A number of restaurants in Mayfair & Belgravia are extending the Eat Out To Help Out scheme through September, following a deal with the area’s main landlord, Grosvenor.
The government supported Eat Out To Help Out scheme is due to end on Monday, but will continue through September in central London.
Participating restaurants and cafes will be offering half-price meals, up to the value of £10, every Monday to Wednesday, and will be reimbursed by Grosvenor in the form of reduced rent.
The motivation behind the extension is that while the scheme to support the hospitality industry has been a notable success, most of the benefit in London seems to have accrued to the suburbs, not the centre. This is likely due to people shying away from public transport and preferring to eat locally.
Central London’s economy has been much slower to recover than many other parts of the UK and the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, recently published eight proposals to ‘save the West End’. Restaurant transactions in central London in mid-July were 80% lower than in January. This is compared to many suburbs which had enjoyed a faster recovery and were seeing transactions at, or closer to, pre-pandemic levels.
There isn’t a list at the moment of venues participating in the extension, but basically wander around Mayfair & Belgravia and look for signs in the windows.
Evenings and weekends have been really damaged by the new congestion charge rules. Adds £15 to your meal. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Isn’t it clearly a lack of workers, nightlife and international visitors?
I cannot believe that many people drive into central London for dinner. There is no evidence to suggest this either.
Catching public transport means you can avoid the congestion charge
Wandering around the back streets of Mayfair on a sultry Sunday morning was one of London’s quiet pleasures; looking and dreaming and occasionally gasping at the “gold taps” decor of some of the less sympathetic restorations.
Now with this offer and careful selection of your hostelry of course, Sunday morning levels of human contact can be enjoyed throughout the week. And you can treat yourself to a croque monsieur as a reward for your efforts.