Rebuilding the Pub Sector

Strong start: Drinks sales shows double-digit year-on-year growth for seventh successive week (Credit: Getty/	Kar-Tr)

Drinks sales hit 15% year-on-year growth

By Rebecca Weller

Drinks sales in managed venues achieved double-digit year-on-year growth in the seven days to Saturday 10 June, the latest Drinks Recovery Tracker from CGA by NIQ has revealed.

Attracting staff: Dunn believes hospitality is changing for the better

‘Treat potential employees as you would guests’

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

Hospitality’s recruitment crisis can be tackled through revising the hiring process, putting wellbeing first and keeping an open mind in employment, advised the founder of consultancy agency Sixty Eight People.

Public support is there: BBPA CEO Emma McClarkin said the on-trade consistently contributes to the UK economy and needs help

BBPA calls for Gov action as sector boosts GDP figures

By Gary Lloyd

The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) has called for “meaningful action” to tackle fiscal headwinds as GDP figures released today (Wednesday 14 June) showed a 0.2% increase to the economy – buoyed by visits to pubs.

Price hike: inflation was driven up by cost rises in vegetables, fish, sugar and jams & syrups categories (credit:Getty/fcafotodigital)

Foodservice inflation jumps back above 20%

By Gary Lloyd

Year-on-year foodservice inflation has jumped up to 21.4% after slowing at the end of March – the first time it had dropped below 20% since mid-2022.

Energy help: Heineken has created a £3m fund to help pubs with sustainability issues (Credit: Getty/Jonathan Kitchen)

£3m fund to help pubs’ energy costs from Heineken

By Gary Lloyd

Drinks business Heineken UK has vowed to invest £3m into helping cover the cost of selected pubs’ first energy saving audit along with up to £5,000 towards the cost of any improvements needed.

Are pubcos exploiting rate relief?

OPINION

Are pubcos going to exploit rate relief?

By Phil Dixon, trade adviser

It was ‘Black Country Bus’ Syndrome: Two, one million pounds turnover local publicans contacting me in the matter of a few days.

New faces: Steve Richards (left) and Steve Cassidy

Hilton boss takes over chair role at UKHospitality

By Gary Lloyd

Hilton UK & Ireland managing director Steve Cassidy will take over the role of chair at UKHospitality (UKH) tomorrow (Wednesday 14 June) from Steve Richards, CEO of Parkdean Resorts, who will become president for the trade body.

Workers 'penalised': The ULEZ scheme is set to be expanded in August (Credit: Getty/ lechatnoir)

Almost 37k nights workers at risk of double ULEZ charge

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) has called for a revision of London’s current Transport for London system, which currently puts some 36,990 night workers at risk of being charged twice in one shift under the ULEZ scheme.

Cup half full or empty: How do you feel about the future? (credit: Getty/ SolStock)

POLL: Have your say on the sector

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

Business leaders are torn on how they feel about trade, with some struggling but others feeling confident for the future.

Things are looking up: Business leaders regain confidence

Optimism rising among hospitality leaders

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

Optimism among leaders of Britain’s top hospitality groups has risen since the start of 2023, according to the latest Business Confidence Survey from CGA by NIQ and Fourth.

Hard hit: Tough weekend of trade for Yorkshire bistro

Bistro hit with worst trading week in 7 years

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

The operator of the Pig & Whistle, Beverley, was left “broken” after rail strikes and the cost-of-living crisis triggered the worst trading week in seven years.

Helping out: The Lighthouse in Kent is one of the pubs that has secured funding

£97.5k ploughed into grassroots music venues

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

Some 23 grassroots music venues, including four pubs, have scored charity grants in the fourth round of Music Venue Trust’s (MVT) pipeline investment fund.

Fair weather led: the Drinks Tracker authors believe the good weather will help continue spending (credit: Getty/Kar-Tr)

Continued drinks sales growth impacted by inflation

By Gary Lloyd

Early May bank holidays have helped pubs and bar drinks sales reach year-on-year growth for fourth week in a row but with inflation still in double digits, real-terms growth remains elusive.

Sector appeal demonstrated: like-for-like sales have improved for the seventh month in a row (credit: Getty/LeoPatrizi)

Sales growth in April tempered by inflation woes

By Gary Lloyd

Managed pub, bar and restaurant groups in Great Britain achieved like-for-like and year-on-year sales growth of 6.9% in April 2023 against last year, according to the latest Coffer CGA Business Tracker.

Interest rate rise hitting pubs will not tackle inflation

OPINION

Strangling hospitality demand not the solution to inflation

By Ed Bedington

The idea that raising interest rates to try to curb consumer spending in pubs, bars and restaurants is another slap in the face for a sector that seems to have become the whipping boys for the authorities.

Seaside scenes: Brighton crowned most vibrant late night city (credit: Getty/ Pavel Babic)

Brighton best city for a night out

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

Brighton has topped lists as the UK’s best place for a night out, but more than half (54%) of cities have seen nightlife go downhill over the past decade.

Struggling sector: Independent businesses have borne the brunt of closures (credit: Getty/ dmbaker)

12.6 venues lost per day in 2022

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

The hospitality sector lost nearly 4,600 venues in the 12 months to March 2023, but closures slowed early this year.

Challenging start: drinks sales fall behind 2022 levels for the first time (Credit: Getty/AleksandarNakic)

Drinks sales fall behind 2022 levels for the first time

By Rebecca Weller

Average drinks sales in managed venues in the week to Saturday 11 March were 3% behind compared with the same period last year, the latest CGA by NIQ’s latest Drinks Recovery Tracker has revealed.

Gov support: UKH calls for OFGEM intervention (Getty/ semenovp)

UKH calls for urgent OFGEM intervention

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

UKHospitality (UKH) has urged OFGEM to immediately intervene in the non-domestic energy market as businesses struggle with eyewatering costs and a looming reduction in Government support.

Changing trade: Rail workers will take further industrial action in spring (Getty/Willie B. Thomas)

Train strikes to cause travel chaos in March

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

A fresh wave of rail strikes will take place in March and April, after workers voted for more industrial action in an ongoing dispute over pay.

Hard hit: Officials call for support for independent businesses (Getty/ gilaxia)

Gov has ‘failed’ cultural sector

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

Independent businesses and culture are most at risk according to the second NTIA Night Time Economy Report, and officials claim Government has “failed” the sector.

Energy scandal: Pubs, charities and schools have all claimed they've been targeted by brokers

Pub part of £2bn claim against energy firms

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

A pub is among millions of businesses lawyers say could be entitled to compensation from energy giants over secret commissions paid to third-party brokers allegedly inflated customer bills by billions of pounds.

Saying goodbye: Cornish pub announces closure with a

Britain’s most southerly pub to shut doors

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

The most southern pub in Britain has been forced to close its doors after factors impacting the sector made it “impossible” to maintain the establishment.

Independents suffering: Sacha Lord says not all hospitality businesses are able to fall back on funding

OPINION

Forgetting independents is a self-defeating exercise

By Sacha Lord, Night Time Economy Adviser for Greater Manchester

These days, there’s no escaping the seemingly endless amount of data proving that the hospitality sector is in severe difficulty.

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