This month, overall sales were up 3.2% compared to last year, led by a strong August for London, according to the latest S4labour sales data. 

The Capital saw a solid increase of 9.9% across the board, with food and drink sales up 12% and 8.7% respectively.   

Non-London saw a 4.7% increase in food, but drink sales dropped by 0.7% compared to last year.  

Chief Growth Officer at S4labour, Richard Hartley, said: “Despite a wet August, it is promising to see growth on last year and healthier numbers compared to last month, which saw only a slight increase of 1.4% in like-for-like sales. Outside of London, and particularly in more rural areas, it is likely that less people were going out to drink in pubs this month because of the bad weather. Nevertheless, the increase in food sales across the UK will go some way to offsetting inflation.”  

Although the Lionesses didn’t bring it home, they certainly brought in some sales, with figures telling a story of celebration.  

Despite the early start, last Sunday saw the Women’s World Cup final drive a 10% increase in drink sales when compared to same day the previous week, according to the latest sales data from S4labour.  

It is estimated around 2.6 million Brits headed to the pub to watch the game, splashing out on beverages to celebrate England being in a World Cup final for the first time since 1966.  

It’s brilliant to see that the Women’s team won hearts on the field, with a positive ripple effect on local businesses. Here’s to the unstoppable spirit of football and the communities that come together to celebrate it! 

In July, hospitality sales saw an overall year-on-year increase of 1.4%, the latest S4labour data reports.

Food sales were responsible for this slight growth, with an increase of 5.8%, whereas drink sales were down 2.0% compared to last year. 

London fared much better than the rest of the country, seeing sales 2.9% ahead of 2022, whilst non-London experienced a decline of 4.3%. 

Richard Hartley, Chief Growth Officer at S4labour, commented: “July has been a much slower month than we would have liked, as sales have likely suffered due to bad weather, with less people going out for drinks throughout the month. Though these numbers indicate growth, they still lag behind inflation levels. However, as we move into August, we are hopeful that the summer holidays, as well as the bank holiday, will help towards offsetting this.” 

In June hospitality sales saw the highest year-on-year increase so far in 2023 with a 7.8% uplift, according to the latest S4labour data.  

This spike is largely due to London sales, which were 15.7% ahead of 2022 levels, whilst non-London saw an uplift of 6.0%.  

Food and drink were split fairly evenly outside of London, with 6.2% and 5.9% year-on-year growth respectively. The capital was driven by a 16.2% increase in drink sales, with food sales growth sitting just below that at 14.9%.  This comes after temperatures were consistently high throughout June, reaching 32 degrees in some parts of England. It’s likely many spent a great deal of time outdoors, enjoying food and drinks in pubs and restaurants.  

Chief Growth Officer at S4labour, Richard Hartley, commented: “In line with rising temperatures, this is what we would expect to see as this June was the hottest to date. This quarter has seen solid growth on 2022 sales, with April at 3.3% and May at 2.7%. As we move into the second half of the year, good weather and holidays should continue to work towards offsetting inflation and rising interest rates.” 

Across May, hospitality sales saw a slight uplift of 2.7% compared to the same month last year, according to the latest S4labour report.

Between London and non-London, the growth was split relatively evenly, with a 3.1% and 2.7% like-for-like increase respectively.

The data also suggests that May’s overall increase was driven by food-focused sites, which were up 5.7% compared to last year, whilst sales in drink-focused sites were down by 0.9%.

Chief Customer Officer at S4labour, Chris Welham, added: “May marks the second positive month in a row, however, with warmer weather and three bank holidays, growth is lower than operators would have expected and falls below the rate of inflation. Dry weather and longer weekends seem to have encouraged at-home drinking, rather than visits to pubs. Operators will be hoping for sunshine over the summer months to take advantage of rising consumer confidence.”