Analysis from S4labour shows that hospitality sales from last week were down 12.8% compared to last year, however when we take a closer look, sales in dry-led venues are up 16% on last year, yet wet-led venues are down 40%. Whilst London is still suffering more than the rest of the country, wet-led venues are also taking a big hit.
If we look at a little more detail, it can be seen that in dry-led venues, both drink and food sales are up compared to last year, whereas both types of sales are down in wet-led venues. What we can take from this is that people are increasingly going out for a sit-down meal with drinks rather than heading out to a pub or bar for a drink. It is also worth noting that roughly 10% of sites are still yet to open after lockdown measures were introduced, more of which are likely to be wet-led venues. This continued level of decline since March within wet-led venues is unprecedented and extremely worrying for the industry.
Chief Product Office Richard Hartley commented: “venues that are established as table service have an already adapted way of working, and greater consumer confidence, alongside much larger capacity with the given restrictions.”
