Over £1.9m saved by Salisbury & New Forest diners using 'Eat Out to Help Out'
The scheme was taken up by over 400 restaurants & cafes.
Last updated 4th Sep 2020
Getting on for £2m was saved by local diners using the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
439 restaurants and cafes across Salisbury, South West Wiltshire, Devizes and the New Forest West areas took part, according to new stats out this morning (Fri 4 Sept) but not all claims have been made yet.
On average customers in Salisbury saved the most, around £4.60 per meal.
A total of 107,000 meals were claimed in Salisbury, with the total discounts claimed adding up to a whopping £493,000.
In New Forest West area it was even higher, with 160,000 meals claimed, adding up to a total discount saving of £735,000. That's an average of £4.59 per customer.
In South West Wiltshire 92,000 meals were claimed, making a total discount saving for diners of £345,000, an average of £3.55 per customer.
In the Devizes area, which includes Tidworth, Ludgershall and Pewsey 58,000 meals claimed, adding up to a total discount saving of £367,000. That's saw the highest saving, with an average discount of £6.33 per customer.
Across the whole of the South West, 6,771 meals were claimed, seeing total discount savings of almost £6.8m.
For the whole area the average discount per meal was = £5.17
It is important to note that these figures are up to 27 August 2020, and businesses have until 30 September to make a claim.
Chancellor thanks diners for their support
Rishi Sunak said the scheme's popularity had helped protect the livelihoods of the 1.8 million people working in the hospitality sector and drive the nation's economic recover from coronavirus.
Latest figures show that Eat Out to Help out significantly boosted restaurant bookings during the month of August, with the scheme growing in popularity each week
With the scheme excelling expectations, by midnight on 31 August more than 100 million meals were eaten by diners, with the 84,700 establishments signed up to the scheme making 130,000 claims worth £522 million, meaning more jobs are being protected through people getting out and boosting the economy.
Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, 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."
According to OpenTable data, restaurant bookings increased by an average of 53% on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout the whole of August, compared to the same days in 2019. In July 2020, restaurant bookings were down 54% on average from Mondays to Wednesdays compared to 2019.
On 31 August - the final day of the scheme - bookings were up 216% compared to the equivalent day in 2019.
And early signs show that despite ending, the scheme has continued to boost demand, with a 2 per cent rise in restaurant bookings on Tuesday 1 September compared to the equivalent day in 2019, according to OpenTable.
There had been an upward trend in the scheme's popularity since it launched, with 10.5 million meals claimed for in total in the first week, 35 million meals in the second, 64 million in the third and over 100 million by 31 August.
The scheme was used across the entire UK, with over 6 million meals claimed for in Scotland, over 2 million in both Wales and Northern Ireland and over 51 million meals claimed for in England by 27 August.