To wonder why not all restaurants have registered for "Eat out to Help out"

[daggered]

We're on holiday in a small beach resort and only about 4 local restaurants seem to have registered for the Government's "Eat Out to Help Out" scheme. They all have long queues. Back in my home suburb most but not all of the restaurants seem to have registered. It seems a no brainer to me so I'm wondering why some restaurants haven't bothered. Am I missing something?

@mimbleandlittlemy

NHSEA - It’s not just low end restaurants taking part though. There are 45 Michelin starred restaurants taking part and all Rick Stein’s are doing it and lots of others that are higher end than Nando’s for example. You only get £10 off the bill but they obviously think it is worth it to encourage people back.

Hawksmoor have done a brilliant deal. £10 for steak and chips. Unfortunately, the Manchester one was fully booked every Mon/Tues/Wed within hours of announcing it.

One of our favourite cafes just posted about how they are stacked with bookings on the days it runs but hardly any on the others which effects staffing and food prep and also, the offer days are unlikely to buy alcohol on top which is a big earner for them. They say its a good deal and they understand people using it but its a massive faff for businesses too. It's not the dream the Gov are selling it as.

@mimbleandlittlemy

NHSEA - It’s not just low end restaurants taking part though. There are 45 Michelin starred restaurants taking part and all Rick Stein’s are doing it and lots of others that are higher end than Nando’s for example. You only get £10 off the bill but they obviously think it is worth it to encourage people back.

That's good to know. I wouldn't consider the participating restaurants near me to be low end, but the ones that my grandmother would call 'swanky' don't seem to be doing it. We have booked to go to a a couple of local places which aren't part of a chain. Tbf, not really much near us. My DH doesn't really like eating out, but want's to get his discount from the government! Doesn't make sense to me, spending more money to 'save' money :)

@canigooutyet it was announced almost a month ago. They will get their money within 5 working days. We've made use of it (constantly) since yesterday morning and places that aren't signed up are dead. The rest are full and busy

I find the whole scheme immensely irritating ... too dangerous to do so many things according to the government, but please, go out to eat on the taxpayers!

We're going to be paying for this idiocy for years and years.

It's a combination of not being able to wait for funds or in some places they might not need it if they are busy enough

I am in the industry and I know a lot that havent signed up, for the reasons given above....cash flow.

In a small independent it really can be a case of surviving week to week. So if the claims are made on say a Friday and are paid within 5 days (assuming no cock ups.....which is unlikely) then they are potentially the best part of 2 weeks for the repayment for the discount.

In a small place that is A LOT to be short. Once that initial period is over and they are being paid week to week then thats ok but its only running for a month so many places are thinking that it really isnt worth it. Yes people are heading out now as its cheap, I did today, but do you really think that all those people will keep eating out on a weekly basis afterwards?

The ones that will, would have done anyway regardless of any discount but the majority are taking advantage of cheap food and will head back to Maccies when it is over.

DH is the person in his medium sized company responsible for sorting out the furlough claims. The money has come in within the week so far.....

DD & I are also at the seaside. Most “big” restaurants & pubs are taking part in the offer. The smaller independents don’t seem to be. Yesterday we had a burger, a mixed grill & a drink each for £12.50. Fabulous!

I read someone saying all the bookings are on Monday-wednesday. Few people will come on the days with no discount. So its not that great.
Also alcohol isn't included in the discount so a pain to calculate.

There's quite a few doing it where I live but I'm put off by the thought of too many people.

@neveradullmoment99

I read someone saying all the bookings are on Monday-wednesday. Few people will come on the days with no discount. So its not that great. Also alcohol isn't included in the discount so a pain to calculate.

WRONG!!

My place has been booked out for all three days. Loads of people on soft drinks as it is included, barely any alcohol sold. I took the kids out earlier, we were going to go yesterday but I rang and the LL said that they were full with a waiting list so I booked the last table for early evening today, she's a mate/colleague in the same company and I suspect I got a favour. She is now full tomorrow too.

We will be full M,T,W every week until this ends and then back to dead (except Tuesday lunchtimes which are always rammed for some reason) come September.

The admin is the downside, we've had to pay to enable our tills to work it out for us, and then there is the admin to put the claim in. In Wales the biggest issue is that it coincided with opening indoors. Then people are ordering on the app and forgetting to apply the discount code and they wait until they have paid to come and say so you have to cancel the transaction and do it again; and you just know hmrc will be difficult about it.
I think it would have been a good idea in October / November

As a family of 6, we have already used this scheme twice this week and it has been a massive saving for us - c £80. We wouldn't have gone out to eat otherwise, as it is quite pricey with all the children and we've not missed eating out enough. DH has this week off, though, so it's made it more of a holiday for us. And whilst it will be a bill for the taxpayer to repay, if it means restaurants can take staff either partly or fully off furlough, there's a saving right there.

I understand the point re cash flow but as an employer, and not the biggest fan of HMRC generally, have to say that they have been incredibly quick to pay furlough claims. So hopefully they will do the same for this.

And I dont know about the smaller companies, but ours which is part of a massive pub co has just added a button to the tills so its calculated automatically.

The calculations may be a reason smaller places are not doing it though.....good point about that.

Take your choice of media and have a look. The furlough like the school meal voucher took time for payments to be made.

I think the media have stirred up enough shit!!

Furlough payments were received within 6 working days after the online submission went in, I work in payroll.

The dine in scheme is a faff, you need to keep count of the numbers of customers who used the scheme, the total amounts, the amount after discount. I think for the big chains with high tech tills it would be fine, but for the little cafes, small independent restaurants it will be extra work.

I don’t understand why some branches of certain chain restaurants are out of the scheme. Some in, some out.

Maybe someone here can explain!?

@canigooutyet

Well I can tell you as a small business the furlough scheme has been super efficient from day 1 and we also got a business loan very quickly . So perhaps the companies you mentioned did not understand the scheme correctly ?

@lifesalongsong

Take your choice of media and have a look. The furlough like the school meal voucher took time for payments to be made

Where are you getting that information from, furlough money is paid within days of making a claim and employers can out the claim in before they pay the employees so the time between is minimal.

I don't know about school meal vouchers, you clearly don't know about the furlough payments.

If you look at media sources around the time this was published, you will find there were issues.

www.petbusinessworld.co.uk/news/feed/some-still-waiting-for-loans-and-furlough-payments

www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/05/government-paying-nearly-a-quarter-of-staff-wages-under-furlough/

Read the comments under the mse post, people waiting still in May.

Furlough started February/March?

The FSM fiasco was also reported on, and the laptop promise you really need to go digging for that promise as well.

@Amijustagrump

Its an accounting nightmare. They charge at 50% off and pay vat at full price.

Hasn’t VAT also been cut to 5% for restaurants too though?

I'm not sure, I can vouch that the furlough scheme money comes very quickly, 3-4 days. Most places are doing it here but far from all

Canigooutyet

I run my company’s payroll and furlough claims were paid by HMRC within a week of being made. You seem very much a glass half empty person. Maybe it’s been a problem for some but it’s definitely also helped others in my experience.

Once you take into consideration VAt and someone's wage to do this weekly how much do restaurants really get back from each £10.

One poster said they saved £80. 10 more tables like that, £800 to wait for at least a week less of course what the restaurant has spent out.

@Sheknowsaboutme

I don’t understand why some branches of certain chain restaurants are out of the scheme. Some in, some out.

Maybe someone here can explain!?

Some are franchises of the chain and the manager or whoever rents from McDonalds or whatever. Others are fully run by Mcdonalds or whoever.

The government won't pay it back. The government doesn't have any money of its own. The government is going to pay back with taxpayer's money. And then probably put up taxes to claw it back from us twice.

I went out for lunch today and had a £20 set three course lunch for £10 instead of £20 at Bill's.

This wasn't a meal I had instead of one on a different day. This was a treat I wouldn't have allowed myself normally. So the restaurant had a customer it wouldn't normally have had. Which is the point.