As #SustFest19 will tell you, sustainability is not just about reduce/reuse/recycle. While important, elements around community cohesion, mental wellbeing and business viability all contribute to a city’s sustainability. With this in mind, St Albans BID is delighted to be a sponsor for the Market Takeover on Sunday 19 May as well as promoting a for-business connectivity project throughout the festival to promote the benefits of the humble lunch break.

St Albans Does Lunch showcases St Albans’ lunchtime offering to workers in the city centre and encourages them to leave their desk at lunchtime. This is a new initiative for St Albans BID in association with #SustFest19, with a ballot offered to professional sector employees for £5 lunch vouchers during the three week May festival. St Albans Does Lunch encourages local office workers to use their lunch hour to try out local dine-in restaurants and cafes to enjoy their lunch and reduce waste on takeaway sandwiches and disposable single-use packaging.

UK workers rarely leave the office at lunch time and eat lunch at their desk on average four days a week. In St Albans, feedback from our members in both the professional services and hospitality sectors have needs on both sides of the table: our local cafes and restaurants are not at capacity on week day lunchtimes and despite excellent fixed price menus and promotional activity it’s tricky to tempt office workers away from their desks.

So how do BID Members get involved? If you’re a café, restaurant or diner with eat-in facilities and can offer a full main meal for £5 (drinks and side dishes to be charged to the diners) then get in touch with St Albans BID to get involved. Similarly, if you are a professional service (i.e. office-based business), let us know that you’re interested and we’ll share information to distribute to your teams to let them register for the vouchers.

A similar initiative in Nottingham saw over 87% of participants feeling that the initiative had a positive impact on their business and 97% of participants wanted the initiative repeated. I’m sure you’re able to find a date in the diary, some friendly colleagues and a willing café through BID. So come on, St Albans, let’s do lunch!

To find out more about St Albans Does Lunch please email Sarah Fenton, Events and Comms Manager, on sarah.fenton@stalbansbid.com. The initiative will be available to BID Member businesses in the city centre only.