‘No-shows’ crippling restaurants across city Owner to charge £10 if customers fail to turn up

NO shows at Birmingham restaurants are helping to destroy a sector that is already on its knees after the Covid lockdown, it has been claimed.

As a city business body backed a new ‘No More No Shows’ hospitality campaign, one Birmingham restaurant owner said more than a quarter of his bookings failed to turn up one day.

Jaimon George, of Thai restaurant Zen Metro in Cornwall Street, said he had 115 bookings for a recent Saturday, but 31 of those reservations were not honoured.

His comments came as the city centre’s Colmore Business Improvement District BID body threw its weight behind the new national campaign encouraging people to consider the impact of no-shows on hard-hit restaurants.

“As a restaurant and bar in operation for more than 23 years, we have had our fair share of no-shows,” Mr George said.

“This was particularly disappointing after the lockdown since all hospitality venues are trying to survive and stay open.

“We arrange staffing and prep food based on the booking levels.

“The level of no-shows are just not acceptable and financially viable for any business.”

Zen Metro has now introduced a system where a customer’s card details will be taken and a £10 fee charged if they fail to turn up.

“We hope this will have an impact on future no-shows,” Mr George added.

Venues such as pubs and restaurants were allowed to reopen from July 4 but with strict social distancing and other measures in place aimed at preventing the spread of Covid-19. Some business operators have said it will be extremely difficult to turn a profit when the number of customers a venue can host is limited, a problem exacerbated even more when bookings go unfulfilled, leading to food waste and a loss of revenue.

This is made even worse when many venues have introduced a no walk-ins policy order to maintain social distancing between customers and staff.

Birmingham has already seen the permanent closure of city centre venues Pint Show, Bar Opus and Island Bar, all of which cited the coronavirus lockdown as being behind the decision.

No More No Shows was launched by hospitality recruitment agency Sixty Eight People with backing from restaurant group Gusto Italia to raise awareness of the problem in Manchester but was quickly picked up on a national scale.

Alex Tross, chairman of the Colmore BID hospitality working group, added: “An individual customer might not think that them not turning up for a reservation will make much of a difference.

“This couldn’t be further from the truth.

This level of no-shows are just not acceptable and financially viable for any business Jaimon George

“Research has found that noshows actually cost the UK hospitality industry £16 billion a year, which is further exasperated following months of lockdown.

“Due to social distancing, restaurants are already operating at a reduced capacity, making use of every space possible.

“The next few months will be critical for businesses across the sector and we are urging customers to rethink before deciding not to show up for a booking.

“We have a wealth of fantastic venues within the district that need our support more than ever.

“If no-shows continue to happen, we may lose some of these venues for good.”