Fiducia TogetherCover and covers per hour
A meal served. The basic unit of a hospitality business.
Please note: This page explains what a term means. It is general information, not legal, financial, tax or investment advice, and it does not know anything about your business. Before you sign, file or commit to anything, check it with an accountant, a solicitor, or the official guidance we link to.
What it means
A cover is one customer served a meal. Covers per hour or per service measures throughput; spend per head measures value.
Why it matters
Revenue is covers times spend per head, and capacity is limited by seats, kitchen throughput and staffing. Every hospitality decision touches one of those.
What it looks like in practice
Table turn time is the lever most operators can actually move. Reducing average turn by ten minutes at peak can add a whole sitting.
What to watch out for
Chasing covers at the expense of spend per head, or the reverse. The product of the two is the number that matters.
Where to get proper advice
Your own booking and EPOS data. UKHospitality publishes sector benchmarks.
Where to read more
Last reviewed 2026-08-28 by Fiducia Together · Next review due 2027-08-28
Please note: This page explains what a term means. It is general information, not legal, financial, tax or investment advice, and it does not know anything about your business. Before you sign, file or commit to anything, check it with an accountant, a solicitor, or the official guidance we link to.