THE Government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme has given the restaurant industry a ‘much needed’ boost, according to the owner of a Derby eaterie.
Easton Andrea, who owns House of Darwin, in Shelton Lock, has seen a massive 800 per cent increase in customers taking advantage of the initiative, where diners can enjoy 50 per cent off meals and non-alcoholic drinks, up to £10 a head, throughout August.
Mr Andrea, who also owns Honest Pizzas – a brand-new take-out situated on Manor Road – said: “On a regular Monday night, we would expect to have 60-70 diners through our doors.
“But we have been welcoming between 260-270 guests on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights on which the scheme has been operating.
House of Darwin has had an 800% increase in customers through the doors due to the Eat Out to Help Out scheme
READ MORE: Pizza lovers from as far afield as Sheffield flock to grand opening of Honest Pizzas in Derby
“There have been challenges; we still have the same size team dealing with the huge increase of diners and we have to maintain the standards which they come to expect from House of Darwin.
“It would be unsustainable to run the scheme for longer than a month, but the Eat Out to Help Out initiative has been the adrenaline injection into the industry which it so desperately needed.”
Whilst House of Darwin has seen a huge increase in numbers through the door, Honest Pizzas has experienced a slight dip in sales which, according to Mr Andrea, was ‘to be expected’.
“Take-outs, such as Honest Pizzas, had their time during lockdown where there was a 300-400 per cent increase in sales across the board,” he said,
“It was an unnatural spike and so a slight dip – it is very slight – was to be expected.”
Although 2020 has been a challenging year for most businesses, Mr Andrea has bucked the trend with great success for both House of Darwin and Honest Pizzas.
Honest Pizzas, a joint venture with wife Anastasia which serves the biggest New York-style pizzas – 18 inches of doughy-delight – you can currently buy in Derby, opened its doors when the Coronavirus pandemic was at its peak.
Honest Pizzas boast the biggest pizzas and Derby and the business was set up during the Coronavirus lockdown
And House of Darwin, the former Golden Pheasant pub which Mr Andrea took ownership of in 2017, continues to go from strength-to-strength.
Their application to change the opening hours of the business, which will mean that, in the future, they can serve breakfast, was recently approved by Derby City Council and House of Darwin have been praised by customers for their innovative ways of making the most of their outdoor space and bringing back a ‘community feel’ to the Shelton Lock area.
“We feel like, with House of Darwin, we’ve brought something back to the community; a local, independent village pub which offers premium food – most of it locally sourced – at a fair price,” added Mr Andrea.
“We have made the most of our popular outside bar areas since social distancing restrictions were put in place, to provide a safer and more convenient way to eat out. We regularly host quiz nights at House of Darwin and have tried our best to support the community over the past 18 months.
“Hopefully, in the future, we will be able to open for breakfast to expand our offering at House of Darwin further.”
ENDS
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