Petition to extend Eat Out to Help Out scheme to September has been launched

The Eat Out to Help Out scheme has proved very popular, both with customers and most venues who took part in the offer.

Sadly, it’s set to end next Monday, August 31st, meaning after today there’s only one more day to take advantage of some bargain food and drink.

It’s been estimated that participating establishments have dished out more than 35 million meals since it was launched on August 3rd, from nearly 50,000 different restaurants, bars and cafes.

Mowgli Street Food/Facebook

In case you are unfamiliar with the scheme, it has been available from Mon-Weds throughout August and meant that you could get 50% off your food and soft drink at participating venues, up to a maximum of £10 per head.

According to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, the 35 million figure ‘is equivalent to over half of the UK taking part’, and he now faces calls to extend the scheme, in a bid to help businesses survive.

A petition online has gained more than 5,500 signatures at the time of writing, and is asking the government to extend the scheme until September 30th.

The petition reads: “Extend the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme to September to give restaurants and cafes financial stability prior to a potential second wave of COVID-19 causing local/national lockdowns.

“The government have the power and the responsibility to ensure people are not losing their jobs due to businesses having a weak financial stability.”

It needs 10,000 signatures to get a response from the government, and 100,000 for it to be debated in Parliament.

Finest Media

Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of UKHospitality, told the Mirror: “The scheme has been a huge success for the sector. Our members have been reporting a very-welcome boost in trade when it was needed most.

“The scheme has not just benefited businesses commercially, it appears to have really boosted consumer confidence as well, which is just as important.

“Both of those are very strong arguments for an extension of the scheme.

“It would keep customers excited about going out and give businesses the support they still need. Hospitality sector is still fragile and faces other challenges, but prolonging the Eat Out scheme could help businesses back to stability and enable them to safeguard jobs and livelihoods.”

As the scheme is set to wind down on August 31st, new figures have revealed that pub and restaurant workers are most at risk from redundancy, with 14 million of them furloughed at the start of lockdown.

You can sign the petition here.