Research reveals that sales in city centre pubs fell by a massive 10.2% following the appalling rioting in the aftermath of the shocking tragedy in Southport at the end of July.
A snapshot of key data reveals that city centre volumes were down -10.2% and opening hours were cut by -5.5% as operators felt the need to close earlier and drinkers stayed away. Prior to this, both London and suburban areas were starting to see volume growth in July with London +7.4% and suburbia up +4.3%.
Some green shoots with outlet numbers at long last starting to show some signs of growth, albeit small, up 0.1% in the 4 weeks of July and up 0.3% on the previous month, and the Moving Annual Total (MAT) figures also starting to see green shoots as the number falls from -1.4% to -1.2% in the latest month.
The Oxford Partnership said:
“What we are seeing is the cost of living pressures on business owners as the opening hours decline -4.1% this month.”
Whilst consumer dwell time was up marginally by 1.4%, it didn’t quite match the encouraging year to date rise of 3.1%. Outlet occupancy (‘busyness’) continued to grow – up 1.1% across the 4 weeks of July but it didn’t get quite to the growth level of 3% in June, undoubtedly partly due to the schools breaking up and people holidaying abroad for guaranteed sunshine.
Pubs, bars and clubs saw strong year-on-year growth in July of +4.9%, a credible 4.4% up on June’s performance. This was, the Oxford Partnership said: “massively driven by England’s Road to the Final of Euro 2024, which despite having a disappointing end for home nation fans, still provided an outstanding uplift for the UK On Trade.”
“ Yet again, however, it was a difficult month for restaurants, which declined -18% year-on-year, a further 6.5% decline since June. This is not hugely surprising, in a month where the first half was dominated by sports.”
“We see the ongoing decline in Draught Beer & Cider volumes starting to improve, down a tiny -0.2% year to Date (YTD) due to the strong footie turn out. World Lager +20.9% and Stout +12.1% remain the star performers whilst Core Lager saw a real improvement from June up 4.2%, no doubt fuelled by people staying longer to watch the games and drinking more affordable, lower ABV beers.”
