As we pointed out a week or so ago, no shows at restaurants and pubs are causing substantial losses.

With no shows seeming almost to be becoming the order of the day, something is going to have to give. Well, apparently over 50% of UK pub and restaurant goers are prepared to pay a deposit when reserving a table.

It is not anything particularly new to be asked for a deposit but it is generally the smaller venues which do because if they only have half a dozen tables and two or even one do not turn up, this is a significant proportion of your revenue lost.

New research shows that people are prepared to pay a deposit but more particularly for special occasions and larger groups. But of course, if you have no intention of breaking the arrangement, why worry anyway? Amazingly 55% of people are willing to pay a no show fee if they do not turn up. These figures are really quite surprising but of course it will depend on just how much the deposit or no show fee is going to be.

It will not come as a surprise to learn that younger people are far less willing to pay such costs, with 28% of 18 to 24 year olds willing to pay a deposit and 24% a no show fee. This of course accords with the fact that it is the younger generations who are the biggest no show culprits, with people some times booking up to three tables at different venues and only deciding on the spur of the moment which one to go to, leaving the other two high and dry, and not even informed.

The results of this latest survey are likely to give confidence to restaurateurs to start charging more aggressively than hitherto and it seems likely that the consuming public will just have to get used to this as a fact of the new norm.

And just while we are on the air, the daily new cases seem once again to be just hovering upwards with the latest seven day figure now at 221442, almost back up to where it was a week ago, and deaths just slightly up at 974.

Adrian Leopard  22-09-21

Photo Davey Gravy