The Eat Out To Help Out Scheme benefited the government to the tune of £250m and saved thousands of jobs in the pub and hospitality sector says new research by the British Beer & Pub Association, British Institute of Innkeeping and UKHospitality.
It follows the UK government’s announcement that a total of 130,000 claims were received for the scheme equating to a cost of £522m for the government, with further claims still to be made.
But with the scheme delivering additional revenue for the government, as well as boosting consumer confidence to go back to the sector hospitality sector, it has already delivered a significant return, the trade bodies say.
Their data also revealed that the scheme enabled 200,000 pub and hospitality staff to come out of furlough early to meet the increase in trade generated by the initiative. This alone saved the government almost £150m in furlough costs, say the trade bodies.
VAT generated on additional food and soft drink sales from the scheme generated £30m for the Treasury and additional sales of alcoholic drinks that accompanied the meals was estimated to have boosted duty and VAT revenues by a further £65m.
But the trade bodies said further government investment in the sector was still needed to get it through the autumn months and to help ensure a full recovery into the new year, calling for further government investment in the sector to boost growth by extending the reduction on VAT rates, reforming business rates and cutting beer duty ahead of the next Budget and upcoming government reviews.