‘Eat out to help out’ has been hailed as a lifeline. But with half of UK hospitality venues still closed, will it work?
From next week Britons will be able to treat themselves to a cut-priced meal in a McDonald’s or a Michelin-starred restaurant as some of the biggest names in food take part in the government’s discount dining scheme.
Just over 53,000 venues, ranging from big high street chains such as McDonald’s and Nando’s to celebrity haunts such as The Ivy, in London’s west end, have signed up to the “eat out to help out” scheme, which aims to get the country’s devastated hospitality industry, where 1.8 million jobs are at stake, back on its feet.