[UNITED KINGDOM, 25/05/2023] Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the restaurant industry has managed to survive by adapting quickly. Restaurants of all types and places have changed to keep their businesses running. As more restaurants begin to reopen, it's evident that some of these changes will continue in the long term.

Focus on Safety

When restaurants reopened, there was a stronger emphasis on ensuring health and safety. While some places still require enhanced health measures due to the pandemic, these measures will remain optional yet crucial in preventing future risks after the pandemic ends.

Health Precautions

Some precautions, such as mask-wearing and social distancing, are no longer necessary. However, habits like frequent handwashing, providing hand sanitizer, and regularly disinfecting surfaces continue to be necessary. The industry will prioritize hygiene more than before, taking a proactive approach to prevent future disease spread rather than simply meeting FDA standards.

Contactless Payments

Before the outbreak in the United Kingdom, contactless payments were already well-established. However, since then, it has become an essential technology. In 2020, 46 percent of UK restaurants offered contactless payment options to increase safety measures. The contactless payment option is now so popular that in April 2020, the maximum spending limit was increased from £30 to £45. In October 2021, the threshold was more than doubled to £100.

Use of QR Codes

QR codes have regained popularity due to contactless ordering and the gradual reopening of restaurants. They are now crucial for self-service ordering and enable restaurants to save physical menus and staffing costs. To increase efficiency while maintaining the restaurant experience, more restaurants will start using contactless payment methods and menus that can be accessed through QR codes.

Restaurant Industry in the UK and Ireland

As of 2023, there are 32,659 restaurant businesses in the UK. Specifically, there are 7,700 cafés and coffee shops. In the previous year, 2022, the number of individuals employed within the restaurant industry in the UK reached 475,000 people.

The restaurant industry's revenue in the UK decreased by 5.1 percent between 2018 and 2023. Despite the decline, the estimated market size for the UK industry by 2023 is $19.9 billion.

About Adkins & Cheurfi

If you need talented chefs, relief chefs, or live-in chefs in Middlesbrough, Adkins & Cheurfi is your recruitment agency. They've been providing excellent service in the hospitality industry in Northern England since 2016. With over 30 years of recruitment experience, Dean and Melika understand what hospitality businesses require. For more information, please https://www.adkinscheurfi.co.uk/homepage/.