EAT OUT TO HELP OUT – What’s the truth?
- June 2020
- 1 minute
The government has set aside £500 million to fund the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
As of midnight 27 August, over 100 million were discounted (costing up to £522 million), up from 64 million in the first three weeks, 35 million in the second and 10.5 million in the first, however, just how much is this helping the industry?
Some operators have increased total weekly sales by extending the 50% discount through Thursday-Sunday, whilst others have offered an uncapped 50% discount. Following the success of the scheme, several operators have decided to extend discounts of their own throughout September, funding it themselves. A list of participating restaurants can be found here.
Reviewing the sales and discount figures across our cohort of restaurant and hospitality clients, figures show that there has been a slight overall increase in total weekly sales. Sales were however concentrated between Monday-Wednesday, with Thursday-Sunday seeing a reduction, but an overall increase from the week prior to the discount being applied.
Data from Open Table
Data provided by OpenTable shows that during the third week of the scheme the number of customers dining at restaurants was 61% higher than the same days last year on average between Monday to Wednesday. The data also shows that the number of customers dining at restaurants in general was up 17% in comparison to the same week in 2019.
While Central London appeared to be the worst hit, regional restaurants benefited far better from the scheme, with many restaurants having been fully booked out for weeks in advance for every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in August.
Results
However, we believe these measures have short lived benefits if the second wave continues to cause havoc in the hospitality industry. The most important thing right now is to prepare a cash flow statement and closely monitor the business performance. We have found that some business owners who were worrying about their business were actually fine when they looked at the accurate cash flow forecast.
If fancy a chat with someone who knows your industry, please feel free to get in touch.