Reflections on the Eat Out to Help Out scheme

The UK government's Eat Out To Help Out scheme attracted UK consumers back into restaurants, inspiring trust once more in the safety of eating out. 

We asked members of the #FairKitchens community who participated in the scheme how it affected their teams.

Chef Dave Critchley, Executive Head Chef for Lu Ban restaurant group:
"It's been a real relief and joy to see the place and others around us busy after so long closed. It was hard to go from a three month standstill to 110mph but we've built an incredible hardworking team here and they took it in their stride.

We kept staff as fresh as we could with days off and eased them in with training days when we first reopened. Constant communication was paramount as things were moving so quickly and changing day by day. "

Linda and Paul Barron, Owners of Clean Bean Restaurant & Bar:
“We were way busier than expected! We hired more staff on top of our existing team, who are all fully back from furlough, in order to keep up with the demand and continue with our current food offering. Good communication, with customers and with staff, helped a lot. Handovers, thinking ahead and being proactive in addressing issues were also vital. It helps when staff can see challenges as opportunities.

It is so very important that staff are versatile and able to fill all roles required. We constantly train staff on the job, we allow mistakes and encourage staff to use their own initiative. We share feedback from customers and show staff what positive impact their hard work has had on our customers and business.”

Chef Joseph Fallowfield, Head Chef at Housel Bay:
“The light always shines the brightest in the dark. Through the influx of rude, ungrateful and unreasonable bargain hunters, it’s the polite and courteous that have stood out for me. It’s clear that the offer of half price dining has attracted two different types of customer. Some I can’t wait to see again, the others I cannot wait to see the back of.”