England’s World Cup quarter-final against France was the busiest sales day this year for pubs although train strikes may dmapen the Christmas spirit
Data from Insight & Solutions also said that Saturday was the busiest day for sales in the last three years.
Sales at on-premise sites in the week to 3 December were up by 8% compared to 2021, according to the CGA, which tracks data for the hospitality sector.
While Christmas spending should “pick up the slack,” following England's World Cup exit according to Mark Brumby, a hospitality sector analyst at Langton Capital, much of that is dependent on how much “rail strikes threaten festive footfall.”
City Pub Company boss Clive Watson told the Mail on Sunday that the rail strikes are “mean-spirited.”
He added that the strikes, taking place on 13, 14, 16, 17 December this week could be the “end of the road” for businesses still struggling to recover fully from the impact of the pandemic.
“A strike day can hit business by 20% or more. But when strikes are back-to-back and there’s disruption throughout the week, it can be more significant,” Watson said.
For UK retail, the story is slightly different, with the cold and snowy weather like to impact spending.
Analysts at Shore Capital said that “these are tough times for UK shoppers,” with inflation high and the cold weather likely to see spending prioritised on heating homes.
Shore Capital added that, in the face of M&Co’s administration and rumours of liquidity issues at ASOS, “given the compression on British household incomes, we would not be surprised to see further stories of difficulties in forthcoming weeks and months.”