If there has been one good thing to come from Covid it is the desire, almost a movement, to buy and support local enterprise and business.
In the midst of lockdown people were forced to shop locally and many vowed to continue to support businesses that provided a lifeline at the height of the crisis once things started to return to normal. The Government’s Eat out to Help Out scheme has been seen by many as an embodiment of this movement encouraging the public to do their bit to boost the local economy and support the restaurant industry, which has been one of the hardest hit by the Coronavirus crisis.
Here in Newcastle, the scheme has been extremely well received and quickly gained momentum. Participating restaurants have been busy from Monday to Wednesday the moment the offer was available. On launch day on the 4th August, footfall in the city was up, making it the busiest Monday since lockdown in March.
People of the North East love dining out and who doesn’t love a bargain, so the Eat out to Help Out scheme has ticked all the boxes for hungry Geordies.
The scheme has helped kick start a return to a new normal – a safe and socially distanced one. We need people back in Newcastle enjoying meals at restaurants, taking longer, perhaps more generous lunch breaks and staying late after work to dine out in the evening. Not only do restaurants need the custom, the city needs the added vibrancy and life that people bring. The city’s economy is interconnected across all sectors and, as a whole, depends on people playing their part and contributing.
Throughout lockdown we lobbied Government for extra support for the hospitality sector knowing that it would be slower to recover as social distancing limits operating capacity. We were delighted when the Chancellor announced the VAT cut for the hospitality sector and the novel Eat Out to Help Out initiative. Having seen the early results we are now hopeful that incentivising people’s first meal out post-Covid will persuade them that it is safe to keep coming back once the scheme is over.
Many city centre restaurants were quick to sign up for the scheme and have been delighted by the response. Huge investments have made venues Covid-safe with new layouts, Perspex screens, reduced table numbers and new booking systems in place.
Legislative changes to licensing laws have also allowed many to make more of their outdoor seating areas either extending existing spaces, or creating new ones to give them more space to accommodate customers. Some have gone to great lengths to create innovative and themed outdoor areas that are helping attract custom.
We hope that all these measures will be the boost the city needs and will be enough to bring people back to support local businesses and the restaurant industry, which makes a huge and vital contribution to Newcastle’s economy. Newcastle depends heavily on its hospitality sector. It is a cornerstone of the city centre’s mixed and exciting offer, as well as being a huge city centre employer. Over 6,500 people work in hospitality in Newcastle alone.
Venues across the North East have invested heavily in making sure they are safe to reopen, people now need to come back to support the recovery. At NE1, we have been doing all we can to support the industry and city centre businesses promoting the Eat out to Help Out campaign with our own marketing campaign and supporting participating restaurants. We have also been working closely with Newcastle city council and with businesses to support licensing applications to allow businesses to create new or bigger outdoor dining terraces.
And to offer the public greater reassurance that it is safe to return, we have been working with Newcastle University and the City Council to develop an innovative, How Busy Is Toon website. Using real time data, the website shows how busy it is on Northumberland Street plus remaining capacity in city centre car parks.
Using the website people can monitor footfall and make informed decisions, helping plan their trip into Newcastle and where to park. The site has been extremely popular, with over 25,000 visits to the site since its launch. It has also received significant interest from other local authorities and organisations across the country and is going into the next phase of development having just received funding from the government’s Local Digital Fund.
The website is a great example of how an innovative idea developed here in Newcastle is improving public confidence in using the city. This combined with the Eat out to Help Out scheme will, we hope, help people feel confident about visiting the city centre and will provide vital support to the city’s economy.
