Restaurants are operating at significantly reduced capacity due to the COVID Secure measures in place to keep customers and staff safe. They have been shut for months, and now are being hit hard by people not turning up for their booking.
#NoMoreNoShows is a new national campaign which has been launched to raise the awareness of the issue.
Businesses understand that people’s plans and circumstances change, but customers are being asked to be courteous and cancel their booking if they need to. This gives the restaurant the opportunity to fill the table.
COVID Secure guidelines ask restaurants to use a booking only system; allowing restaurants to safely manage their guests, as well as keep customer records for Test and Trace purposes. This means, the number of walk-ins is minimal.
Dave and Aimee Hancock, owners of Tinga, Salisbury’s number one restaurant on Trip Advisor, said: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the support we’ve received following our reopening earlier this month. We’ve only received a small number of no-shows, but we understand this issue could be detrimental to businesses, jobs and the hospitality industry as a whole.
“We’re supporting the #NoMoreNoShows campaign to raise the awareness of the issue. As independent restaurant owners, all we ask for is a phone call if you need to cancel your booking. We understand plans change, but we are grateful to be given the opportunity to fill bookings with another guest.
“At Tinga, we’re working at 60% of our usual capacity, so every table is so valuable to us and is vital for our success. We look forward to welcoming guests to come and experience a taste of Mexico in our Salisbury restaurant.”
Last week, the Chancellor announced the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme to support the hospitality industry. The scheme will give diners 50% off their food and non-alcoholic drinks bill all day, every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday throughout August. Salisbury BID will be sharing a list of restaurants, cafes and pubs taking part in the scheme.
A full list of open restaurants in Salisbury city centre can be found here.
Restaurants with outside seating Salisbury city centre can be found here.
In partnership with VisitWiltshire, Salisbury BID co-fund the Visit Salisbury website to promote the city to visitors. The Visit Salisbury website has a full events calendar for Salisbury.
