Restaurants, pubs and bars saw takings a fall in takings of almost 80% between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day as coronavirus restrictions forced thousands of hospitality and on-trade venues to close for eat-in dining.
Total sales fell by 79.4% over the three-day period compared to last year, according to analysis from hospitality software management firm S4Labour.
The analysis, based on statistics from 2,000 hospitality businesses that work with S4Labour, revealed that food sales fell 64% while drinks takings were down 84%.
Boxing Day was the worst day of trading, with sales falling 88% year-on-year, while takings were down 71.% on Christmas Eve and 78.5% on Christmas Day.
S4Labour’s chief product officer Richard Hartley said: “This unpredictable year has ended in very suppressed Christmas sales due to ever increasing Covid restrictions, and it’s not looking likely to change for a while yet.”
