Warm Weather Drives Double-Digit Spring Bank Holiday Growth Across UK Pubs

The UK on trade enjoyed a strong Spring Bank Holiday weekend as warm weather, longer social occasions and increased consumer footfall combined to drive significant growth across pubs and bars, according to new data from The Oxford Partnership and BevMetrics from Vianet.

Across the four-day Bank Holiday period, UK pubs sold 28.2 million pints, up 11.5% year-on-year from 25.3 million in 2025. Average volumes reached 860 pints per pub, generating an average income of £4,449 per venue.

The data suggests consumers increasingly treated the extended weekend as a longer social occasion, with average dwell time rising by 10 minutes year-on-year to 154 minutes. Occupancy also strengthened across the weekend, reaching 65.8% overall.

The strongest occupancy uplift came on Bank Holiday Monday, which rose by 6.0 percentage points versus last year, suggesting consumers spread visits more evenly across the full weekend rather than concentrating activity solely around Saturday trading.

All venue locations saw year-on-year growth, reinforcing the broad-based strength of demand across the market. City centre venues remained the busiest at 70.6% occupancy, while rural venues recorded some of the strongest improvement, increasing by 3.0 percentage points year-on-year as consumers embraced more destination-led and leisure-driven occasions.

Drinks performance reflected the warmer conditions and changing consumer preferences. Cider was the standout category, surging 42.7% year-on-year, significantly outperforming all other drinks categories as consumers favoured more refreshing and sessionable serves.

World Lager also delivered exceptionally strong growth, up 26.4%, while Total Lager increased 17.2%. Premium Lager (+16.2%) and Premium 4% (+14.4%) continued to outperform, reinforcing ongoing consumer demand for premium and internationally recognised lager brands within the UK on trade.

In contrast, Ale volumes declined 8.8% year-on-year, while Stout fell 16.4%, highlighting how warmer weather conditions shifted drinking behaviour away from heavier and more winter-oriented styles.

Alison Jordan, CEO of The Oxford Partnership, said: “The Spring Bank Holiday provided a clear demonstration of how weather, social occasions and consumer behaviour are increasingly shaping on-trade performance. What is particularly notable is not simply the increase in volumes, but the strength of consumer engagement across the entire weekend.

Consumers are continuing to prioritise longer, more social and experience-led occasions when they do choose to visit the on trade. That is creating significant opportunities for operators and suppliers that are aligned to those evolving drinking occasions and category preferences.”

The Spring Bank Holiday performance reinforces the resilience of the UK on trade when consumer confidence, weather and social occasions align. Longer dwell times, stronger footfall and premium category growth all point toward consumers continuing to prioritise meaningful social experiences in pubs and bars, particularly across extended weekends and occasion-led moments.