With a week to go until pubs across the country open their doors, one of the UK’s biggest managed pub and restaurant operators Mitchells & Butlers, is bolstering the social calendar date we have been craving by extending its popular ‘The Dining Out Gift Card’.
Unveiling the plans this week, all gift cards that expired after 20th March 2020 have been extended until the end of September 2021. Since the move, data from the pub giant now shows that the generous extension means up to one million meals are waiting to be served up at some of the country’s best-loved brands including; Toby Carvery, Harvester, All Bar One, Vintage Inns, Miller & Carter, Sizzling Pubs, Browns Restaurants and Ember Inns.
Now, the search is on to find the 1,000,000 pub-goers that could literally be sitting on the ultimate gift and The Dining Out Gift Card, has teamed up with the world’s leading Findologist, Professor Solomon, to make sure as many guests as possible can dig out their gift cards and enjoy a long-awaited meal with family and friends. Commissioning new research to further support guests on the hunt, it seems that 57% of us will start the search by scouring the top shelf, while a further third will be delving into the dreaded ‘bits and bobs’ drawer.
While most are likely to have stowed their cards away safely ready for the grand reopening, the survey which quizzed 1,000 Brits saw us admit that half of us lose a valuable item on a monthly basis or even more frequently, with an additional 54% of us admitting we are the most likely culprit to have misplaced something over other members of our household.
Revealing further that one in ten of us will start running around in circles panicking before looking calmly, the author of How to Find Lost Objects, Findologist Professor Solomon, advises a systematic approach to finding lost items with his 12-point plan. He comments; “It’s important that you wait until you have an idea of where to look before you start your search. Remember the three C’s – comfort, calmness and confidence and use these to begin a systematic search.
“Believe it or not, most items are exactly where they should be – and you probably put it back without remembering. But if that doesn’t result in finding your gift card, branch out into what I call the Eureka Zone, an 18inch circle around the place where the object should usually be stored. So, if your wallet or purse isn’t yielding results, start digging down the back of the sofa!”
For guests still on the finding mission, the most unusual places cited saw 10% admitting to hiding gift cards under houseplants, 15% think it might still be in the birthday or Christmas card that they got it gifted in and one in twenty of us will be heading to our children’s bedrooms to search.
Victoria Mazengarb, partnerships manager at The Dining Out Gift Card, concluded: “We’ve been a nation of home cooks this past year, and the precious gift of time with loved ones can be given back now through dining out at your favourite restaurant.
“We’re delighted to be able to extend the deadline on our cards until the end of September – supporting our customers during these difficult times.”
For more information on The Dining Out Gift Card, or to search for one of 1,600 locations where the card can be spent, please visitwww.thediningoutgiftcard.co.uk.
