Restaurant boss makes plea to no-show diners

A restaurant boss who says his business is losing more than £1,000 each month due to no-shows has pleaded with diners to call ahead if they are unable to make their reservation.

JJ Wainwright, director of The Craddock in Knighton and two pubs in Leicester, estimates up to 15 people each week are booking tables but not showing up.

He said the no-shows cost his business at least £20 in lost takings per booking.

"Whether it's spiteful or a genuine mistake it's hard to know," he said. "It could be someone we've barred because they've been inappropriate to staff. It's frustrating."

Wainwright told the BBC one of the most recent no-shows was for a 10-person booking.

"When people book and don't turn up it means we are stopping other people eating," he said.

"Just give us a heads-up and cancel, even if it's a couple of hours before."

Wainwright also runs The Clarendon and recently re-opened The Donkey in Welford Road.

"When you have a 10 people no-show and you can only sit 60, it does equate to quite a bit of money you're losing," he said.

"We're a fresh food kitchen and they order stock based on how busy the week's looking, so if you have a few no-shows on one day and they've prepped for the amount of people that are on that day, we've got to figure out ways to not waste the food."

He cited Father's Day as an example where people would often double up on bookings to ensure they get in somewhere - but then fail to cancel the reservation they do not need.

"It's a really busy day for us, and when you see empty tables, where we've turned people away who wanted to have a meal out with their dad and they can't because it's fully booked, to then see the empty tables, it's just annoying," he said.

A recent survey run by table booking service OpenTable ranked Leicester as the worst place in the country for diners failing to turn up to their reservations, ahead of Birmingham and Milton Keynes.

"Just ring and let us know, so we don't have to turn people away, even if it's the hour before," said Jennifer Gallie, manager of The White Horse in Birstall.

"We take a deposit for tables over six, but not for smaller numbers."

Gallie estimates each unfulfilled reservation was worth about £60 and said it was happening "a few times a month".

"Sometimes we take the details and then find out they've given us the wrong number," she said. "They're keeping their options open."

Tony Sophoclides, from the trade body UKHospitality, said: "I don't think people are doing it with any intention or malice, and there are ways people can reduce this by taking a deposit, but most places don't want to do that.

"Because we're hospitality, we want to be friendly, so we'd rather rely on people kindly accepting the fact that it's a harmful thing to do for these businesses."

He said the industry was already suffering and added: "It makes things harder and the impact is even bigger because as a sector we are facing so many cost challenges in themselves, so that makes it more acute."

Listen to BBC Radio Leicester on Sounds and follow BBC Leicester on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.