Only two days into NE1’s Newcastle Restaurant Week (Tuesday 28 January) and NE1’s getintonewcastle website has recorded its largest number of visitors ever with over 100,000 logging on so far this month to take advantage of the restaurant offers, a staggering 68% increase on the same period last year.
The 100k visitors would suggest that over a 1/3 of all Geordies are taking advantage of the seventh NE1’s Newcastle Restaurant Week (27 January – 2 February). The city has a population of 280,000 and the website has just recorded its 100K visitor.
H&C News comment
Congratulations to NE1 – Newcastle’s own driving force behind the growth and success of Restaurant Week. And let’s not forget that this type of success requires great and detailed effort before such outstanding results can be achieved. It’s not easy, but great results!
This is an example that must surely inspire towns and cities all over the UK. And H&C News looks forward to hearing about new initiatives in the year ahead.
60 restaurants taking part
Over 60 of the city’s finest restaurants are taking part in NE1’s Newcastle Restaurant Week which offers diners the opportunity to ‘discover’ new restaurants across the city for fixed priced menus of either £10 or £15 per head.
Restaurant Week born to drive trade at quiet times
Newcastle has a vibrant restaurant scene with more restaurants per square mile than anywhere else in the North East of England. To turn the spotlight on the industry and to drive trade at traditionally quite times of the year, in 2011 NE1 Ltd got together with some of the city’s top restaurants to discuss what could be done and the Restaurant Week idea was born, modelled on a similar scheme that operates in New York City.
All the city’s top restaurateurs saw the potential and were prepared to put aside their competitive rivalries to work together for the good of the industry.
13 of Newcastle’s top restaurants were involved in the first event: 3 years later, over 60 restaurants take part and the weeks, one in January, the other in August, are a firm fixture in the city’s events calendar with over 60% of Restaurant Week customers visiting 2 or more restaurants during the week with some dining out 7 nights during the week.
Unique formula
NE1’s Restaurant Week is a unique formula, nowhere else in the UK operates an event like Newcastle, which is so simple and easy to communicate to consumers as well as being easily adopted by the restaurants. The event has grown in stature and popularity since its launch with participating businesses experiencing a 43% increase in trade during the week.
Full bookings – one week becomes two!
Many of the 68 participating restaurants taking part in this week long initiative are already fully booked for the week, which has led NE1 to extend the offer for a further week to avoid disappointing customers. The event will now run until 9th February 2014.
The success of NE1’s Restaurant Week reflects the buoyancy of Newcastle’s restaurant scene. Newcastle is the culinary capital of the region with more restaurants per square mile than any other city in the north east of England.
The city has recently attracted many new top end restaurant brands including Browns, Carluccios and Cafe Rouge – a list that will soon include Jamie’s Italian, opening in Monument Mall this Spring. In addition to this, there has been a large increase in local start-up restaurants including celebrity chef and double Michellin starred chef, Kenny Atkinson with his new venture, House of Tides. Other local independents new to the city’s foodie scene include Herb Garden, Sausage Emporium and the Bridge Tavern, who are participating in NE1’s Newcastle Restaurant Week.
The owner’s view
Mike Morley, Owner of Pan Haggerty restaurant explained:
“We have been overwhelmed and delighted by the response to this week’s NE1’s Newcastle Restaurant Week. This is by far the busiest Restaurant Week to date, having been involved from the start as one of the founding restaurants back in January 2011 when NE1 launched the event.
“For the last two days, we’ve arrived at the restaurant to over 30 messages received between 9am- 9.30am with people wanting to book for the week. Restaurant Week is not only really worthwhile it is great fun and already it would appear that we’re 40% up on last January’s Restaurant Week business.
“We are fully booked this week, so to avoid disappointing new and existing customers we are going to extend the offer for another week and change the menu so if anyone wants to dine with us again they will have a new menu to choose from.”
For more information on all participating restaurants and RW offers click here
NE1’S Newcastle Restaurant Week Statistics
- 68 restaurants are taking part in this January’s NE1’s Newcastle Restaurant Week
- 33% increase on number of restaurants who participated in Restaurant Week in August 2013
- 423% increase on number who took part in the 1st Restaurant Week in 2011 when 13 restaurants were involved.