Rates are up: a winter plan to keep your tables full

Your customers feel a rate rise before you do. Here is a four-week plan to keep the room full this winter. Print it, stick it by the pass, tick it off.

The Bank of England put rates up to 4% on 5 November, and said another rise may follow. A week earlier the Budget confirmed a £13.21 National Living Wage from April 2027. Our Budget piece covers the cost side: saving hours on the rota before the wage rise bites. This is the other half. Keeping the bookings coming while your locals tighten their belts.

What just changed for your customers

Here is the bit that matters. Barclays found hospitality spend holding up while the number of visits fell. People go out less often, but they still spend when they do. And demand has not disappeared: managed restaurant, pub and bar groups had their best month of the year in September, up 2.7%, though London was a little softer than the rest of the country.

So the job is not slashing prices. It is making sure you are the place they pick for the fewer nights out they have left, and that the booking is in the diary before the bank statement lands.

The four-week plan

One week at a time, roughly an hour a week. Tick them off as you go. Your ticks stay saved on this device, and the print button gives you a clean copy for the office wall.

What not to do

• Do not cut prices across the board. It teaches people to wait for the deal, and your margins are already taking April’s wage rise.
• Do not go quiet. Venues that stop posting in a squeeze get forgotten. Staying visible is the cheapest thing on this list.
• Do not pay for followers or reach. Pay for bookings, and measure covers, not likes.

Copy you can use this week

Hello [first name]!

Our Christmas menu is out. Three courses for £[price] a head, and we will look after the rest.

Fridays are going fast. Mondays to Wednesdays still have room for bigger groups, and the whole room is yours if there are enough of you.

Book your table: [link]

Not sure what to get someone? Our gift vouchers are valid from January.

The short version

• Week 1: Christmas page live, deposits on, last year’s groups chased.
• Week 2: one email a week to the people who already love you.
• Week 3: set prices and an early slot, not discounts.
• Week 4: sell January in December with vouchers and a pre-booked offer.

Want us to run it for you? For a few independents this winter we are doing the first month free: Christmas page built, email list set up and sent, Google profile sorted. Then you decide whether to keep us on. See what we do for hospitality or write to hello@good-folks.co.uk.

Interest rates and hospitality: questions answered

What did the Bank of England do on 5 November 2026?

It raised Bank Rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4%, on an 8 to 1 vote, to stop higher energy costs feeding into other prices. It was the first rise in more than three years.

How does a rate rise affect restaurants and cafés?

Mostly through customers. People on trackers and variable mortgages pay more each month straight away, and confidence was already falling. Expect fewer visits rather than smaller bills, so lock in bookings early and give people a clear reason to pick you.

Should I discount to keep customers coming in?

Not across the board. Set-price menus, an early-evening slot and a midweek event give people certainty on the bill without training them to wait for a deal.

What did the Autumn Budget 2026 change for hospitality?

Small business rates relief now covers venues up to £18,000 rateable value, the National Living Wage rises to £13.21 from April 2027, alcohol duty rises with inflation from February, and there was no change to VAT or employer National Insurance. Our Budget piece has the detail.

GoodFolks is a marketing agency for independent restaurants, pubs, cafés and bakeries. For the cost side, read what the Autumn Budget means for your venue. If midweek is your weak spot, start with how to fill a quiet Tuesday.