September 4, 2020
Across August, more than 100 million meals were claimed across the UK under the scheme, which ran throughout the month of August.
After a challenging few months because of coronavirus, data from OpenTable shows bookings increased by an average of 52% on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout the whole of August, compared to the same days in 2019.
In total, 84,700 establishments signed up to the scheme, and the scheme is credited with protecting 1.8 million jobs across the country.
That has meant more businesses able to stay open, more jobs protected, and the UK economy more able to bounce back from the damaging economic impact of coronavirus.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak hailed the success of the scheme this week, which was designed to support the hospitality industry after a challenging few months.The Chancellor said:
“From the get-go our mission has been to protect jobs- and to do this we needed be creative, brave and try things that no government has ever done before.
“Today’s figures continue to show Eat Out to Help Out has been a success. I want to thank everyone, from restaurant owners to waiters, chefs and diners, for embracing it and helping drive our economic recovery.
“The scheme is just one part of our Plan for Jobs and we will continue to protect, support and create jobs to ensure we come back stronger as a nation.”
Eat Out to Help Out has always been about far more than just giving people money off their meals – it was about protecting jobs which rely on many businesses that struggled throughout the pandemic.
Eat Out to Help Out was just one part of the Conservative Government’s Plan for Jobs – an ambitious £30 billion strategy to create, protect and support jobs as the country bounces back from coronavirus. The Government will continue to support the hospitality industry with a temporary discount to VAT, from 20% to 5%, until 12 January 2021.
Commenting, Therese Coffey, Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions, said:
“Corbyn’s Pension Tax will see ten million savers facing a huge bill forcing them to delay their retirement for almost three and a half years.
“This is just one of the ways a Corbyn government would hammer hardworking people on top of his plans to hike up taxes by £2,400 a year, as well as the cost of his plan for unlimited immigration and the chaos of 2020 being dominated by two more referendums – one on Brexit and another on Scottish independence.
“Only Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party can get Brexit done with a deal, get parliament working again and turbocharge our economy to unleash Britain’s potential.”
Read more about how this Pension Tax will impact millions of savers (PDF)
