City Pub Group has said sales were “really, really strong” this Sunday, in contrast to “anaemic” trading on Saturday, as the weather provided pub operators with mixed trading over the Coronation Bank Holiday.
Speaking to the BBC, City Pub’s executive chairman Clive Watson described Saturday as “a washout” – both in terms of the weather and sales.
“But Sunday was really, really strong,” he added. “Despite street parties we were 82% up on this time last year. It’s a bit of a relief.”
Extended pub opening hours had been expected to provide a £104m boost to the sector, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research.
However, UKHospitality said it was a weekend of two halves, with central London benefitting from trade on Saturday, but Sunday being focused more on community events.
“We’ve seen higher levels of footfall than we would normally expect at this time of year as a result of the Coronation activities going on. In total it could be worth an additional £350m worth of sales,” she said.
The first bank holiday in May had also been a record weekend for City Pub Group in terms of sales, with £800k in sales over the three days, Watson added.
