Small pubs, restaurants warned over customer offers

Date: 26th August 2009

Two-for-one deals and other discounts need to be offered to customers carefully, the British Hospitality Association has warned.

The trade organisation said that small pubs and restaurants could suffer from these offers once the recession comes to an end.

This is because they will no longer be giving customers these deals, although patrons will be expecting them.

"When that happens they will have to be careful about how they handle that," commented Miles Quest, a spokesman for the trade association.

"But for the time being and certainly for the next six months I think those offers will still be going on and, OK, it does mean lower margins, lower profits, but it still keeps the restaurant busy, it still keeps turnover up," he added.

Recent research from Harden's London Restaurants suggests that despite the recession, the past 12 months have seen the lowest level of restaurant closures in the capital since 2000.