This post was originally published on this site
A London restaurant group that has hosted celebrities including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Whoopi Goldberg and Hugh Laurie has launched a series of vouchers with a “war bond” theme to raise cash to keep the business afloat as it complies with government restrictions during the coronavirus lockdown.
Boisdale, which owns four high-end venues in London including in the prestigious Mayfair and Belgravia districts, is offering 14 discounted vouchers including the Victory Dinner Bond, the Lobster Thermidor Bond and the Dom Pérignon Bond, which start at £45 ($55) and go up to £1,500 ($1,837)
Ranald Macdonald, the Boisdale founder, said the idea for “war bonds” came to him while he was soaking in the bath listening to Winston Churchill on the radio. “Though we are all in a war we don’t want to be gloomy. I wanted to ensure that supporting Boisdale was both amusing and fun as well as a highly attractive deal.”
More than 300 bonds have been sold since they were launched on Saturday, with the £100 ($122) Long Victory Lunch bond, which entitles the bearer to lunch dishes off the menu up to the value of £200 ($245) at any time until April 4, 2021, proving the most popular among customers and friends. The bottle of Dom Pérignon & 30 grams Caviar Bond for £169.50 ($207), which is normally £348 ($426), has also sold well.
The move by Boisdale comes as restaurants across Britain — from high-end and smaller chains to single-outlet venues — are struggling to stay afloat as they have been forced to close as the government tries to control the coronavirus pandemic. For small businesses like restaurants that have limited access to credit and other sources of liquidity, cash reserves are key for paying high fixed costs including rent, suppliers and employees.
Macdonald said the U.K.’s government scheme aimed at supporting businesses both during the lockdown as well as after to help them recover once the crisis passes, wasn’t working because the vast majority were unable to gain approval for the loans.
“The scale and failure of the much-lauded government backed bank loans to reach business will have terrifying consequences for the economy,” Macdonald said.
“The real issue is that businesses are unable to obtain the loan in the first place due to the lending criteria, which is summarized as requiring normal commercial terms,” he added. “Little surprise, then, that so few loans have been approved despite no shortage of funds.”
Several other restaurants have also appealed to customers to buy gift vouchers to help steer them through the economic crisis.
In February, Harts Group, which owns the private members club Quo Vadis, as well as the four-branch Spanish tapas bar chain Barrafina, started offering customers £1,250 vouchers — a discount of 25%.
Other venues have pivoted to take-away service to keep their businesses running. Deliveroo said at the end of March that 3,000 new U.K. restaurants had registered on its platform. The food-delivery operation has also launched a new campaign #HereToDeliver to support the sector, including waiving onboarding fees for new restaurants.
In the U.S., Uber Technologies UBER, -3.54% has reported a spike in demand for its Uber Eats service.
