Restaurant group Little Bay has found its “pay-what-you-think-it’s-worth” promotion a great success, with the average customer spending 30% more than usual.
The group, which ran the promotion throughout February at its Farringdon outlet, said that within five days of its launch the restaurant was fully booked, with a total of nearly 10,000 diners visiting the restaurant during the four weeks of the promotion.
Each customer paid on average £17.25 for their meal, almost 30% more than the average food spend of £13.50 at the restaurant.
Little Bay owner Peter Ilic said while he had been nervous about running the promotion during the recession, it had “restored his faith in people’s honesty”.
“The most someone left was a hefty £40 per head, about £25 over our normal spend,” he said. “Our lowest amount was a penny per person plus a £5 tip from two students who said they wanted to prove that the promotion was genuine.”
Ilic added: “Most surprising has been which new customers we’ve attracted. I’d say over half were City workers, proving that even the big spenders are looking for a good value meal out right now.”
Little Bay runs four restaurants in London, with branches in Farringdon, Battersea, Kilburn and Croydon.
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By Kerstin Kühn
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