Bill’s

Black Sheep Coffee

Blue Diamond

Boparan Restaurant Group

Brains

Brewdog

Burger King

Buzz Bingo

CH&CO

Caffè Nero

Center Parcs

Coffee#1

Company of Cooks

The Cornish Bakery

Costa Coffee

Crussh

Côte Brasserie

D&D London

David Lloyd Clubs

Deep Blue Fish & Chips

Dobbies Garden Centres

Euro Garages

Everyman

Five Guys

Franco Manca 

Fullers

G1

GAIL’s Bakeries

Giggling Squid

Gourmet Burger Kitchen

Greene King

Grosvenor Casinos

Hall & Woodhouse

Haven

Hollywood Bowl

Honest Burgers

Hydes

JD Wetherspoon

JW Lees

Joe & The Juice

Joseph Holt 

Jurys Inn

KFC

Kew Green Hotels

Leon Restaurants

MacDonald Hotels

Marston’s

McDonald’s 

McMullen

Mecca

Mitchells & Butlers

Morrisons – Cafe and Barista Bar

New World Trading Company

Park Holidays

Patisserie Valerie 

Pho 

Pizza Express 

Pizza Hut

Pret A Manger 

Prezzo

Punch

Revolution Bars Group

Raj Douth

Raj Gate

Roadchef

Selfridges & Co

Shepherd Neame Ltd

Spice Garden

St Austell Brewery

Starbucks

TGI Fridays

Team Sport

Tenpin

The Ivy Collection

The National Trust

Tony Macaroni

Tortilla

Turtle Bay

Vacherin

Village Hotels

Viva Italia

Wagamama

Wasabi

Wildwood

YO Sushi

Youngs

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