Renowned takeaway company, Deliveroo, along with more than 300 restaurant groups, is urging the UK government to conduct a second Eat Out to Help Out drive when the country’s restaurants finally begin to reopen. The firm and the groups argue that the food discount scheme, which was first introduced back in August 2020 and gave 50% discount off meals, would give a much needed boost to ailing restaurants.
The groups also stated that they needed other types of urgent support to effectively stop ‘viable’ hospitality enterprises from failing despite optimism regarding the ongoing vaccination programme. The calls came as one worried pub owner called for the pubs to get permission to reopen by April of this year.
Patrick Dardis, the owner of Young & Co, stated that the government is showing a complete ‘lack of respect’ to the hospitality sector and has based its decision to shut down pubs on science that is ‘unproven’, a claim that has been disputed by experts since then.
In a letter addressed to the country’s prime minister, Deliveroo along with partners, including Pizza Hut and Itsu, stated that owing to the closure of all restaurant businesses, several have been facing ‘immense financial pressure’.
The letter further stated that even when these businesses are able to open back up for customers, existing restrictions on the mixing of households as well as strict social distancing measures are hampering their ability to return to work at full capacity. This obstacle will continue to exist until the successful rollout of vaccines.
The letter also emphasized the importance of continued government support, which it said was extremely ‘crucial to protect industry jobs. It further added that withdrawal of support too suddenly or too early would risks several viable businesses closing doors permanently just as they arrive at the end of the tunnel.
Source credit: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56060962