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Aug 2020

Last Updated: 05/08/2020

News

'Eat Out to Help Out' fills restaurants across the Harrogate district

by Ami Miller Lifestyle Reporter

| 05 Aug, 2020

Restaurant managers and customers have welcomed the 'Eat out to help out' scheme, after seeing a '50% increase' in sales. Customers say they are making the most of it.

https://youtu.be/XG_ut3Av8no

The 'Eat Out to Help Out' scheme, which started on Monday August, 3 has seen diners from across the district flock to take advantage of half-price meals, with queues forming outside many restaurants and cafes.

The 50 per cent discount, which is capped at £10 per person and does not apply to alcohol, is available at more than 100 outlets across the district throughout August.

queue outside Bettys

Restaurant managers and customers alike have welcomed the scheme, after a 'huge increase' in sales, and customers saying they will 'definitely be making the most of it.'

The queue for Bettys appeared even bigger than usual and one woman said:

" I usually meet up with friends on a Thursday but we have changed it to a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday now... in fact we might meet up twice now as it's such a good deal."

The West Park Hotel in Harrogate told The Stray Ferret that they saw a 50% increase in customers on Monday in comparison to the Monday previous.

Johnathon Cairns, who is the General Manager at The West Park Hotel said:

"It's a brilliant scheme, it helps pick up those lower sales days, and we are welcoming a lot of new faces which is great. It is really beneficial, and you can see a little bit of an uplift in what people are spending as people are treating themselves a bit more, knowing they get a discount. We haven't run a weekend yet so we will see how that goes, but we have been really busy since we reopened so were hoping that it will just mean it will be like a Saturday all week now... It would be great if the Government could consider extending the scheme throughout September too when things usually quieten down a little."

Sharon Colgan who owns The Empress On The Stray thinks the scheme is much better for social distancing:

"It's great... If everyone waits and goes out on a weekend it doesn't help with social distancing, whereas if it's spread over 7 days it will be alot better... It's a way to encourage people to go out in the week and take the pressure off the weekends."

Knaresborough outlets have also seen a big rise in people coming through the doors.

Ashleigh Lambert, who owns Six Poor Folk said it has just been "manic"

"Yesterday we had 4 bookings and ended up doing 65... which is more like what we would usually do on a Saturday. People are ordering more food than usual and binging a bit... the increase of people is obviously a worry but we are doing everything we can to run a safe way. It's been such a rollercoaster as we didn't know what to expect but it's now a case of hiring more staff and buying more food."

However not all business owners are in favour of the scheme.

Christina Whincup, who owns Caffe Tempo in Ripon said 'It is really bad for small places like us'

" We are taking part purely because Costa and Nero are, so if we didn't we would lose customers to them... People are going to more expensive places now as they know they can get the discount. We are still busy with our regulars and we can only sit 16 people with social distancing but the scheme doesn't do us any favours."

It's hoped that the scheme will help the restaurant scene get back on its feet after 3 months of closure.