Hospitality loses 4,600 venues in 12 months

Britain has suffered a net decline of 4,593 licensed premises in the last year to March 2023, according to the Hospitality Market Monitor from CGA Strategy.

The drop is equivalent to 4.3% of the licensed sector since March 2022, and an average of 12.6 closures a day.

In better news, net closures slowed to 756 venues in the first three months of this year, a quarter-on-quarter drop of 0.7%, and equivalent to 8.4 closures a day.

Independent businesses have been hit the hardest with a 5.9% drop in numbers over the last 12 months.

Meanwhile managed groups achieved growth of 1.5% in the same period, including 0.3% growth in the first three months of 2023.

In the three years since the start of the pandemic, the independent sector has shrunk by 14.1%, over four times bigger than the contraction of 3.3% in the managed sector.

Karl Chessell, CGA by NIQ’s director, hospitality operators and food, EMEA, said: “Each of the 4,593 closures over the last 12 months represents a sad loss of jobs and the permanent withdrawal of a community asset. It is at least encouraging that losses have slowed in the first few months of the year—a welcome indicator that demand for hospitality remains strong.

“However, the recent cut in government support on energy bills, alongside a hike in minimum wage rates and the ongoing tax burden, now leaves thousands more fragile venues at risk of closure. Hospitality has shown how, with the right backing, it can generate jobs and fire the economy—but sustained help is needed to tide the sector through the current crisis.”

Graeme Smith, AlixPartners’ managing director, added: “While the number of pubs, restaurants and other licensed venues continues to contract in UK hospitality, there is some positivity in this latest analysis of the market, given that the overall cadence, or rate of decline, has slowed significantly.”