Chancellor Rishi Sunak inventively and commendably launched the “Eat Out To Help Out” incentive to encourage diners to dine out this month at participating cafes, pubs and restaurants.
By way of an overview of the offer, which does appear to have caused some confusion: ”eat out to help out” offered people of the UK a discount of up to 50% when eating or drinking (soft drinks) in a participating restaurant or food establishment – Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays in August. Full government guidelines can be read here.
As catering consultants, we wanted to apply best practice from our own ‘eating out’ experiences to ‘helping out” workplace catering and foodservices by sharing some of our Foodservice Firsts – from both dining in (at home) and dining out (at restaurants) during and post lockdown.
In terms of my own confidence as a customer in ‘eating out’ throughout lockdown here’s my story:
- In May, I dined in, at home courtesy of high street chain, Côte Restaurants’ Cote At Home (Home Delivery).
- In June, I trialled Goodwood’s Secret Cinema (Drive In), desperate to eat food not prepared by anyone in our household.
- In July, I dined in, at home again but with The Clink Restaurants’ Clink At Home (Home Delivery), supporting the prisoner rehabilitation charity venture.
- In August I dined out at two local restaurants neither of which were participating in the “Eat Out” scheme:
- Kinghams (for Dinner at their restaurant).
- The Talbot Inn, part of Bespoke Hotels (for Afternoon Tea at their restaurant).
Here are my Foodservice Firsts to demonstrate WHAT type of provider is open and ready for business, WHERE they operate, HOW they inspire confidence and WHY they’re the source of inspiration for workplace catering, with the UK economy seeking to repair itself. Important to take stock of the word ‘Restaurant’ which derives from the French verb “restaurer”, meaning to restore.
COTE AT HOME
GOODWOOD SECRET CINEMA
CLINK AT HOME
KINGHAMS
THE TALBOT INN, PART OF BESPOKE HOTELS
Irrespective of money off incentives, the above experiences have given me every reason to believe there are ways and means to inspire foodservices to cater to restore employees in the workplace.
Tracey Ann Fairclough, Managing Director, TAF Catering Consultancy
Also by Tracey Ann Fairclough
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