Government to offer 50% off discounts on eating out in August - MSE News

Takmon

Paul_Herring said:

The whole point is to encourage people to eat out when they normally wouldn't.

I rather got the impression that it was an attempt to be seen to be doing something, but without actually doing anything effective. Sorta Bread and Circuses, without the circuses. Or bread. And hoping the masses wouldn't notice.

A more effective measure to get people out and spending in this area would have been to not restrict when it could be used, and to not omit alcohol.

Well with reduced capacity in all establishments then they are probably expecting that people will be going out at the busier times anyway after being unable to for so long, so i think it makes sense to encourage people to go out on the days when restaurants are usually quieter. 
If the discount was unrestricted and also applied to alcohol it would end up subsiding a lot of people who would have been going out anyway so a lot of extra expenditure for a reduced benefit.

Barny1979

Takmon said:

Well with reduced capacity in all establishments then they are probably expecting that people will be going out at the busier times anyway after being unable to for so long, so i think it makes sense to encourage people to go out on the days when restaurants are usually quieter. 
If the discount was unrestricted and also applied to alcohol it would end up subsiding a lot of people who would have been going out anyway so a lot of extra expenditure for a reduced benefit.

Yeah, I imagine most people still furloughed spend their spare time in the pubs now they're back open

jon81uk

Paul_Herring said:

The whole point is to encourage people to eat out when they normally wouldn't.

I rather got the impression that it was an attempt to be seen to be doing something, but without actually doing anything effective. Sorta Bread and Circuses, without the circuses. Or bread. And hoping the masses wouldn't notice.

A more effective measure to get people out and spending in this area would have been to not restrict when it could be used, and to not omit alcohol.

The government cannot encourage people to drink alcohol, there are NHS campaigns to get people to drink less so it would be a very mixed message if they did have alcohol vouchers.

As most restaurants will be operating at reduced capacity it makes sense to offer vouchers for early in the week to spread visits out, as has been said most people go out at the weekend anyway. Most 2for1 and similar vouchers have been Sun-Thurs anyway, many businesses have never needed to encourage people to go out on Friday/Saturday.

But for me, until theatres and cinemas re-open I have little need to go out to eat on weeknights.

qwert10

anyone know when the govt list of places involved will open? It says the week of the 20th July.

bigbnorm

is it just for the English or the whole county 

MovingForwards

bigbnorm said:

is it just for the English or the whole county 

"The Government will launch an 'eat out to help out' discount scheme in August, giving people across the UK a 50% discount, capped at £10 per person, on meals out"

molerat

qwert10 said:

anyone know when the govt list of places involved will open? It says the week of the 20th July.

Changed to "by 31st July" now.

Blushing

Will this work with 2 for 1 deals?

LittleVoice

Blushing said:

Will this work with 2 for 1 deals?

Yes.  Answered elsewhere on MSE.

The provider's voucher is applied first and then the maximum £10.

Ibizafan

A friend tipped me off that one of the most popular restaurants in our town would be taking part in the scheme, so we quickly booked a table online. There is a list on the internet if you google it, but it’s mainly the chains, so it’s best to ring up the places you would like to visit and ask them. I’ve just booked a popular pub near us who are also in the scheme, but there’s nothing on their website to indicate it yet.