Hospitality like-for-like sales remain flat in July

Britain’s top pub, bar and restaurant groups continued to see sales flatline over summer with a fractional year-on-year drop of 0.1% in like-for-like sales in July, according to the latest data from CGA.

It comes after level sales in June and a drop of 1.0% in May meaning sales have now been static or negative in five of the first seven months of 2025.

Managed pubs outperformed restaurants throughout the first half of the year, and they again achieved the best growth of the Tracker’s segments in July, at 0.6%.

They were boosted by periods of warm weather in many parts of Britain, but comparisons were held down by the Euro 2024 football tournament, which brought millions of people out to watch games in pubs last July.

Managed restaurant groups lagged pubs with 0.2% growth, but this was the first year-on-year increase since December 2024, and a very tentative sign that consumer confidence is moving in the right direction.

Bars’ sales were down by 4.3% from July 2024, and the on-the-go segment slipped by 4.5%. Growth inside and outside the M25 stood at +0.7% and -0.3% respectively, the first time since March that London has outperformed the rest of the country.

Karl Chessell, director – hospitality operators and food, EMEA at CGA by NIQ, said: “The summer has brought little respite from the intense trading challenges facing hospitality, and real-terms growth is elusive. Pubs can be more satisfied than restaurant groups, which have had to work very hard to sustain footfall and cope with more sharp rises in the costs of labour and food.

“Solid growth in total sales shows operators and investors remain confident enough to open new sites, though if trading patterns continue, they will be forced to make some difficult decisions on spending. The sector remains resilient and can turn round recent trends but needs an upturn in consumers’ spending confidence.”