As the BBC, Sky News and Big Hospitality – among others, I’m pleased to see – explained yesterday, the latest scheme to try and boost the economy and save thousands of jobs has kicked off.
What is the Government’s #EatOutToHelpOut scheme?
For those unaware, Rishi’s #EatOutToHelpOut campaign is hoping to stoke the fires of the economy through driving people to venues across the UK.
As Propel said yesterday, “anyone visiting a participating restaurant, cafe or pub on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays in August is eligible to receive a half price discount, which will be paid for by the government. The discount, aimed to “keep more money in hardworking families’ pockets”, applies to all food and non-alcoholic drinks, with a maximum limit of £10 per person.”
Putting aside the jokes around the hashtag*, and the government’s recent chequered history of communicating messages, this is a campaign I am throwing my increased lockdown weight behind.
Why hospitality?
What does hospitality mean to you – good service? Friendliness? Being made to feel at home?
For me, hospitality means a hardworking industry of frontline and backroom colleagues, people you do and don’t see, working hard to provide great experiences, time and time again. That can be from the most delicious, high-end meal for a special anniversary, the weekend away with mates at a hotel, B&B or Airbnb, to the takeaway coffee, lunch from the sandwich shop, or dinner and drinks at the local.
It means licensees and franchisees, tech SAAS whizzes, ops managers, bar and waiting staff, cleaners, porters, chefs – executive, sous, commis and all in-between – accountants, marketing, PR and event departments, pot-washers (did my four years!), the maitre’d or host, welcoming visitor teams, leisure venues, and a tonne of important roles I can’t fully list here.
In addition, there is an army of supportive industry roles that are crucial to the hospitality ecosystem – supply chains from local food and drink producers to the wider foodservice world from the big boys (Brakes, 3663 etc.); farmers and agriculture, be it dairy, crop, vegetable, fruit, livestock or fish; breweries, cideries, wine, soft drink, coffee and tea producers; importers and exporters of everything you could imagine; catering businesses; photographers and videographers. The list goes on.
UKHospitality is one of the leading voices representing the broad hospitality sector, which it describes as:
“…a major contributor to the UK economy, employing 2.9 million people and generating £130bn in economic activity, while paying £38bn in taxation to fund important local and national services.”
Hospitality is the 3rd largest private sector employer in the UK; double the size of financial services and bigger than automotive, pharmaceuticals and aerospace combined.” – UKHospitality
Furthermore, Gov.uk says that 8% of the UK’s workforce – more than 2.4 million people – rely on hospitality, accommodation and attractions for employment. Within this, food and beverage services and venues (cafes, pubs, restaurants etc) account for 1.8 million jobs.
Confidence as much as income
As well as giving such an important industry a much-needed injection of cash and footfall on traditionally quieter days, the hope is that consumer confidence will be boosted too, and this will hopefully last far longer than August.
As Fuller’s boss Simon Emeny (full disclosure, my former boss too) said in the recent pub company’s FY results:
“…it is encouraging to see customers returning to our pubs and this steady growth in consumer confidence will be the key to success – not just of our Company or our industry, but the economy as a whole.”
I strongly believe that giving people an element of reassurance about their safety, the cleanliness, the social distancing and answering ‘how will this work’ is as – if not more – important as the initial bottom line.
What can I do to get involved?
I’m a hospitality venue:
More than 72,000 businesses have signed up. Register here. You can use the scheme to offer a discount to diners and encourage them to eat at your restaurant:
all day, every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 3 to 31 August 2020
to offer a 50% discount on food or non-alcoholic drinks to eat or drink in (up to a maximum of £10 discount per diner)
to claim the money back from the government
I want to support hospitality venues near me:
NO VOUCHERS NEEDED. Just rock up and eat.
Check out venues near you here. Or call up and ask, or check their social media, or see a poster in a window.
So, please, please, please get involved with this scheme – it is a great opportunity to support a fantastic industry and bolster the economy.
Do it safely, make sure you respect other people and wash your face, cover your hands and keep alert about your lunch. Or something like that.
Seriously, though, be kind and be respectful of everyone.
✌️
*A good friend of mine pointed out that swapping the word ‘Eat’ for ‘Dine’ would have saved a lot of hassle…