Pub and restaurant sales fall 71% after following gov't orders to close sites: study

Trading in chains sinked by 75%.

Like-for-like sales in Britain’s managed pub, bar and restaurant groups plummeted 71% in the week that the government ordered all licensed premises to close down because of the COVID-19 outbreak, figures from from the Coffer Peach Business Tracker have revealed.

Data also showed like-for-like trading in restaurant chains during the week ending 22 March were down 75%, with managed pubs down 67% and bars tumbling 88%.

“Many pubs and restaurants, especially away from London, had stayed open even with dwindling trade after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s warning at the start of the week for people to avoid going out. The closure order on Friday obviously then killed all business overnight,” Phil Tate, Group Chief Executive of CGA, said.

CGA is the business insight consultancy that produces the Tracker, in partnership with The Coffer Group and RSM. It said that the firm will begin tracking those sales from pubs and restaurants providing takeaway or delivery services.

CGA’s consumer polling also showed that the public's appetite for delivered food and drink from restaurants and takeaways has grown significantly during the current emergency.