Flat November sales add to hospitality pressures ahead of Christmas

Britain’s leading managed hospitality groups entered the key Christmas trading period with sales broadly flat in November, adding to pressures from rising costs and recent Budget measures.

Like-for-like sales across the sector were up just 0.3% compared with November 2024, according to the latest NIQ RSM Hospitality Business Tracker. The figure followed increases of 0.1% in October and 0.2% in September, with growth remaining below 1% or negative since April.

The subdued performance came during a soft month for consumer spending and against the backdrop of the government’s Budget, which confirmed higher labour costs and a phased withdrawal of business rates relief. Operators are now increasingly reliant on a strong festive period to shore up finances.

Pubs continued to outperform other parts of the sector, with like-for-like sales rising 2.5% year-on-year in November. It marked the tenth consecutive month of growth for pubs, although most increases have remained below inflation.

Restaurants again struggled, with sales down 2.1% compared with the same month last year. Trading has now been negative in 10 of the past 11 months, and pubs have outperformed restaurants in every month of 2025 to date.

Bars recorded a 5.2% fall in sales, extending a difficult year in which the channel has seen declines of between 4% and 10% year-on-year in every month.

Overall sales growth was stronger when new venues were included. On a total sales basis, including sites opened in the past 12 months, sales rose 3.1% compared with November 2024, reflecting higher menu prices and expansion by some better-performing operators. However, confidence remains fragile, with a recent NIQ and Sona business confidence survey finding that just 26% of hospitality leaders were optimistic about prospects over the next year.

London continued to outperform the rest of the country, with like-for-like sales within the M25 up 0.7% year-on-year, compared with 0.2% growth in regions outside the capital. It was the third consecutive month in which London recorded stronger growth than the national average.

Saxon Moseley, head of leisure and hospitality at RSM UK, said: “November’s results continue a disappointing trend of lacklustre performance as consumer uncertainty in the run up to the Budget hampered the industry’s recovery. As the busiest period of trade for the sector, all will be hoping that promising festive booking data translates into a measurable uptick in spending.”