UK Restaurants Adopt Pay-Before-You-Eat Policy Ahead of April Reopening

As the UK’s restaurants prepare to open up to outdoor dining on April 12th, many are putting in place a ‘pay before you eat’ policy to ensure they don’t lose more money after a catastrophic year.

The Daily Mail reports that restaurant reservations have gone through the roof in the UK. Rick Stein said 20,000 customers had booked into Cornish restaurants in the last two weeks alone, while the D&D group has reported taking 50,000 reservations already.

After a phenomenally successful vaccination programme, the UK is moving ahead of its European neighbours to open up the economy. It's good news for the hospitality sector, which suffered more than most during the course of the pandemic. More than 660,000 hospitality jobs disappeared in 2020 and the industry missed out on sales of £71.8 billion (€84 billion).

Restaurants to Reopen in UK on April 12th

Des Gunewardena, owner of D&D, which has 42 restaurants, said: "We are absolutely chocker. Some of our restaurants are full all the way through April and well into May. We have got double the level of bookings already compared to when we reopened on Super Saturday last year - it’s way stronger than we expected."

It's welcome news for restaurateurs, however many have learned from the last time they opened up and pent up demand resulted in a surge in reservations.