The new year means time for restaurateurs to start thinking about Valentine's Day, and how to ensure your restaurant furniture is put to best use.
As always, there will be the dilemma over whether to take the usual mix of bookings from couples, larger groups and solitary diners, or whether you want to focus solely on the romantic dinner-for-two market and avoid the potential awkwardness of having customers dining alone on February 14th.
Limiting yourself to bookings only for tables of two will usually mean you need more bookings to fill your restaurant to capacity - after all, it takes four couples to equate to a single party of eight people.
One option is to offer a 'discount' on your ticket price - which, thanks to the higher margins to be made on an occasion like Valentine's Day, as well as the cost efficiency of operating a set menu, can combine to mean you are still making more profit on the meal than you ordinarily might.
Research published by foodservice analyst Horizons after Valentine's Day 2015 forecasted that by the end of the decade, the UK foodservice sector in general will be worth about £10 billion more, taking its value to an estimated £56.3 billion at a growth rate higher than at any point since before the recession.
Peter Backman, managing director of Horizons, said at the time: "The use of discounting and money-off vouchers has levelled off, with operators using them much more tactically to support particular events or occasions, such as Mother's Day or Valentine's Day."
Catering for couples means having the right size of tables, with the right number of chairs - and of course, if you already operate a restaurant, you may have some of the furniture you need.
Equally so, some restaurant furniture is designed for groups rather than couples, and it may be worth the investment to add some smaller tables and pairs of chairs to your furnishings ahead of February 14th.
We can help you to work out what you need, and which of our products or bulk-buy packages is the best way to add it to what you already have, so that Valentine's Day proves enjoyable for your diners, and as profitable as possible for you.