NE1 RESTAURANT WEEK 2014 - 4 – 10 AUGUST 2014

Prepare to release a notch on your belt when NE1’s Restaurant Week gets underway for the 8th time this August.  From 4 – 10 August, over 70 of Newcastle’s finest restaurants will take part in NE1’s Restaurant Week, which offers diners the chance to ‘discover’ new restaurants across the city for fixed price menus of either £10 or £15 per head. 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 NE1’s 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, now 3 years later, over 70 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. For a full list of participating restaurants and offers, visit www.getintonewcastle.co.uk/restaurantweek NE1’s Newcastle Restaurant Week in January 2014 delivered record results in the first few days prompting many of the 68 participating restaurants to extend the offer for another week to cater for the demand.  Over 25,000 people took advantage of the offer and there was a 33% increase in the number of restaurants taking part in January’s event against the previous Restaurant Week in August 2013, a reflection of the rising number of top end restaurateurs opening in the city over the past year. Over 25,000 vouchers were redeemed in the city’s restaurants during the week, which equates to well over £350,000 worth of business for participating restaurants. 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 44% increase in trade during the week. Stephen Patterson, Director of Communications at NE1 Ltd said: “Newcastle has a fantastic restaurant scene and hosting events like NE1’s Restaurant Week raises awareness of the amazing restaurants located in the city and attracts customers at traditionally quite times of the year.   NE1’s Restaurant Week’s phenomenal growth has continued year on year and with the addition of high quality restaurants into the city, this growth looks set to continue into the future.  Based on the success of NE1’s Restaurant Week format other cities across the UK have been encouraged to follow suit and host their own events.” Terry Laybourne, 21 Hospitality Group: “NE1 galvanised the city’s restaurateurs.  No individual, or business could have delivered the initiative on their own, not only would it have been too time consuming to organise but they would not have had the marketing clout or budget to invest in making it happen.   NE1 brought all this to the table and was able to encourage businesses to put aside their competitive differences and work together to deliver Restaurant Week.  The results speak for themselves; over 60 of the city’s top restaurants now participate in the event, experiencing an average 43% increase in sales.  As well as the tangible commercial benefit for the participating restaurants, it creates an incredible buzz in the city centre and its restaurants during what were the quietest times of the year. Blackfriars Restaurant, voted Taste of England at the North East England Tourism Awards this year, has been involved in NE1’s Newcastle Restaurant Week from the beginning.  Commenting on the success of Newcastle Restaurant Week, owner Andy Hook explained: “NE1 has hugely supported and raised the profile of the city’s vibrant restaurant scene with Newcastle Restaurant Week and has encouraged new visitors to try my restaurant, Blackfriars.  A whole new group of ‘regulars’ have been spawned by previous Restaurant Weeks and we are confident that this August will be no exception.”