New research shows restaurants, pubs and bars in Britain’s major cities are seeing solid sales growth from pre-Covid levels.
The Top Cities report from CGA and Wireless shows nine of the ten cities featured recorded higher sales over the four-week period selected than in the same period in 2019. Bristol tops the list of most vibrant cities with Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow also seeing sales growth of over 8%.
However, it is thought that sales growth is being driven by higher spending and increased prices rather than by more frequency. London’s sales remain short of 2019 levels though getting closer to growth as commuters and tourists return.
Optimism about city-centre restaurants, pubs and bars being back to normal is tempered by high inflation, with costs rising sharply in food, energy, labour and other key areas. It’s though that steep price rises are also starting to squeeze some consumers’ spending.
CGA client director Chris Jeffrey said: “After more than two years of turmoil, Britain’s biggest cities are getting back to their pre-COVID vibrancy. We continue to see a release of pent-up demand, especially for late-night dining and drinking, and the steady return of workers to offices has been a welcome boost. However, footfall remains some way off what might be expected at this time of year, and COVID issues have been swiftly followed by intense cost pressures on businesses and consumers alike. While the long-term outlook for city-centre hospitality is good, significant challenges lie ahead.”
Julian Ross, founder and CEO of Wireless Social, said: “While it’s great to see sales activity ahead of 2019 in some parts of the country, it is concerning that London has fallen back down these rankings from the growth it experienced last month. The shift to flexible working, with the majority of office workers still spending part of the week at home, has hit the capital hardest; but, with summer on the horizon we can all be hopeful that this will drive traffic in major tourist hot spots. In the face of inflation hitting a 40-year high, ongoing price increases and a labour market with a record number of vacancies, the sector is still battling unprecedented challenges and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.”
The Top Cities: Vibrancy Ranking report is based on combining sales data from CGA’s Managed Volume Pool of more than 8,000 pubs, bars and restaurants, and Wireless Social’s guest data gathered from more than one million log-ins.
