Licensed premises numbers picked up in the UK for the first time in two years over the second quarter, marking a turnaround for Britain’s embattled hospitality sector.
The number of UK pubs, bars, restaurants, clubs and hotels ticked up by 0.5% between March and June to 99,207, CGA by NIQ and AlixPartners data showed on Monday.
This marked a net increase of 462 venues and the first uptick in two years since surging living costs began to plague the sector.
It was also only the third quarterly rise since the pandemic hit in early 2020.
“These numbers are a welcome sign of the confidence of business leaders and investors in hospitality,” CGA by NIQ’s director Karl Chessell said.
“While it’s too early to be sure that hospitality’s downward trend in outlets has bottomed out, alongside solid sales growth over the first half of 2024 these figures indicate the brightest outlook for the sector for some time.”
Despite cost pressures having eased as the likes of inflation subsided, total sales remained 13.8% below pre-Covid levels, with Chessell noting the sector “may never fully return” to its pre-pandemic size.