Should your restaurant take deposits?

What deposits do well

They make guests think twice before not turning up. In resOS’s 2026 data, bookings that needed payment protection had a recorded no-show rate of 0.80%, against 2.47% for those that didn’t (resOS, Aug 2026). resOS points out that restaurants which take deposits differ from those that don’t, so this isn’t a clean before-and-after. Still, the gap is large.

They cover real costs. If you’ve bought in for a tasting menu or rota’d extra staff for a party of twelve, a deposit means you aren’t carrying the whole loss.

Many guests accept them, at least for the right occasion. In Zonal and CGA’s research, 51% of British consumers said they’d pay a deposit to secure a booking. That rose to 65% for a special occasion and fell to 41% for casual ones (Zonal/CGA, Sept 2021).

What they cost you

Some people won’t book. In takepayments’ 2025 survey, “44% are put off making a reservation when a restaurant asks for card details” (takepayments, Sept 2025). ResDiary’s 2024 research found 62% of diners were happy to hand over card details (ResDiary, Mar 2024). The surveys disagree on the size, but both say a real share of guests hesitate.

It adds a step. Every extra screen loses some bookings, especially on a phone, and especially for a last-minute Tuesday table.

It can sour a good guest. Keeping a deposit from a regular who had a genuine emergency rarely feels worth it, so you’ll need a team that knows when to waive.

It brings admin and rules. You’ll be refunding, tracking and handling disputes, and your terms have to be fair (see below).

When deposits make sense

Deposits earn their keep where one no-show does real damage:

• Large parties. A no-show of ten empties a section. These groups don’t necessarily no-show more often (resOS recorded 1.15% for parties of 10+ against 2.63% for tables of one or two), but each one costs far more.
• Peak nights and dates. Think Valentine’s, Mother’s Day, December weekends, and any service you could have filled twice over.
• Set and tasting menus, where you’ve committed food and prep to each cover.
• Small rooms. With twelve covers, a single empty two-top is a sixth of the night.

Where they make less sense: casual lunches, walk-in-heavy brasseries, and quiet midweek services where a deposit costs you more bookings than it saves.

Keeping a deposit fair

This isn’t legal advice, but these are the points that matter. A deposit term has to be fair and clear under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. The Competition and Markets Authority’s guidance (CMA37, revised July 2026) says a deposit can be kept in full if you make clear at the earliest opportunity that it’s needed and exactly when it won’t be refunded. Those circumstances must be “clear and narrow”, and the deposit “will not normally be more than a small percentage of the price” (para 6.62) (CMA37).

In practice:

• Use a fixed per-person amount, set against what a no-show actually costs you
• Take it off the bill on the night
• Set one clear cancellation deadline
• Refund it if you refill the table, since the guidance expects charges to reflect any loss you can reduce by finding another customer (para 6.63)
• Refund it in full, with no deductions, if you cancel

Our no-show policy template has wording you can adapt.

Card holds instead of charges

A middle route is to take card details and only charge if the guest doesn’t turn up. Some venues also place a pre-authorisation, or “hold”, on the card. If you do, the guest has to agree the exact amount being held, and their bank must release it “without undue delay” once the final amount is known (Payment Services Regulations 2017, reg 78). Your card provider will have its own rules on how long a hold can last, so check with them.

Card details without a charge still put some guests off, as the takepayments figure shows. But it feels lighter than paying upfront.

Alternatives worth trying first

If you’re not sure, try the gentler options first and measure the effect:

1. Ask guests to confirm 24–48 hours ahead, with a one-word reply. In the 2025 survey, most no-shows came down to people forgetting to cancel.
2. Make cancelling easy. Give guests a reply-to-cancel option, a link, and a number someone answers.
3. Keep a waitlist, so a cancellation turns into a sale.
4. Use deposits selectively, for big tables and peak nights only, and keep the rest of the diary deposit-free.

Track your no-show rate for a month before and after each change, and you’ll know whether deposits are worth the bookings they cost.

Sources

Every figure above links to where it was published. We read each one on 1 October 2026.

1. resOS · Aug 2026resos.com
2. Zonal/CGA · Sept 2021info.cgastrategy.com
3. takepayments · Sept 2025takepayments.com
4. ResDiary · Mar 2024resdiary.com
5. CMA37gov.uk
6. Payment Services Regulations 2017 · reg 78legislation.gov.uk