Festive Flurry Brings Happy Christmas For Pubs But Restaurants And Bars Slip

Festive celebrations helped Britain’s top managed pub operators to welcomed growth in the week of Christmas, the NIQ RSM Hospitality Business Tracker reveals.

Across all hospitality channels, managed operators achieved modest like-for-like growth of 1.2% in the seven days from 22 December.

Pubs’ like-for-like sales were up by 4.8% from the same week in 2024. The figure is well ahead of both Britain’s rate of inflation and the Tracker’s figures for most weeks of 2025. The uplift was driven by a surge in guests heading out in the final days before Christmas and an uninterrupted run of bank holidays that gave people extended time off from midweek through to the weekend. This more favourable holiday pattern likely provided a stronger boost than Christmas Day openings.

However, the Hospitality Business Tracker—produced by NIQ, powered by CGA intelligence, in association with RSM—shows it was a much more challenging festive season in other areas of hospitality. Like-for-like sales at managed restaurants in Christmas week were 1.1% down on the corresponding period in 2024, as many consumers tightened their spending on eating out. It ends a tough year for the restaurant sector, after negative year-on-year growth in ten of the first 11 months. Bar groups were hit even harder, with a 15.5% fall in like-for-like sales.

Karl Chessell, director – hospitality operators and food, EMEA at NIQ, said:
“Pubs’ real-terms growth in the week of Christmas shows how they remain a much-loved place for people to celebrate the festive season with families and friends. However, negative figures at restaurants and bars round out a very difficult year for many operators, and confidence is running low among consumers and business leaders alike. With cash reserves depleted and rates rises in the pipeline to add to a relentless burden of costs, the sector faces a challenging start to 2026.”

Saxon Moseley, head of leisure and hospitality at RSM UK, said:
“Festive trading mirrored the broader trends seen across 2025, with pubs reporting solid sales growth while restaurants and bars saw revenue contract year-on-year, leaving little to celebrate for these beleaguered segments of the market. With results failing to live up to expectations for many operators and a raft of cost increases scheduled for 2026, there will be real concern of further casualties on the high street in the coming months.”