Eat out to help out

(Updated 8 July 2020)

Places that provide food for customers to eat in can register to take part in this scheme whereby HMRC will pay up to £10 towards the cost of the meals for people eating in your café, restaurant or pub.

What will be paid?

The Government will pay the lower of 50% of the cost of a meal or £10 per head for people eating in at a registered establishment.  The scheme only operates in August 2020 and only for meals eaten in on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.  This includes children.

So, for a family of 4 eating a meal in a pub on a Monday in August the charge for the meal might be £50. The government scheme will fund £25 and the pub will charge the diners £25.

Criteria

1. Meal must be eaten in
2. Establishment must be registered before applying the scheme
3. Alcoholic drinks are not included
4. Soft drinks are included
5. Payment is per dinner not per cover
6. Doesn’t include take-away food
7. Each establishment will need to keep accurate records to claim the funding, it could be assumed that this will need to tie into details of the individuals recorded as part of being COVID secure.

How do I apply?

Information for how you apply for this subsidy has not yet been released but information will have to be released in coming weeks for this to work

When can I apply?

It is not clear yet on how applications will be made although it is suggested that the scheme will open next week for registration and, once operational, businesses may be able to claim back from the government weekly, receiving funds within 5 working days.

We will update this page as soon as we have more detail.