24 May 2023
Strong sales growth boosted by public holidays and good weather
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Britain’s leading managed restaurant, pub and bar groups achieved like-for-like and year-on-year sales growth of 6.9% in April 2023, the latest Coffer CGA Business Tracker shows.
Britain’s leading managed restaurant, pub and bar groups achieved like-for-like and year-on-year sales growth of 6.9% in April 2023, the latest Coffer CGA Business Tracker shows.
It is a seventh positive month in a row for the Tracker—which is produced by CGA by NIQ in partnership with The Coffer Group and RSM UK—and significantly higher than the figure of 1.4% in March. However, growth remains well below the current rate of inflation, and rising costs continue to impact both consumers’ spending and businesses’ margins.
April trading was boosted by public holidays, including Easter and the start of the early May Bank Holiday weekend. Good weather helped to draw consumers out to pubs, where like-for-like sales were 8.1% ahead of April 2022. Growth in the restaurant sector was fractionally behind at 7.6%, but bars had another difficult month, with sales down 9.1%.
Managed groups continued their strong post-COVID recovery in London, where April sales rose 10.4% year-on-year—just ahead of inflation. Growth beyond the M25 stood at 5.8%.
Karl Chessell, director - hospitality operators and food, EMEA at CGA by NIQ, said: “April’s trading figures show the impressive resilience and appeal of managed restaurant, pub and bar groups in a very challenging market. It’s particularly pleasing to see the sustained recovery in London, where COVID restrictions took a heavy toll on hospitality. Consumers clearly remain eager to eat and drink out, and we can be optimistic that their spending will increase when household bills start to ease—but with inflation so high, real-terms growth remains elusive.”
It is a seventh positive month in a row for the Tracker—which is produced by CGA by NIQ in partnership with The Coffer Group and RSM UK—and significantly higher than the figure of 1.4% in March. However, growth remains well below the current rate of inflation, and rising costs continue to impact both consumers’ spending and businesses’ margins.
April trading was boosted by public holidays, including Easter and the start of the early May Bank Holiday weekend. Good weather helped to draw consumers out to pubs, where like-for-like sales were 8.1% ahead of April 2022. Growth in the restaurant sector was fractionally behind at 7.6%, but bars had another difficult month, with sales down 9.1%.
Managed groups continued their strong post-COVID recovery in London, where April sales rose 10.4% year-on-year—just ahead of inflation. Growth beyond the M25 stood at 5.8%.
Karl Chessell, director - hospitality operators and food, EMEA at CGA by NIQ, said: “April’s trading figures show the impressive resilience and appeal of managed restaurant, pub and bar groups in a very challenging market. It’s particularly pleasing to see the sustained recovery in London, where COVID restrictions took a heavy toll on hospitality. Consumers clearly remain eager to eat and drink out, and we can be optimistic that their spending will increase when household bills start to ease—but with inflation so high, real-terms growth remains elusive.”
Read more and download the full report here.
