Organised by Liverpool BID Company more than 75 venues took part in Liverpool Restaurant Week with 78% of participating venues saying it had brought in extra business. Tony McDonough reports

Hospitality venues in Liverpool city centre are hailing Liverpool Restaurant Week a success as it led to a rise in trade.

Organised by Liverpool BID Company in April, Liverpool Restaurant Week saw more than 75 outlets take part. The liverpoolrestaurantweek.com saw more than 13,800 individual downloads of special offers. Diners took up deals totalling £237,000.

Each restaurant created culinary and drink offers ranging from £5 to £35. The initiative contributed to footfall in the city centre. On Bold Street, which had 16 offers as part of, footfall was up by 19% compared with the same week last year.

There were around an extra 50,000 visitors in the city centre and 78% of local restaurants surveyed said they thought it had brought it extra business, with increases from the previous week reaching up to 40%.

Food and drink is worth millions to the Liverpool city region economy. In the first three months of 2024, £76m was spent in Liverpool venues.

In 2022, food and drink spend in Liverpool was £0.851bn. The average visitor spends £29.98 on food and drink when they come to the city.

Nedwah Abdo, from Haute Dolci on Bold Street, said: “Liverpool Restaurant Week was a huge success for us. We were able to showcase our exquisite menu from brunch, heavenly desserts and refreshing drinks at a low price.

“As we are newly opened this offer allowed a lot of new people to try out our menu for the first time and hopefully, they will become loyal customers.

“We are also looking at keeping a similar offer on for the next few months for the people who didn’t get a chance to visit us during Liverpool Restaurant Week.”

Bill Addy, chief executive of Liverpool BID Company, added: “For us and for our levy payers, our work focuses on how we can give more value to the city centre, not just to businesses but visitors as well.

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“The impact of Liverpool Restaurant Week shows that our ambition was met. We wanted to increase the profile of the food and drink offers in the city, to encourage more visits and for people to explore the city plate by plate, trying somewhere new.

“We will be bringing Liverpool Restaurant Week back as it has been so warmly received by venues and diners alike.”

Liverpool Restaurant Week will return in 2025, dates to be confirmed.