South Tyneside restaurants claim £651,000 from Eat out to Help Out scheme

Government figures show that £651,000 has so far been claimed in South Tyneside from the initiative.

Anyone eating at participating outlets Monday to Wednesday during August 2020 could have a Government funded 50% discount on food and soft drinks, up to a maximum of £10, with restaurants claiming the money back.

The figures show that a total of 89 outlets in the borough registered, with £651,000 being claimed for 109,000 meals. This averages at £5.97 per meal.

The statistics were provided for each UK parliamentary constituencies. South Tyneside has two. The average claimed in South Shields was £6.40 per meal. In Jarrow it was £5.08.

Of the 89 participating outlets, 62 were in the South Shields constituency which includes Whitburn, 27 were in Jarrow, which includes Hebburn, Cleadon and Boldon.

Across the North East 2,467 outlets registered with £14,454,000 being claimed for 2,413,000 meals, an average of £5.99 per meal. The UK average is £5.79 with the highest in Essex constituency Rayleigh and Wickford at £8.22 per meal.

Nationally 70,666 outlets have claimed £363 million for 63 million meals. However, figures only include businesses with 25 or fewer participating outlets. The figures increase considerably when major chains are taken into account.

The Treasury says restaurants have so far made around 130,000 claims worth £522m, with figures set to rise as claims can be made until the end of September.

Eat Out to Help Out was introduced in response to alarming figures for the restaurant industry. Monday to Wednesday bookings in July 2020 were down 54% on compared with the previous year.

According to OpenTable, the final day of the scheme saw a 216% rise in bookings against the equivalent day in 2019.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak told the BBC: "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.”

How much businesses from different parts of the North East have claimed so far

Newcastle upon Tyne Central - £1,977,000Newcastle upon Tyne East - £1,153,000City of Durham - £927,000Berwick-upon-Tweed - £826,000Sunderland Central - £735,000Hexham - £622,000South Shields - £451,000North Durham - £392,000Stockton North - £378,000Easington - £374,000Hartlepool - £365,000Washington and Sunderland West - £300,000Houghton and Sunderland South - £284,000Jarrow - £200,000

A message from the Editor:

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to the Shields Gazette website and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content.

Visit here to sign up. You can subscribe to the newspaper with 20% off here. Thank you.