Not Usual Ltd. have announced their new ‘Eat Out Round About’ app will initially launch with a trial in their home city of Wakefield, hoping to inject up to £30,000 into hospitality businesses in the city.
Backed by the government’s Innovate UK fund, the ‘Eat Out Round About’ scheme has been designed to support hospitality by providing customers with vouchers for meal discounts as well as providing a platform for organisations to work together during the pandemic recovery.
'Eat Out Round About' is a simple idea:
- Local businesses purchase Eat Out Round About vouchers for their employees and customers.
- Employees and customers discover local places to eat out on the app.
- Revenue is paid to the venue from the sale of vouchers.
Once given a code, customers can download the free app and redeem their voucher for up to £10 off at a participating restaurant. Rolled out across three periods, each launching as hospitality reopens, the trial of this scheme will take place in Wakefield with the backing of Wakefield Council and key local organisations including Theatre Royal Wakefield and the Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.
An exciting opportunity to support the burgeoning food and drink industry in the region, local businesses including The Quarry at Horbury (pictured), Marmalade on the square, Horse & Jockey, Corarima and Tet are already signed up with many more in the process of joining the scheme.
Created by Wakefield based entrepreneur Ali Gordon, Eat Out Round About is the result of years of work on a previous project ‘Bleisure Rewards’ that was quickly repurposed as the pandemic took hold in 2020. Taking her existing work and new idea to Innovate UK, Not Usual Ltd were successful in securing a grant from a government fund designed to help all sectors of the UK rebuild after the effects of Covid-19.
With ‘Eat Out Round About’, Not Usual are taking lessons learned from the governments’ Eat Out To Help scheme in 2020 and their own depth of experience and working to secure long term, sustainable support for hospitality businesses, helping local economies while keeping public health at the heart of all it does.
‘Eat Out Round About’ will roll out nationally following the initial trial in Wakefield. The first trial will run from 22nd March - 2nd April and focus on takeaway food only in line with restrictions. Customers and businesses are able to sign up for the first trial right now: https://signup.eatoutroundabout.live/eat-out-round-about-first-trial
Ali Gordon CEO & Visionary Officer, Not Usual Ltd: "As a business owner, I wanted to find a way to take what I had learned from our experience prior to the pandemic and develop technology and a platform where businesses, local authorities, residents, employees, business networks and charities could take greater control over the bounce back of their local economy. Helping the hospitality sector to benefit from the model was our first idea and we are looking forward to piloting in Wakefield"
Denise Jeffery – Wakefield Council "As a council we are seeking to innovate with new ways to attract people to Wakefield and redefine our city the other side of the pandemic. We are delighted to have been involved in the research, design and roll out of the trials when hospitality re-opens and shape the platform to help local economies to thrive."
John Horvath – The Quarry, Horbury "We are proud to be a Wakefield restaurant, promoting our city's diverse range of independent eateries getting involved with the scheme and look forward to working with Ali and the team to get the city’s hospitality community thriving again once restrictions are lifted"
Eat Out Round About is currently accepting sign ups from business and organisations and encourages any interested parties to get in touch for a conversation.
