Lack of flexibility costs restaurants millions

Owners of restaurants and cafes across the UK are missing out on millions of pounds worth of business by simply not being flexible enough for customers, according to tourism and hospitality experts iknow-uk.

iknow-uk, has seen an increase in people looking to make restaurant bookings at times that are traditionally out of hours – such as mornings, or mid afternoons – and businesses are losing out as a result.

62 per cent of people questioned had tried to call a restaurant to book a table, only to find that they were closed – and as a result 48 percent decided to favour convenience and book with a different company altogether.

Marcus Simmons, managing director at iknow-uk, said: “It sounds obvious, but if no-one is around to answer your phone when it rings, then you aren’t going to get the business. But we’ve found that there are significant numbers of customers who still can’t get in touch with restaurants when they want to – so obvious or not, it’s definitely an issue.