The hospitality sector is hoping for a repeat of 2023 is bank holiday uplift in sales.
Last year the weather didn’t quite behave as we’d hoped across the first bank holiday weekend in May, but thankfully the trade still saw an uplift in sales across the board. The question is are we going to see a repeat of this in 2024?
According to data by the Oxford partnership the first May bank holiday weekend of 2023 saw drinkers consume 54.1 million pints of draught beer and cider across the UK, which was an increase of +8.5% versus 2022. In individual pub terms, that equated to an extra +112 pints sold per pub versus the same period in 2022 and, most importantly £504 extra in the till.
Even more significantly, the weekend sales were up +4% versus 2019, which demonsrated a strong sign of recovery for the hospitality sector, even with the limitations of the rising bills in the Cost of Living crisis.
Saturday was the biggest day of the weekend for sales with each pub selling an average of 449 pints of draught beer and cider.
Across the entire weekend, the average pub served 1,430 pints of Draught Beer & Cider, helped by a little bit of sunshine here and there, and these sales equated to a £6,435 income generator.
This year, the weather is forecast to be better in places so there is real hope of some pub garden action for the On Trade, particularly with Saturday ending off the championship with the final decider at lunchtime.
Henry Powell, Managing Partner at Oxford Partnership, comments: “The first May bank holiday looks like it will see mixed weather but history tells us people like to mark the occasion with a visit to the pub. Throw in some decent sporting fixtures and the trade should still expect to see a boost in sales across the weekend.”
