The government scheme, which gave diners 50% off their food and non-alcoholic drinks, closed this week and was introduced by the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak to give the hospitality industry a boost and inject customer confidence in the struggling sector.
Around 87,000 claims were made by business who signed up to the initiative and recently released figures showed that diners spent 34.2% more at restaurants during the subsidised days compared to the previous month’s figures.
There are concerns however that the initial, whilst increasing profit on the subsidised days, did not increase overall profit and simply shifted diners visiting patterns taking away from weekend trade which some businesses are reporting has seen a drop.
Barclaycard Payments who manage around 40% of UK transactions, reported that the average transaction value on Monday to Wednesday remained somewhat stable with diners ordering more items than usual, in order to spend roughly the same amount overall.
Overall however the scheme is considered a success, with the hope that consumers will continue visiting their favourite restaurants and maintain the boost to the restaurant and food sector.