Effective tomorrow, until 12th January, the government is cutting the rate of VAT for food and non-alcoholic drinks from restaurants, pubs, bars and cafes, from 20% to 5%. Their intention is to support businesses and jobs in the hospitality sector following the massive hit most operators have taken, Cafe Allez! included, during the pandemic.
This is good news for us but it’s good news for you, our customers, too. We haven’t revised our prices since opening last May and even back then, when we benchmarked with competitors in the area, we knew that we were offering you outstanding value.
We were planning to increase prices this Summer to reflect the costs of takeaway packaging and the increases in some of our raw materials and ingredients. This VAT reduction means we can postpone any price increases for you, our customers, for some months to come.
Our loyalty card scheme is still in full swing so your custom is rewarded with a free drink when you’ve bought 9 hot drinks or iced coffees – and it’s still possible, if you choose carefully, to hit that magical cyclists’ “coffee and cake for a fiver” combo!.
A little more detail for those who are interested: the government schemes have definitely helped Cafe Allez!, specifically the furlough scheme that has supported some of our team and the small business grant. Being candid though, these haven’t fully offset the losses from having to close entirely for more than 50 days in the Spring, at a time when most of our fixed costs (insurance, rent, maintenance and so forth) continued. We also had almost all Summer bookings for Van Henri cancelled in the space of a week as event after event was removed from the season.
With your support and with our fabulous team behind us, we fight on! Allez! Allez!.