UK’s drive to get diners in restaurants costly

LONDON — Around 100 million discounted meals were eaten by British diners during August as part of a government drive to encourage nervous customers back to restaurants.

Figures published last week show the “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme for August cost more than envisioned.

It is set to cost a lot more as participating eateries have until the end of September to make claims.

Under the program, sitting customers could receive a 50% discount on food and non-alcoholic drinks at participating restaurants between Monday and Wednesday up to about $13 per person.

Food outlets from Michelin-starred outlets to international burger chains then get the discount reimbursed by the government within five days.

Critics say the scheme was a short-term gimmick by the government to court public favor following a series of missteps on the coronavirus front and merely shifted dining habits from the end of the week to the start.

Many say the scheme did not change the underlying dynamics facing the industry, as summer turns to winter and people will be largely forced to eat indoors, which is more conducive to spreading the virus.

Lorenzo Nargi, co-director of three Lorenzo Italian restaurants in southeast London, said the scheme was not good for structure of the business and that customers had fallen sharply on non-discounted days.

“All this has done is messed us about,” he said. “It ultimately stripped revenue from other days.”

By the end of August, the cutoff point, the government said the scheme had cost it about $680 million, which is more than $29 million more than estimated.

Treasury chief Rishi Sunak said the scheme helped protect the jobs of 1.8 million people working in the hospitality sector and boosted the country's economic recovery.

“From the get-go, our mission has been to protect jobs, and to do this we needed to be creative, brave and try things that no government has ever done before,” he said.