The Luncheon Voucher (LV) is a paper ticket (voucher) used by some employees in the United Kingdom to pay for meals in private restaurants. It allows companies to subsidise mid-day meals (luncheons) for their employees without having to run their own canteens.

The scheme was created in 1954, when food rationing had just ended after the war. The UK government granted tax concessions to the scheme, believing that it would help citizens to afford healthy meals; they are free of income tax and national insurance contributions up to 15p a day: the 3 shillings in 1954 has not been adjusted for inflation. The LV scheme is now run by Accor Services. Restaurants that accept the vouchers display an "LV" logo in their windows.

The vouchers were famously used as a form of payment in Cynthia Payne's brothel in London during the 1970s.

Accor Services is conducting a commercial pilot with touchatag in Antwerp, Belgium to replace the vouchers with a contactless card

[edit] External links

• "The history of LV's" at luncheonvoucher.co.uk