Eat Out to Help Out goes down well in Dorset

More than 1 million meals were claimed in Dorset under the government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme.

A total of 84,700 eateries signed up, including 1,070 in Dorset and 6,671 across the South West.

Dorset was one of the leading beneficiaries of the scheme in terms of restaurants registered, meals claimed and discount claimed.

The South Dorset constituency topped the county table in meals claimed (242,000) and discount claimed (£1,202,000), followed closely by Bournemouth West. West Dorset was the next biggest beneficiary.

On average, each registered restaurant in Dorset claimed 965 discounted meals – 74 a day for the 13 eligible days.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has hailed the success of the scheme, which was designed to support the hospitality industry after a challenging few months because of coronavirus.

The scheme is credited with protecting 1.8 million jobs across the country, with restaurant bookings significantly up on the previous year.

Data from OpenTable shows bookings increased by an average of 52% on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout the whole of August, compared to the same days in 2019.

The government will continue to support the hospitality industry with a temporary discount to VAT, from 20% to 5%, until 12 January 2021.

The Chancellor said:

"From the get-go our mission has been to protect jobs, and to do this we needed to be creative, brave and try things that no government has ever done before.

"Today’s figures continue to show Eat Out to Help Out has been a success.

"I want to thank everyone, from restaurant owners to waiters, chefs and diners, for embracing it and helping drive our economic recovery."