New data analysis by hospitality employee experience platform Harri reveals a rapidly widening performance gap between the UK’s top-performing hospitality operators and the rest of the market. The results show the significant impact of rising labour costs and regulatory pressures in driving inefficiencies.

Harri’s UK Hospitality Performance Trend Report, published in association with Peach 20/20, shows a deep divide emerging between those equipped to manage workforce performance and those falling behind.

The report analyses data from over 15,000 locations, highlighting performance variances within market segments from QSR, through pubs and restaurants, to hotels and fine dining, as well providing regional breakdowns. In particular it focuses on the specific pressures affecting the London market.

According to the report:

• Top operators are performing up to four times better than the median on key workforce and productivity metrics
• Time-to-hire ranges from 4.6 days (fastest) to 15 days (slowest)
• Sites are operating 8–10% above scheduled labour hours, increasing pressure on existing teams
• Over 2.21 million job applications were recorded in Q1 2026, but only 26,449 hires were made
• 1 in 4 new hires leave within first 90 days
• £8.4M estimated cost wasted on recruitment across Q1 in the UK

The data, which will ultimately allow operators to benchmark their own performance,  shows that while application volumes remain high, inefficiencies in hiring speed and retention are driving a widening performance gap across the sector. Turnover is one of the most expensive and least tracked costs in hospitality. Employee turnover costs reach as much as £3,000 per hire when factoring in recruitment, management and training, equating to up to £60,000 per site annually, the report says.

Rising employment costs, including increases to National Minimum Wage and Employer National Insurance, are further intensifying pressure, leaving little room for operational inefficiency, says the report.

Dan Maimone, Global Head of Customer Experience at Harri, says: “What we’re seeing in the data is a clear and growing gap between operators who have real visibility over their workforce performance and those who don’t. Many UK hospitality businesses have not yet adopted workforce management tools, meaning more than a third of the sector is making its most consequential financial decisions without real-time data. Without it, conversations about sales-per-hour, retention, and hiring speed are being held without the visibility needed to act. In a market where costs have ballooned, doing a few critical things well, hiring quickly, scheduling accurately and retaining staff, is now the difference between growing and standing still. Performance varies far more than most operators realise, and that many are benchmarking against the wrong standards.”

Peter Martin, Co-founder of Peach 20/20 and Atlantic Club, adds: “Most operators track cost but the best track the drivers of cost, and increasingly in more in-depth ways: such as measuring sales-per-labour-hour, scheduling accuracy, early-tenure retention, and team engagement. But it’s important to not just concentrate on margin and financial return (vital though those these are). It's also about understanding team engagement and recognition, to support culture, and create more engaged and motivated teams - which in turn will drive productivity. Putting all those data sources together is the key. People really are the sector’s most valuable asset and it’s essential to treat them as such.” 

The findings suggest that success in 2026 is increasingly defined by execution, with the strongest operators hiring faster, retaining staff longer, and generating significantly higher productivity from their workforce.

Click here to download the full report.

Methodology

The research in this report was conducted in April 2026 using Harri’s UK hospitality platform data for Q1 2026 (running from 1st January 2026 to 31st March 2026). It cross-references four primary data sources: Workforce Management, CoreHR, Talent Acquisition, and Marketplace for 395 UK clients covering 15,345 active locations and 734 distinct business groups. Unless otherwise stated, all data in this report is sourced from this survey.

About Harri

Harri is a frontline employee experience platform built for hospitality. From hiring and onboarding to workforce management and employee engagement, Harri helps operators build, manage, and retain their teams more effectively. With a focus on real-world operations, Harri delivers solutions designed to meet the pace and complexity of the hospitality industry. To learn more, visit www.harri.com.