Technology

Future plans: Christmas bookings for the 2024 festive period are already looking positive (image: Getty/Napoletana)

Xmas bookings already up 54%

By Nikkie Thatcher

Christmas bookings for the 2024 festive period are already up by more than half (54%) compared to last year, new insight has found.

Tech issue: pubs have reported being affected by outage (image: Getty/georgeclerk)

Microsoft crash: worldwide tech issues hit pubs and bars

By Felicity Giles

A major global tech failure left the hospitality industry experiencing uncertainty on Friday 19 July, as card machines, discount codes and apps crashed throughout the sector. Businesses are slowly recovering, however experts warn it may take weeks for...

Card payments: Barclays Consumer Spend report shows purchase data on a monthly basis (Getty/ljubaphoto)

May sees 2.9% spending rise

By Nikkie Thatcher

Consumer spending in pubs, bars and clubs grew by 2.9% in May, new data has revealed.

Boundless possibilities: BBPA Pint Tech conference looked at the benefits of technology and AI for pubs (Pictured: Emma McClarkin)

Pubs urged to embrace AI to 'futureproof' sector

By Rebecca Weller

Pubs need to dive headfirst into embracing technology, in particular AI, to “futureproof” themselves and be prepared to fulfil the needs of the next generation of customers.

Excuses made: often a change of plans will see a booking cancelled or result in a no-show (credit: Getty/SolStock)

Top 5 reasons for no-shows

By Gary Lloyd

One in five hospitality guests fail to turn up for a reservation because they booked multiple venues to ensure they would get in somewhere.

Consumer opinions: the report shows what customers find most annoying when eating and drinking out (image: Getty/Drazen Zigic)

Long waits and cold food pubgoers biggest gripes

By Nikkie Thatcher

Some 91% of hospitality consumers cited a long wait for food or drink and hot food being served cold were their biggest bugbears when eating and drinking out, research has revealed.

Card report: Barclays reveals overall spending was up 1.6% (image: Getty/Sergii Kolesnikov)

Spending up more than 4%

By Nikkie Thatcher

The hospitality and leisure sector saw a rise in consumer spending of 4.1% in April, according to new figures.

Special place in people's hearts: Coronation Street's Rovers Return named Britain's favourite TV pub (Credit: Getty/Giuliano Benzin)

Nation's favourite TV pub revealed

By Rebecca Weller

The nation’s favourite pub has been revealed thanks to new research from insurance provider Simply Business.

(image: Getty/gahsoon)

March consumer spending up 3.2%

By Nikkie Thatcher

FA Cup fixtures, the Six Nations tournament and St Patrick’s Day helped drive a 3.2% rise in consumer spending last month (March) up from 1.1% in February, according to reports.

Come and tech a look: technology is now vital for smooth service across all aspects of the on-trade

FEATURE - Technology

FEATURE: Finding the right tech to fit your pub

By Fiona Griffiths

Pub operators everywhere are facing challenging times but choosing the right technology solutions can help your business to survive – and even thrive.

Access Hospitality acquires Wireless Social

Access Hospitality acquires Wireless Social

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

Access Hospitality, a division of The Access Group, has acquired Wireless Social, the UK’s leading provider of guest wi-fi, analytics and marketing solutions.

Overnight stays: Voucher sales for pub accommodation website soar (Credit: Getty/ Kathrin Ziegler)

Pub accommodation predicted to grow in 2024

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

Pubs with rooms website Stay In A Pub has predicted pub accommodation to grow in 2024 after it reported a 50% increase in voucher sales over the Christmas period.

Nearby pints: Zoopla and Useyourlocal have joined forces (Credit: Getty/Rossella De Berti)

Home-hunters can now pick property based on proximity to pub

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

Useyourlocal, the UK’s largest online audience of people looking to go to the pub, has joined forces with property website Zoopla to help home-hunters pick a new property based on the proximity to their local pub.

Staffing fears: industry workers may be thinking about a different career but job satisfaction levels have risen (credit: Getty/Charday Penn)

Career change considered by 42% of industry staff

By Gary Lloyd

More than two in five workers in the hospitality sector are considering a career outside the industry despite job satisfaction levels increasing ‘significantly’ during the past 12 months.

Energy savers: here are 5 of the best eco-friendly pieces of equipment, according to Brewfitt

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Brewfitt's top 5 energy-saving products for dispense

By Brewfitt

In today's environmentally conscious world, reducing energy consumption is not only a noble endeavour but also a smart one, especially for businesses in the hospitality industry.

Be smart: technology can be used in front and back of house at your premises

FEATURE - Technology

FEATURE: How tech can free up time for your staff

By Fiona Griffiths

Times are tough right now. Pub and bar operators are being hit from all sides with consumers tightening their belts, struggles over recruitment and costs soaring across the board.

Social storm: Is Threads a business tool or fleeting fad? (Credit: Getty/ WeAre)

Threads: a guide for pubs

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

Threads, a new social media app from Facebook’s parent company Meta, amassed more than 150m downloads in just two weeks after launching earlier this month.

Digital opinions: the report asked the 5,000 participants their thoughts on technology's role in hospitality (image: Getty/Tim Robberts)

Growing consumer interest in tech during visits

By Nikkie Thatcher

While most consumers (55%) believe a balance between technology and human interaction provides the best experience in the on-trade, there has been a change in attitude towards digital solutions, new research has found.

Joining forces: ResDiary CEO 'thrilled' to merge with Access Hospitality

Access Hospitality acquires ResDiary

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

Access Hospitality, part of the Access Group, has announced the acquisition of ResDiary – a provider of bookings and table management software to clients in the hospitality sector.

Is it possible to make cask beer stay fresh for longer?

The Cask Project

Extending the life of cask beer

By Gary Lloyd

One of the biggest challenges around delivering an epic cask offer remains shelf life, so the ability to extend the lifespan of what is a quintessentially British product could be just the silver bullet the category needs.

De minimums issue: billing customers to charge electronic devices could be 'counterproductive' (Credit: Getty/Adam Gault)

Poll: should pubs charge customers for electricity?

By Rebecca Weller

Despite pressure surrounding energy costs in the on-trade, allowing customers to charge phones at pubs should be a “value added service” and charging them to do so would be “counterproductive”, according to operators from across the sector.

Delivering success: Inigo Rivero shares insights at the MA Leaders Club, Newcastle

MA LEADERS CLUB

How to unlock TikTok’s potential

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

House of Marketers managing director, Inigo Rivero, discussed how operators can unleash the potential of TikTok at The MA Leaders conference last week.

Digital insights: Footprint Digital staff talk all things SEO

MA Leaders Club

How to drive footfall to your pub's website

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

Experts from the advertising agency Footprint Digital advised operators on how to get the most out of SEO, at the MA Leaders conference in Newcastle last week.

Paying out: overall consumer spending grew by 4.3% in April, according to Barclays (image: Getty/mihailomilovanovic)

Slight sales uptick in April

By Nikkie Thatcher

Pubs, bars and clubs saw a rise of 3.7% in consumer card spending for the month of April, new data has revealed.

Serial refunders: pubs lost an average of £81 a month to refunds between 2021 and 2022 (Credit: Getty/Igor Vershinsky)

Pubs lose an average of £972 a year to refunds

By Rebecca Weller

Pubs across the country lose hundreds of pounds a year to refunds as consumer spending behaviours change amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, new data has revealed.

CBDC: sector needs more information (Credit: Getty/ MF3d)

Sector needs 'much more' info on CBDC

By Rebecca Weller

The Government needs to share “much more information” about how central-bank digital currency (CBDC) will impact the hospitality sector, according to one Suffolk based operator.

Net zero review: hospitality sector needs financial incentives to support road to net zero by 2050 (Credit: Getty/STasker)

'Financial incentives' needed to hit net zero goals

By Rebecca Weller

The hospitality sector needs additional “financial incentives” from the Government to aid its ability to deliver on net zero ambitions, leaders from across the industry have stated.

SIBA initiative: the tracker will show how many breweries are active across the 10 areas of the UK

Tracker launched to keep tabs on brewery numbers

By Gary Lloyd

The number of breweries in the UK will no longer be a mystery after the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) launched a tracker that shows how many active brewers there are.

Boosts tempered by costs and strikes: eight of Britain's most populated cities are enjoying higher sales and logins figures than before the pandemic (Credit: Getty/fotoVoyager)

Sales and logins boost ahead of Xmas rush

By Gary Lloyd

Eight out of 10 of Britain’s highest populated cities have enjoyed hospitality sales and wireless logins boosts above pre-pandemic levels in the run-up to Christmas.

Warning issued: Rob Easton says sites should be prepared for a big rise in footfall

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Free support for hospitality to safeguard record festive turnover

By Rob Easton BSc, PgDip, MSc, MBA, of Shield Safety

Rob Easton, head of environmental health at Shield Safety, discusses the potential £4bn* revenue spike heading towards the UK’s hospitality sector during the 2022 festive period but warns venues could be at risk if they aren’t prepared for surging footfall.

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Property of the week

BERKSHIRE - RENOVATED PUB WITH FOUR LETTING BEDROOMS

- Leasehold

Village position close to Reading and Newbury Extensively renovated public house Bar, conservatory, snug and function room (80-90) Four en suite letting bedrooms Two bedroom owner/staff accommodation Part-covered trade garden...

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