Huge takeup of Eat Out to Help Out discounts in Chichester

Participating eateries offered discounts on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout the month of August.

In the Chichester constituency, which also covers the Manhood Peninsula and Midhurst, more than 171,000 meals were claimed across 158 registered establishments.

The total combined discounted amount came to £958,000 at an average of £5.62 per meal.

Chichester’s figures are the second highest in Sussex behind only Brighton Pavilion.

Across in Arundel and South Downs, which covers Petworth, 109,000 meals were claimed at 149 eateries, with discounts totalling £596,000 at an average of £5.47.

According to the Government the scheme is credited with helping to protect 1.8million jobs across the country.

Data from OpenTable shows bookings increased by an average of 52 per cent on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout the whole of August, compared to the same days in 2019.

Chichester MP Gillian Keegan said: “The level of support local people have provided to our restaurants, pubs and cafes has been brilliant.

“Eat Out to Help Out was always about far more than just giving people money off their meals – it was about protecting jobs which are reliant on businesses which have really struggled through coronavirus.

“I have no doubt that there are businesses right across our area which, without this brilliant scheme, may not have made it through the summer. I hope local people will continue to support them in the months ahead.”

Arundel and South Downs MP Andrew Griffith added: “The towns of Arundel, Steyning and Hurstpierpoint all triumphed with more than 50 participating restaurants and even diners in more rural Petworth, Wisborough Green and Pulborough had around two dozen restaurants to choose from. Through August we saw 109,000 meals discounted across Arundel and the South Downs.

“This was a well-executed scheme from ‘thought to fork’, with over 87,000 restaurants, cafes and pubs benefited covering 64 million meals across Britain.

“I am just as excited about the latest Kickstart Scheme - launched last week - and which will create hundreds of thousands of new fully-subsidised jobs for young people.”

Chancellor Rishi Sunak added: “From the get-go our mission has been to protect jobs, and to do this we needed to be creative, brave and try things that no government has ever done before.

“Today’s figures continue to show Eat Out to Help Out has been a success. I want to thank everyone, from restaurant owners to waiters, chefs and diners, for embracing it and helping drive our economic recovery.

“The scheme is just one part of our Plan for Jobs and we will continue to protect, support and create jobs to ensure we come back stronger as a nation.”

Last month, Andy Laurillard, CEO of Giggling Squid, which has a branch in Chichester, said: “Rishi’s dishes have been a massive hit with customers and our staff. The tremendous success of the August scheme, combined with the temporary VAT reduction and fantastic support from our landlord community have made the difference between failure and survival of our business.

“As a result of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme we have managed to avoid making any redundancies and we no longer have any of our 950 staff on furlough.”

The local breakdowns do not take into account registered businesses with more than 25 outlets, who are not required to provide individual restaurant details.

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