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| Orangery Tea Room, Battle, East Sussex |
Do you feel ready to join in with the Government's August scheme to help boost spending within the hospitality sector? From the friends I have spoken to, this scheme feels like a mixed blessing. On the one hand, they are keen to get out and have a meal, enjoying a sense of normality in this strange time, but on the other, they can be fearful that too much of a sense of normality is what will lead to a rise again in cases of coronavirus.
I've been out for a couple of meals since restaurants were allowed to re-open again at the beginning of July and personally I have found them to be fine. We booked for a time we knew would be less busy and found there is excellent distancing between the tables and considerate servers. So, for us, we will be joining in with this scheme and enjoy taking advantage of 50% off food and non-alcoholic drinks at participating businesses.
I felt it was apt to be organised, as all restaurants have less capacity than normal and booking is encouraged for most good restaurants, so I have booked for one night a week to try out a few new places and have some (hopefully) really enjoyable meals. My husband said to me to book for the ones that are normally more expensive and we might avoid, as this gives us an affordable way to try them out.
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| Tibbs Farm, Near Rye, East Sussex |
What's the Offer?
Restaurants, cafes, in-house work & school canteens, hotel restaurants, pubs and restaurants within leisure attractions can all choose to join in and register for the scheme. The great news is that they manage the discount the and money being retrieved from the Government, so we don't even need a voucher.
The 50% discount is available Monday to Wednesday throughout the whole of August 2020, and can be applied to food and/or non-alcoholic drink purchased for immediate consumption on the premises, up to a maximum discount of £10 per diner (inclusive of VAT). This includes soft drinks and/or packaged snacks, as long as they are for immediate consumption on the premises. There is no minimum spend requirement.
The discount does not apply to food sold to take-away and is eaten elsewhere.
So, for example, if there are 4 in a family (it equally applies to both adults and children) and the bill for just food and non-alcoholic drinks comes to £30, a straight 50% will be slashed off and you'll just pay £15 for all 4 of you. How great is that?
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| Toby Carvery |
Who is offering a discount?
The Government have made it nice and easy to find out who has registered to the scheme and will this offer the discount.
You just type in your postcode and it will show you all the local businesses that have registered within a 5-mile radius. I take it from this, that they are hoping we will all eat local and support those businesses closest to us
Check here to find your local participating businesses.
Check here to see a list of chain restaurants/ cafes that are participating.
I was really pleased to see some popular brands in there, like -
- Ash Italian
- Bills
- Bannatynes Health Club
- Beefeater
- Burger King
- Byron
- Cafe Nero
- Costa Coffee
- David Lloyd Clubs
- EAT
- Five Guys
- Harvester
- Haven
- KFC
- Leon Restaurants
- McDonalds
- Millers & Carters steakhouse
- Nandos
- Pizza Express
- Pizza Hut
- Prezzo
- Starbucks
- The National Trust
- TGI Fridays
- Toby Carvery
- Wagamamas
- Wetherspoons
and so many more....
What shall I do now?
Plan out your diary and make bookings for the traditional restaurants, as I'm sure they'll all book up fast! With places like Five Guys, KFC and McDonalds just pray you can get a seat, as the discount isn't available on take-away.
If you'd like any more information about the scheme, check out the Gov.uk official guidance.
Have a great August and I hope you have some memorable meals with your loved ones.
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| Bonney's Cafe, Battle, East Sussex |
