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Join the UK's Alfresco Dining Revolution

The UK's Grand Summer Outdoor Cafe

Al Fresco Revolution extended

COVID-19: Al fresco boost for pubs and restaurants with councils told to slash planning red tape

Robert Jenrick tells council leaders: “My message is simple: let’s not let red tape get in the way of a great British summer.”

An Al Fresco Revolution Begins

 The Grand Outdoor Café is Approved by Government

In April 2020, we began our #UKGrandOutdoorCafe journey with the vision of turning the UK’s pavements and streets into fabulous al fresco dining areas – safely re-starting the hospitality industry and allowing the public to enjoy physically distanced meals and drinks outside during the Summer.

We are delighted to share the news that our campaign was a success! The government has passed the Business and Planning Act 2020, legislation to set up a fast-track approval for restaurants and bars to set up tables and chairs in spaces outside of their premises. They will also be dropping the usual 28 day consultation period, supporting already permitted restaurants, bars and pubs with alcohol licenses to sell drinks for the public to take away. The public consultation period will be seven days, followed by a seven day determination period meaning the approval would be granted within two weeks. The application fees are capped at £100.

Over 150 restaurants, pub, bar and café operators representing over 1,000 venues UK wide pledged their support for the campaign including The Piano Works, Prezzo, Pizza Express, D&D Restaurants, The Breakfast Club, Mission Mars, Revolution Bars, Dirty Martini, Brat and Kiln, along with industry bodies including UKHospitality and the Night Time Industries Association.

Design My Night have joined the campaign, offering up their Soda platform free of charge for participating operators to sell £25 gift vouchers to their customers. Operators will be offering their voucher at face value and are either adding a complimentary small glass of wine, small beer or single spirit and mixer, or doubling your £25 spend so your £25 voucher is worth £50. £2.50 of these vouchers will be donated towards free vouchers which the UK Grand Summer Outdoor Café is making available to key works through the Blue Light Card.

Leading tech marketing companies Eagle Eye Solutions and Wireless Social are supporting the campaign by turning donations into food and drink vouchers for the 150 participating venues and sending these directly to frontline workers via Blue Light Card App – a UK wide reward and discount network for our emergency services, NHS and care home workers.

A key part of the campaign now is fundraising for food and drink vouchers, so our NHS and frontline heroes can enjoy a well-earned, complimentary experience at the Grand Outdoor Café.

We're excited to already have the following partners on board:​

EagleEye, Wireless Social, Prezzo, Pizza Express, Distinctive Food Ltd, Wafflemeister, Lucky Voice, Moo Middlesex street ltd, Buenos Aires Nights, Talentbanq, Angela Hartnett Ltd, Primrose Cafe, Pizzeria Venezia, Tasting Sicily, The White Horse, Corazon London, Yummy Pubs, Feast- It, Kerb Food, Vertigo Plant based eatery, Abokado, Queens Mayfair, Red Cup Café, Thai Square, Camm & Hooper, The Gentlemen Baristas, Mission Mars, Pickled Frog, Adventure Bars, The Wroxham, Darwin & Wallace, Spiritland, Rosa’s Thai Café, Bear, Oakman Inns, Barburrito, Urban Pantry, Rochdale Town Centre BID, Doctor Inks Curiosities, Rossopomodoro, Beetle Juice, Delhi Grill, Emilia’s Crafted Pasta, Trade, The London Cookhouse, Praire Fire, Chapel Nightclub, Hippodrome Casino, Barrio Bars, Harsca Properties Ltd, All Star Lanes, Volta do Mar, Social Entertainment Ventures, Revolution Bars Group, Remarkable Pubs, Shoot The Bull, CG Restaurants and Dirty Martini, Zonin Wines, Love Brownies, Angus Steak House and Steak & Co, Sam’s Riverside, Kbox Global, The Good Life Eatery, Green Salmon Co, Livelyhood Pubs, Aspirational Pub Company, Astaris, Albion & East, Rola Wala, St. Austell Brewery, Poppies, The Breakfast Club, Smoking Goat, Kiln, Brat, D&D London, Caffe Nero, B Browne & Co Ltd, Canteen Cornwall, The Jolly Cricketers, Mambow, Urban Village Pubs, Belle Pubs and Restaurants

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How are we supporting our front line workers?

As part of The UK Grand Summer Outdoor Cafe we're fundraising for Food and Drinks vouchers, so our heroes working on the frontline will be able to enjoy some free and well earned wonderful moments with us at The UK Grand Summer Outdoor Cafe.

How will we issue vouchers?

Our dining and drinks vouchers, will be distributed through the leading marketing technology company Eagle Eye. Money raised towards vouchers will be reimbursed to operators at face value, driving footfall traffic as well as sales, and increasing customer confidence to visit.

How will it work?

We're proposing a similar idea that is working in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania,
which has opened seating outdoors on the pavements, streets and squares outside of restaurants and bars, allowing the public
to enjoy physically distanced meals and drinks.

Please sign up below to become part of our campaign:

OPERATORS WHO WOULD LIKE OUTSIDE SPACE

LOVELY PEOPLE WHO WOULD LIKE TO SHOW SUPPORT

Our Partners:

Media Corner:

"I've raised this with DCMS and BEIS this week to see if we can take this forward."

Kate Nicholls, UK Hospitality Tweet

"We are hoping to create a temporary ceasefire between councils, hospitality operators and our neighbours. In the present system we have outdoor battle lines drawn by councils that operators must defend each year, rightly giving neighbours the right to object to the sound of merriment below their windows. Let's create a summertime truce, let us come together, re-emerge safely and thank the frontline that we are alive. The Govt. can make this happen at no cost and with goodwill from councils, hospitality and neighbours we can enjoy the summer and bring our towns and villages slowly and safely back to life. "

Alan Lorrimer, The Piano Works Group Tweet
Media Coverage
Copyright 2020 © All Rights Reserved.
Contributors:
IT consultants: Sacha and Ivan Spencer-Philips from Astaris ( www.astaris.co.uk)
PR consultants: Colleen Monaghan and Emma Hawley, co-founders of specialist hospitality comms consultancy Cru Comms (www.cru-comms.com)
Operations consultants: Alan Lorrimer and Tristan Moffat
Marketing consultant: Angela Brandstatter