Restaurant staff say they have been reduced to tears as they struggle to cope with millions of diners using Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
The Chancellor’s programme was used more than 10.5million times in its first week, Treasury figures have revealed today.
Locked-down Brits have been able to get back out into restaurants, cafes and pubs with a 50 per cent discount up to £10 on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday this month.
Mr Sunak announced the scheme as part of his Covid-19 mini-Budget to support the beleaguered hospitality industry – but workers have since admitted feeling ‘overwhelmed’ by the increasing demand for cheaper meals.
One pub worker tweeted: ‘Never known a Monday to be so busy, Eat Out To Help Out has truly killed me.’
Another added: ‘Sending prayers to everyone working in the food industry with this eat out to help out scheme I have never been so stressed and overwhelmed on a shift in my life.’
Chancellor Rishi Sunak, pictured at a Wagamama, launched the scheme in July
Workers have since admitted feeling ‘overwhelmed’ by the increasing demand
Retail experts said the jury was out on whether it would successfully boost retail sales
If two people eat out together, they count as two individual meals in the statistics.
The average claim has been for around £5, bringing the total cost of the policy to around £50m thus far.
Figures from HMRC revealed it has received 10,540,394 claims under the scheme up to August 9.
But hospitality workers say they are under escalating pressure as they are met with a surge of customers at peak times.
One restaurant worker tweeted: ‘I could have cried tonight it was so busy, eight tables complained…’, while another wrote: ‘It’s the worst shift I’ve worked in my three years of working.’
Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme has served up a huge 25 per cent increase in people going out – but most are dining out at night mean shops are seeing little benefit.
‘Britons are eating out to help out in big numbers. And they aren’t just getting a great deal – they’re supporting the almost two million people employed in this sector,’ said Mr Sunak.
‘These amazing figures show that our plan for jobs is delivering.’
The drive saw the number of people in retail destinations surge by 18.9% after 6pm last Monday compared with the week before, with market towns seeing 25 per cent more footfall.
The Treasury did not say how much the receipts it had been sent were claiming back or how many meals are normally sold during the first three days of the week.
But retail expert Diane Wehrle warned it was too soon to be able to tell if scheme would be enough to boost the economy enough on its own.
She said: ‘The jury is still out regarding the benefit of the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme which launched last week, although there were rises in footfall on each day between Monday and Wednesday from the week before.
‘It is clear that it was the post 6pm period that yielded the greatest rise in footfall, and also that smaller towns benefited more than large city centres.
Restaurant staff say they have been reduced to tears as they struggle to cope with millions of diners using Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme
The Eat Out to Help Out scheme sees bills slashed by 50% on all eat-in meals giving up to £10
Statistics from Springboard showed a week on week increase but huge drops from last year
As the scheme continues throughout August and more Brits enjoy staycations across the UK, time will tell if the government scheme provides the boost that retail destinations across the country require for business survival.’
Ms Wehrle is the insights director of retail group Springboard, who carried out the research, and is on the Government High Street Task Force.
It said overall footfall had increased by 3.8% in the UK’s high streets, shopping centres and retail parks.
But it insisted comparing the first Monday in August to the last Monday in July was misleading as July 27 was very rainy, pushing down footfall.
Instead it preferred to look at Tuesday and Wednesday, where footfall was down by 0.6% against the previous week at lunchtime, and up 12.2% after 6pm.
Overall footfall rose by 2.6% on Tuesday and Wednesday, lower than the rise of 5.9% on the same days the week before.
The data tallies with a similar measure from Yolt, a money app, which saw a 14% jump in the number of its users paying for meals out.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has put aside around £500 million to pick up half the bill for diners who patronise restaurants during 13 days in August.
Every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday during the month, the Eat Out To Help Out scheme means that people can get 50% off their bill, up to a maximum of £10, excluding alcoholic drinks.
The data from Yolt shows that while eating out might have jumped by 14% on last Monday to Wednesday, many were still saving more than usual.
Pauline van Brakel, chief product officer at Yolt, said: ‘It is great to see people taking advantage of the Eat Out To Help Out scheme and taking the right steps towards smart spending.
‘It is also encouraging to see that, even with the temptation to spend more now, people are still remaining consistent with their efforts to save and they are seemingly trying to continue that habit going forward, particularly as we face economic uncertainty in light of Covid-19.’
Pauline van Brakel, chief product officer at Yolt, said: ‘It is great to see people taking advantage of the Eat Out To Help Out scheme and taking the right steps towards smart spending.
‘It is also encouraging to see that, even with the temptation to spend more now, people are still remaining consistent with their efforts to save and they are seemingly trying to continue that habit going forward, particularly as we face economic uncertainty in light of Covid-19.’