Birmingham restaurant owner says no-shows still a 'disheartening' issue
New research has found that restaurant no-shows and late cancellations are still plaguing Birmingham businesses with costs.
Last updated 30th Sep 2026
Diners failing to turn up for reservations are continuing to put pressure on restaurants, with new figures from the OpenTable Restaurant Impact Report revealing no-shows are costing Birmingham businesses an average of £62.50 for a table of two.
In Birmingham, 27% of people admitted they have no-showed at a restaurant in the past year, while 22% said they have double-booked restaurants for the same occasion.
Meanwhile, 30% of Birmingham diners think giving just two to six hours’ notice is acceptable when cancelling a table.
Sam Morgan, Chief Executive of Open Restaurant Group and part-owner of The Bracebridge, Sutton Coldfield, said he thinks the real number of no-shows is likely to be higher than the research suggests.
He described his experience of the "selfish" behaviour as "disheartening."
“People wouldn’t dare dream of booking a concert ticket and effectively not showing," he said.
"If they do, the impact is on them because they’ve paid for the ticket. But in restaurants there’s this psychology that effectively it doesn’t matter, or it’s not of their concern.
“The impact, however, is great on us as a business and it’s really disheartening. But it’s an unfortunate part of society at the moment, which I believe wholeheartedly needs to change.”
The research found 60% of restaurant operators in the UK said no-shows can force them to turn away other bookings, while the same proportion said it led to wasted staffing costs. Almost half also said missed reservations can lead to wasted food and stock.
Mr Morgan said no-shows are another pressure on a sector already struggling: “The future of hospitality, especially independent hospitality, is challenging for a multitude of different reasons. This is just one of those reasons that’s the cherry on top really.
“Current trading conditions are extremely difficult, taxation is extremely difficult, cost of labour is extremely difficult. There are significant issues with trading at the moment and all that we ask customers to do is be reasonable.
“The more no-shows and late cancellations that people get, the more we, as a business, have to either increase costs or put measures in to protect ourselves."
He explained how they have started taking credit card details with reservations at The Bracebridge, to help limit the business costs caused by missed bookings.
“It’s something that we don’t necessarily want to have to do, and it actually costs the business money, but unfortunately we do have to do it," the restaurant owner said.
"If we didn’t do that, the business wouldn’t in any way be protected and unfortunately the rise of no-shows would be even more significant.”
Mr Morgan also emphasised that he understands that sometimes circumstances change and customers genuinely cannot attend.
The hospitality sector supports 3.6 million UK jobs and contributes £96 billion to the economy each year, while 98% of diners believe local restaurants, pubs, bars and cafés are vital to their communities.
In more positive news, the research also indicates that UK no-show rates have fallen by 6% year-on-year, suggesting diner behaviour may be beginning to improve.