Birmingham named UK's most vibrant city

The report, based on 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 logins, showed Birmingham, Glasgow and Manchester were the top three performing cities in the four weeks to Saturday 24 September.

However, while the hospitality sector has been driving post-Covid economic recovery in cities, inflation and continued strike action threatens this, according to CGA.

CGA client director Chris Jeffrey said: “Restaurants, pubs and bars have been hugely impressive in pulling sales ahead of their pre-Covid levels, and they are instrumental in attracting people back to Britain’s big cities.

Recovery at risk 

“But this recovery is at risk of stagnation from the soaring costs in energy, food, property and other key areas for businesses and consumers alike.

“Rail strikes are another major threat to city-centre spending at the moment, and ongoing labour shortages and supply chain issues are adding to the headwinds. Hospitality can power the economic growth the Government is seeking, but only if it receives sustained support to get through the current storm.”

While Manchester climbed two places up the list to third, with sales growth having increased from 2% to 12% compared with last month, London was ranked bottom of the list in sales and logins as both fell short of pre-covid levels.

However, London was one of only three cities that recorded sales below the same period in 2019, which was an improvement from four and five in the previous two reports.

The top three performing cities showed average sales were at 11%, making them closest to meeting pre-covid levels in real terms, while the rest of the cities showing positive sales recorded average growth of 7%.

Logins in the ten cities also marginally improved over the last few months, according to Wireless, however, high levels of inflation meant average sales were significantly down in real terms.

Meaningful support 

Furthermore, city-centre footfall remained well below pre-pandemic comparatives, which, combined with cost pressures, highlights the ongoing assistance the hospitality sector needs in terms of Government support, according to the report.

Wireless Social founder and CEO Julian Ross said: “The resilience the hospitality industry continues to show, against an incredibly tough economic and social environment, is mightily impressive.

“As we approach the winter months, where the impact of hiking energy bills and inflation are set to really hit home, it’s vital the industry receives further support.

“We echo calls from institutions like UKHospitality for things like business rates relief and VAT cuts, as the sector needs as much meaningful support as it can get.”