Eat Out To Help Out – have you registered yet?
What is Eat Out To Help Out?
In a bid to encourage customers back to hospitality, keep businesses operational and keep staff employed, the government has introduced the ‘Eat Out To Help Out’ campaign. This is an incentive throughout August, offering a 50% reduction in food and drink costs to customers, that the restaurant can then claim back from the government.
The key facts about the scheme are:
- It will run from 3rd August to 31st August
- Includes food and non alcholic beverages only
- Maximum discount of £10 per person per meal
- Only applicable to dine in operations (not takeaways)
- Available on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays in August only.
- Weekly claims to HMRC for the discounts will be paid back directly to your business.
Where can I register and what do I need?
Getting registered for the scheme will offer a great incentive for your customers to visit throught the week, at no cost to you. Registration is open now until 31st August. You can access all the registration information over on the Gov.UK site.
You’ll need to have the following to hand:
- Your business Government Gateway ID and password – if you don’t have one you’ll be able to create one when you register.
- UK bank account number and sort code for the business
- Bank account address for the business
- Date the business started.
It’s also recommended that you have the following:
- VAT registration number
- PAYE scheme reference number
- Corporation Tax, Self Assessment or Partnership Self Assessment unique taxpayer reference
How will my customers know that my restaurant is taking part?
There are several ways that you can let your customers know that you’re taking part in the Eat Out To Help Out scheme:
- Once registered, you’ll receive window stickers and be able to download a promotional pack.
- Gov.UK have a ‘Find a restaurant‘ tool that will list all particpating restaurants within a two mile radius of a given postcode.
- Talk about it on social media, client newsletters and spread the word when you’re taking bookings and meeting customer over the next couple of weeks.
How will it work?
The process is very simple. There are no vouchers or discount codes involved. The discount is taken from the bill, you keep a record of the total number of people who’ve used the scheme, the total amount of transactions under the scheme and the total amount of discounts.
Each week you claim back the discounted amount, and it is paid into your business bank account in 5 working days (you will need to wait 7 days from registration to make your first claim, so it makes good sense to register in advance).
Find out more…
You can get more information about Kitchen CUT or a free online demo by emailing sales@kitchencut.com or calling +44 (0) 330 113 0050.
You can register for a free trial here.