How you can support your favourite bars and restaurants into 2021
January is generally a slow month for the hospitality sector as it is, largely due to those who have overindulged during the festive period wishing to take a break and partaking in the equally dreadful ‘Dry January’ or ‘Veganuary’.
However, owing to ever-shifting and ever-stricter lockdown restrictions, we may not have had ample opportunity to indulge as we normally would.
After the crippling year that the hospitality industry has faced, with the grim sight of shut bars and restaurants looking set to continue for at least the next couple of months, the most selfish thing you could do this January would be to abandon your local favourite haunt.
Read more: London, and the UK, needs a hospitality minister
We can’t afford to lose our hospitality sector altogether. Pubs and restaurants are where free exchange of ideas take place, where friendships form, and romance blossoms – for many, they are pillars of local community.
Here’s how you can support London’s hospitality sector this New Year:
Give the gift of food and drink
Many of London’s pubs and restaurants are offering ‘pay it forward’ initiatives which will help to keep venues afloat with the assurance of future custom.
For example, London’s myriad of Young’s pubs is offering ‘The Gift of the Pub’ where you can purchase vouchers for a round of drinks (£20), a country getaway (£100), dinner for two (£50), and a range of other dining experiences to redeem in the future.
Support Hospitality is a brilliant website where you can find a range of participating hospitality venues around the country offering gift vouchers available for purchase. A useful dropdown menu allows you to choose which UK county you would like to search within; you can even choose between north, south, east, west and central London. There are many well-known venues advertised here including Marylebone’s Chiltern Firehouse, Bluebird Café, and the Wolseley in St James’s – as well as a vast array of independent cafes, restaurants and pubs. Hospitality businesses can list themselves completely free of charge.
It’s never too late to have your work Christmas party
Due to the restrictive measures placed on London for most of December, it is highly likely that most businesses hosted their Christmas socials via Zoom for the first time. However, did you know that many companies get tax relief for multiple annual events costing less than £150 per head? To be exempt, the party or similar social function must:
- be open to all employees
- be annual, such as a Christmas party or summer barbecue
- cost £150 or less per person
This benefit is also applicable to online and virtual parties.
So, next time your work is planning a social (or is due to throw a belated Christmas bash), why not encourage your company to use the tax break to contribute to local businesses by getting them to supply food and drink to employees? A company social would boost morale, support London’s businesses, and get tax relief at the same time – it’s a win-win-win scenario.
Read more: Delivery boxes to get you through a Tier 4 lockdown
Buy merch from your favourite restaurant
One thing you can do to support your favourite café, pub, or restaurant while they are closed is to buy their merch. For example, many of London’s most iconic eateries have produced cookbooks so that you can replicate the taste of your favourite place in the comfort of your own home. London’s much-loved Indian restaurant Dishoom and Rosa’s Thai have released such cookbooks to great success. Dishoom’s website even offers a selection of gifts – including a bacon naan roll kit – available to purchase.
Aside from food, some restaurants have produced clothing that enables you to proudly wear your support for your favourite restaurant; the ever-popular Max’s Sandwich Shop in Stroud Green has a range of t-shirts, books and retro prints available while Camden’s beloved Cheese Bar has home kits and all the cheesy merch your heart (and stomach) could desire.
The next big celebratory event is Burns Night on 25 January, so why not scour London’s Scottish restaurants for authentic produce to commemorate Scotland’s beloved Robbie Burns? Mac and Wild have an online butcher service which delivers the finest meats from the Scottish Highlands direct to your door and Boisdale offer a range of Scottish food and drink to enjoy at home. Match this with a fine Scotch bought from your local independent retailer and you’re good to go.
Leave a review
Have you recently enjoyed a takeaway from your favourite place? If so, leave a review!
Reviews are vital publicity for businesses and are perhaps the easiest and cheapest way you can support them. The next time someone is looking for the best local Chinese takeaway, it may just be your review that sways them to try out your favourite.
Even if you haven’t had a takeaway in recent times (who hasn’t?), why not leave reviews for places you have previously frequented to encourage people to visit when the hospitality sector opens up? It costs nothing to spread the word about good food and excellent customer service.
Support a hospitality charity
If you are looking for a new charity to support in 2021, you should look to support some of the charities that have been helping the hospitality sector through its toughest year yet.
Hospitality Action is a well-established trade charity which has never been more important, or more needed, than it is now. The charity has offered vital assistance to all who work, or have worked within hospitality in the UK, since 1837, and throughout the coronavirus pandemic has collaborated with the innovative tipping platform TiPJAR to offer emergency grants of £250 to hospitality workers who have lost their jobs\hours. You can donate to their cause (and direct your donation to those in London, if you so wish) here.