Glasgow ranks in second place on a list of customer no-show UK restaurant reservation hot spots as one-in-five (19%) British restaurant customers admit to failing to show up for a restaurant reservation since May 17th, says independent research by TheFork. It also found that Edinburgh customers were among those least likely not to honour a restaurant reservation, along with Liverpudlians. .
‘Spread booking’ – where consumers make reservations at multiple restaurants, to ensure they have options to choose from, but only intend to honour one of them – is cited as the number one reason behind failing to attend an existing booking.
The research also revealed that 30% of respondents who failed to show up for a recent booking had made more than once reservation for a restaurant at the exact same time slot, to avoid having nowhere to go.
Patrick Hooykaas, Managing Director at TheFork said, “It is more important than ever that diners show their support for local businesses, and the biggest way they can do that is to only reserve the tables they really need. When diners no-show for a booking, it results in a loss of revenue that restaurants can ill afford. In the UK, it is costing businesses millions..”
UK’s Top 10 No-Show Hotspots
London
Glasgow
Manchester
Plymouth
Birmingham
Norwich
Newcastle
Belfast
Bristol
Cardiff
The research was carried out independently online by Censuswide. The survey was conducted between 25th June 2021 and 28thJune 2021. The sample comprised of 2,004 UK adults.
The UK hospitality industry is facing a major staffing crisis says new analysis from UKHospitality that puts the shortage at almost 200,000 workers, as Nicola Sturgeon prepares to announce later today whether the next stage of Scotland’s lockdown easing can go ahead next week. Under the Scottish government’s roadmap, areas in level two are due to move to level one from 7 June and UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls (pictured) is urging governments to stick to roadmaps.
But Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf warned that there could be a delay in certain parts of Scotland where Covid cases are rising rapidly on the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme.
The survey of hundreds of UK hospitality operators by the trade body showed the shortage of front-of-house staff and chefs is a big problem. Four in five (80%) of those surveyed reported vacancies for front-of-house roles, such as waiting and bar staff, and 85% need chefs.
Some 47% have housekeeping vacancies and 43% are looking for assistant or general managers.
The survey suggested a current vacancy rate across the sector of 9%, which implies a shortage of 188,000 workers.
Said Kate Nicholls, “The government must restore confidence in the hospitality sector so it is again seen as a stable employer and provider of fulfilling careers. To facilitate this, it must stick to the reopening roadmap.
“Beyond this, the single biggest act of support government could give would be to encourage more UK-based workers to join the hospitality sector. It is also time for the government to review its list of shortage occupations and consider the introduction of an Australian-style visa scheme to enable the workers we need, who don’t meet the point-based system, to come and work here.”
The survey showed for overseas workers, many of whom returned home at the beginning of the pandemic, travel restrictions were a primary reason they had chosen not to return to the UK. Almost a fifth said the cost of quarantine on return was preventing them from coming back.
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.
Research by the Scottish Tourism Alliance, (STA) shows how devastating it would be to the Scottish hospitality industry if restaurants and hotels were required to open with 2-metre distancing – 85% of restaurants would not be viable and 83% of hotels reported the same outcome if no additional support from Government was forthcoming beyond the next two months and that could lead to them all closing.
Its research comes on the back of a poll by the Scottish Beer and Pub Association earlier in the month which highlighted the fact that 87.2% of publicans also believed it was not financially viable to open at 2-metres. In contrast, 82% of publicans believed it was viable to open at 1-metre.
Marc Crothall, Chief Executive of the Scottish Tourism Alliance said; “The survey confirms that around 85% of businesses within the hotel and restaurant sectors in Scotland will stop trading if the 2-metre physical distancing rule remains in place for the next two months should no further financial support be forthcoming. The figures reflect the many conversations we have been having with businesses across all sectors in the tourism industry for months and underline just how crucial the current review of the 2-metre physical distancing rule is within the context of the health and economic crises.”
He continued, “Marc Crothall concluded, “Many businesses do not plan to open again with the 2-metre rule in place as it’s simply not economically viable for them to do so. Coupled with the expected slow recovery forecasted, we expect a steady stream of job losses across the whole of Scotland over the coming weeks. Also, as we all know, visitors will choose where to stay based on the tourism product available in that area and are unlikely to travel to destinations that have a limited product in the form restaurants, visitor attractions and pubs. This will have a direct knock-on effect on the current limited demand for accommodation in our destinations and the impact on our local economies and supply chain is likely to be severe.”Highlights from the survey:
69% of hotels surveyed said that they were planning to reopen in July. 11%, however, said they had no plans to open. 5% are already open to key workers and those who require accommodation due to work.
Almost a third of hotels surveyed confirmed they were not planning on reopening from 15th July and said that this was down to the 2m physical distancing restrictions which make it economically unsustainable for their business to operate.
78% of hotels surveyed said they would lose more than 50% of turnover with 11% saying that they cannot afford to continue to stay open if physical distancing restrictions are not reduced to 1 metre.
83% of hotels surveyed said that their business would be financially unsustainable if they were required to trade at 2 metres physical distancing without any additional support beyond the next 2 months. This could result in there being up to c25,000 job losses from those surveyed (if we look at the higher end of full/part-time employment figures submitted by those businesses).
87% of restaurants surveyed said they would lose more than 50% of business with 23% saying that they cannot afford to continue if physical distancing restrictions are not reduced to 1 metre.
85% of restaurants said that their business would be financially unsustainable if they were required to trade at 2 metres physical distancing without any additional support beyond the next 2 months. This could result in there being up to c8,900 job losses from those surveyed (if we look at the higher end of full/part-time employment figures submitted by those businesses).
75% of self-catering, B&B and caravan and camping parks said they plan to be open in July. Despite these types of accommodation having fewer employees and being more self-contained, 11% are still saying that they have no plans to open with the current 2-metre physical distancing rule. http://www.scottishtourismalliance.co.uk
No-shows are a thorn in the side for every restaurateur and the latest research from OpenTable has identified the worst offenders.
With more than a third (33.7%) of UK diners have admitted failing to turn up for a restaurant booking, 16 to 24-year-olds the worst culprits, says the research.
OpenTable found only 4.4% of online bookings through its restaurant booking platform in the UK resulted in a no-show, compared with 4.6% of phone reservations.
Young adults admitted to being most likely not to turn up, with one-quarter (25%) of 16 to 24-year-olds admitting to regularly failing to show up for their reservation.
The good news is that no Scottish city figures in the top 3 cities with the largest number of diners that have held up their hands to this. The city with the largest number of diners who admitted at least one no-show was London (40%), followed by Manchester (39%) and Leeds (38.7%).
Almost two-fifths (38%) of UK no-shows claimed their change of mind was “too last minute” for them to cancel their booking. Regarding reasons for no-shows, 40% of women said they simply forgot to cancel, although three-quarters (71%) of all respondents felt guilty for letting the restaurant down.
OpenTable has launched a light-hearted campaign in response to the research with the aim to educate diners on the impact not cancelling a reservation can have on restaurants and highlighting how it might feel if the roles were reversed.
EMEA (openTable’s parent group) vice-president Adrian Valeriano said, “By turning the tables on no-shows in our new campaign we want to educate diners about the impact of their booking behaviour.”
For those who no-show for a reservation four times within 12 months, OpenTable bans them from making reservations on its app and website.
Scotland’s drink-drive limit has had little impact on deaths and accidents since the legal alcohol limit for driving was reduced from 80mg to 50mg in every 100ml of blood in 2014, according Research by Strathclyde University’s Department of Economics.
The study found that the lower limit for blood alcohol content (BAC) had not been followed by a statistically significant overall drop in road fatalities, including during the peak accident periods of night-time and weekends. There was also little change in the death rate for young drivers aged 16-25 – regarded as one of the highest-risk groups for drink-driving.
The researchers have stated that they are not suggesting that previous BAC limit reductions had not been ineffective, only that the most recent reduction had not had a material impact on road safety.
The study assessed data on more than 1.1 million accidents, leading to 1.5 million casualties and more than 14,000 fatalities, between 2009 and 2016, with weather conditions also taken into account.
They found that, in the two years leading up to the lower BAC limit, Scotland had monthly accident rates of 740.63 and fatality rates of 14.96. In the two years after the new limit was introduced, the rates were 704.13 for accidents and 15.25 for fatalities. This was consistent with England and Wales, where the BAC limit remained unchanged.
A new study has shown that drinking within the recommended 14 units of alcohol a week limit can actually cut the risk of suffering a heart attack, angina or heart failure, but drinking more than 14 units increased the risks of heart failure, cardiac arrest, ischaemic stroke and circulation problems.
The research, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), looked at 1.93 million people in the UK. It found that that moderate drinkers were less likely to suffer cardiovascular diseases than non-drinkers.
The authors, from the University of Cambridge and University College London (UCL), were cautionary in their findings, warning; “While we found that moderate drinkers were less likely to initially present with several cardiovascular diseases than non-drinkers, it could be argued that it would be unwise to encourage individuals to take up drinking as a means of lowering their risk. This is because there are arguably safer and more effective ways of
reducing cardiovascular risks, such as increasing physical activity and smoking cessation, which do not incur increased risks of alcohol-related harm such as alcohol dependence, liver disease and cancer.”
Dave Roberts, director general of the Alcohol Information Partnership, which is funded by drinks firms including Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Campari and Bacardi, welcomed the findings, saying; “This new study confirms yet again what previous studies have consistently found. Moderate alcohol consumption can have a beneficial impact on health. This study demonstrates that the anti-alcohol campaigners’ mantra that there is no safe limit just doesn’t stack up.”
People who have a local pub or bar that they visit regularly tend to feel more socially engaged and contented, and are more likely to trust other members of their community, finds new research from the University of Oxford.
The recent findings published in the journal Adaptive Human Behaviour and Physiology reveal that moderate alcohol consumption with friends at a local pub may be linked to improved well-being.
While most studies warn of the health risks of alcohol consumption, researchers at the University of Oxford have looked at whether having a drink may play a role in improving social cohesion.
Combining data from three separate studies – a questionnaire-based study of pub clientele, observing conversational behaviour in pubs, and a national survey by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) – the researchers looked at whether the frequency of alcohol consumption or the type of venue affected peoples’ social experiences and wellbeing.
They found that people who have a ‘local’ that they visit regularly tend to feel more socially engaged and contented, and are more likely to trust other members of their community.
They also observed that those without a local pub had significantly smaller social networks and felt less engaged with, and trusting of, their local communities.
“Our social networks provide us with the single most important buffer against mental and physical illness.”
Professor Robin Dunbar of the University of Oxford’s Experimental Psychology department, said, “This study showed that frequenting a local pub can directly affect peoples’ social network size and how engaged they are with their local community, which in turn can affect how satisfied they feel in life.
“Our social networks provide us with the single most important buffer against mental and physical illness. While pubs traditionally have a role as a place for community socialising, alcohol’s role appears to be in triggering the endorphin system, which promotes social bonding.”
The study also showed that those who drank at local pubs tended to socialise in smaller groups, which encouraged whole-group conversation. Those drinking in city-centre bars tended to be in much larger groups, and participated much less in group conversation.
Colin Valentine, CAMRA’s National Chairman, added, “Pubs play a unique role in offering a social environment to enjoy a drink with friends in a responsible, supervised community setting.
“For this reason, we all need to do what we can to ensure that everyone has a ‘local’ near to where they live or work – the first step to which is strengthening planning protection for pubs to stem the 21 pubs closing across this country each week.”
New research from Molson Coors highlights the important role played by pubs in local communities throughout Scotland.
Scots are more likely to visit the pub than the social club or community centre, according to new research commissioned by Molson Coors. The importance of ‘local’ pubs in the Scottish community was highlighted in the research which showed that almost a third (32%) of Scots visit their local at least twice a month, with close to half of Scottish men (41%) believing it is important to have a pub within walking distance of their home.
However the research also highlighted the fact that between 2007 and 2012 a total of 703 community pubs closed throughout Scotland and around three-quarters of Scottish drinkers (76 per cent) believe the trend of pub closures is set to continue. This, however, is being combated by inventive publicans who are providing tailored services and introducing a range of events to entice new customers.
Phil Whitehead, Managing Director of Molson Coors Scotland, explains why pubs remain important, Local pubs have long been a corner stone of Scottish communities, and provide people with a great place to meet and socialise. It’s fantastic to see in this report that the public recognise the key role played by their ‘local’ in the community. This support and seeing more younger people and women visiting pubs will help pull them through times that are challenging for all businesses. Our experience at Molson Coors has shown that by helping smaller drinking establishments continue to provide a traditional service and a great atmosphere for all customers, makes a big difference.”
Kenny MacAskill, Cabinet Secretary for Justice added, “From the cosy pubs at the heart of rural communities to the bigger venues in our towns and cities that serve thousands of people every month, pubs are an important part of Scottish life. For hundreds of years, people have used them to enjoy a drink and a chat with their friends, and we all want to see that continue.
“The Scottish Government values the licensed trade in Scotland, and supports responsible drinking. I look forward to considering the findings of this report that Molson Coors have commissioned, and encourage everyone to recognise the value of their local pubs, restaurants and hotels, which are important parts of our communities.”
The report also examined the methods employed by local pubs to maintain their customer base and differentiate themselves from competitors with greater resources. It was found that their ability to deliver a more personable service and a welcoming atmosphere – dubbed ‘super-service’ – is integral to the future of the trade. A core emphasis on ensuring higher quality customer care was deemed the primary reason that local pubs manage to sustain their business and ensure customers are not lost to potentially cheaper, but less welcoming premises.
Phil Whitehead concludes, “It’s very promising to see pubs innovating and demonstrating resilience in the face of the challenges they face. Actively seeking to attract a wider audience, and remaining committed to prioritising service above all else is cementing the key role that pubs continue to play in society. It is this steadfast determination to respond to customer needs and adapt their business accordingly which is helping sustain the trade, despite tough times.”
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