Easter pub and bar sales rise whilst restaurant sales decline: report
Hot weather on Easter weekend affected the sales outcome.
Pub and bar chains like-for-like sales were up by 5.3% whilst pubs restaurant groups were down by 18.6% compared to Easter 2018, according to Coffer Peach Business Tracker’s latest figures.
“You simply can’t escape the fact that weather always has a major influence on the fortunes of the pub and restaurant sector – and what’s good for pubs is rarely good for restaurants. These Easter figures just underline that reality,” CGA director Karl Chessell said. CGA is the business insight consultancy that produces the Tracker, in partnership with Coffer Group and RSM.
In April, the overall collective like-for-like sales for the combined managed pub, bar and restaurant sector were up 1.1% last year. Pubs and bars were up 2.1%, whilst restaurant groups reported like-for-like decline of 0.7%.
"The Easter numbers are difficult to measure because of the contrasting weather year on year and later Easter. The April numbers overall though were down and show the pressure the hospitality sector is under - like many other sectors relying on consumer confidence. Pubs trade well when consumer confidence is low, but the restaurant sector is also affected by the retail woes we are seeing. This could be a difficult summer whilst we have no resolution to Brexit," Coffer Corporate Leisure managing director Mark Sheehan explained.
