Franco Manca pizza chain gets big boost from Eat Out to Help Out

Most of pizza chain Franco Manca's sites have reopened from the Covid-19 lockdown

Joanna Hodgson20 August 2020

The owner of The Real Greek and Franco Manca restaurant chains has said the government’s Eat Out To Help Out scheme has helped it record one of its highest weekly turnover figures ever.

Fulham Shore’s chairman David Page told the Evening Standard that group weekly sales approached £1.5 million in the second week of August.

Trade in the first two weeks of this month was “markedly up” on last year.

But Page also warned three central London branches, the Strand, Aldwych and Spitalfields, will remain closed until office tenants and theatregoers return to the capital.

Footfall in the City and West End has been hurt by travel restrictions keeping tourists away, and numerous people continue to work from home.

Restaurant owners shut sites in March for the Covid-19 lockdown and were only allowed to offer takeaway and delivery services.

Sites could reopen from July 4 and most of Fulham Shore’s 66 venues have now reopened.

The August Eat Out to Help Out scheme offers people a discount of up to 50% on Mondays to Wednesdays on food and soft drinks. It is aimed at helping revive the hospitality sector.