Pubs, restaurants, and bars in Britain’s 10 most populous cities enjoyed a promising end to 2022, with eight cities in the list recording more wireless log-ins than during the same period in 2019 for the first time, according to CGA and Wireless Social.
The latest Top Cities report indicates consumer visits are returning to pre-Covid levels, with six of the top 10 cities seeing higher sales in the six-week festive period to 1 January 2023, compared to 2019.
However, soaring costs for both businesses and consumers have dampened growth, with sales remaining behind pre-pandemic levels when adjusted for inflation.
Rail strikes also reduced visits to hospitality venues in city centres in December.
Glasgow topped the list, followed by Birmingham and Manchester, after increasing both sales and wireless log-ins compared to 2019. It is the fourth time in a row that these cities have shared the top three spots.
CGA’s separate Hospitality Market Monitor with AlixPartners indicates that central Glasgow and Birmingham both have more than 6% fewer licensed premises than they did in December 2021, the highest year-on-year closure rate of the top cities. This suggests reduced competition between venues may be helping to grow sales for managed operators.
London was at the bottom of the list for the fifth successive period, as the return of sales and footfall post-pandemic continues to lag in comparison with other cities, despite steady improvement in 2022.
CGA client director Chris Jeffrey said: “After COVID wiped out festive trading in 2020 and severely curtailed it in 2021, the return to normal conditions gave city centre pubs, bars and restaurants a decent end to 2022.
“However, while footfall has returned, high inflation is making real terms growth very difficult, and as we move into 2023 venues face a triple challenge of soaring costs, fragile consumer confidence and rail strikes. Operators and suppliers will be hoping for respite on all three issues, but until it comes it will be a very challenging year for the sector.”
Julian Ross, founder and CEO of Wireless Social, said: “Footfall and sales were expected to significantly increase over Christmas, due to it being the first festive period without any trading restrictions for three years, so it was somewhat of a relief that the period provided a much-needed boost to the industry.
“However, the winter blues feel a lot stronger than usual right now due to the myriad challenges and issues that are out of business leaders’ control, and only time will tell how the sector ultimately recovers and bounces back.”
