One in eighteen hospitality sites closed in the last year, as reduced consumer spending, higher input costs and less government support make it harder for owners to turn a profit, research from the CGA found.
Over 1,800 pubs, restaurants, hotels and bars have shut for good in 2023, and in the year to June 5% of the industry has perished.
Independents were hardest hit, making up over three-quarters of the nearly 15,000 closures since the start of the pandemic.
In the second quarter of 2023, independent closures (963) were over ten times the number of managed closures (93), the majority of which was made up of nearly 650 drink-led venues shutting.
Graeme Smith, managing director at Alix Partners, said: “The pain of high inflation has served to squeeze profitability, suppress investment and, in the worst scenarios, challenge viability, and continues to be felt most acutely by independents.
“This is where the pain of a market yielding a 5% closure rate in the latest 12 months, is most pronounced.”
Closures may be easing, however, as the nearly 1,900 net closures in the first half of 2023 is around half the 3,800 departures witnessed in the second half of 2022.
Retail sites have also struggled since the pandemic, around 6,000 units have closed for good since 2018, research by the British Retail Consortium found.