The Eat Out to Help Out scheme needs to be extended after proving successful in getting people back to the High Street, a small business group has said.
The call comes as the popular initiative, which sees the cost of eat-in meals reduced three days a week, is due to finish at the end of August.
The Government announced the scheme, in which diners’ meals are slashed to half price up to the value of £10 per head during August, to help the hard-hit hospitality industry cope with the coronavirus crisis.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has called on ministers to extend the scheme into September.
Chairman Mike Cherry said: “The Eat Out to Help Out scheme has been an overwhelming success in getting people back on their high streets and in their town centres.
“We now need to see it extended to continue the critical support that it is providing for small firms as we enter a period of economic make or break.
“Over the past few weeks, the scheme has been hugely welcomed by small businesses and their customers alike.
“A nationwide one-month extension would go some way to helping many firms which are still only just about managing in this time of crisis.
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“More than 64m meals have been cooked and dished out across almost 50,000 restaurants and cafes who have been able to reap the rewards of this great initiative, but as we enter September with schools reopening and more people going back to their places of work, there are still strong merits to continuing this for one more month.
“Additional support is still needed for certain groups in the leisure sector, especially pubs.
“We need to see these community hubs fully brought into the Eat Out to Help Out fold, particularly as they have been excluded from the recent VAT cut for food.”
The FSB said that after September the scheme should be “reactivated” in areas that have gone through local lockdowns.
Mr Cherry said: “We must do all we can to safeguard the futures of the small firms that make up 99% of our small business community. They will be pivotal to our recovery from this recession.”
New Government figures show that more than 64m meals have now been claimed by diners since the Government launched the Eat Out to Help Out discount scheme at the start of the month.
The Treasury said this represents a continued “upward trend” in dining, after 10.5m meals were claimed in the first week, before climbing to a total of 35mfor the first two weeks.
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Claims from the first two weeks of the scheme cost around £180m, according to HMRC.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “This scheme has reminded us how much we love to dine out, and in doing so, how this is helping to protect the jobs of nearly two million people who work in hospitality.
“I am urging everyone, where they can, to continue to safely enjoy a meal while the scheme remains open.”