The UK has lost nearly 28,000 licensed venues since March 2020, equal to 119 sites a week, CGA by NIQ data revealed.
Measured from March 2020 to September 2024, using its Retailer Intelligence and Sales Effectiveness (Rise) solution tool, CGA by NIQ revealed that the UK has lost 27,951 venues since the start of the pandemic – roughly 119 a week.
Despite the losses, the UK market has managed to stay ‘vibrant’, CGA said, because the region has also gained 12,767 venues at the same time. This would entail that the UK welcomes 54 new openings a week and nearly eight a day.
In the March 2020 to September 2024 period, the net result of licensed premises has shrunk by 13% and 13% of venues now operating are ones that have opened during this period.
More than a third (35%) of bars trading today are new openings from the period, while the figure is 25% for bar-restaurants. For other segments, 24% of casual dining venues and 23% of restaurants are openings from after March 2020, 6% for community pubs and food pubs, and 10% for high street pubs. Nightclubs, meanwhile, have suffered with a net loss of 33% in four years.
Last week it was revealed by trade body the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) that nearly a third of nightclubs in the UK have shuttered since March 2020.
Looking over a longer term, CGA found that the number of premises has been reduced by 19% over the last decade, nearly a fifth.
Furthermore 32% of venues trading today have been launched in the last 10 years.
Managed groups, who might have the resources to navigate the fallout from circumstances like Covid, have contracted by 2% since 2020 – compared to independent venues (down by 16%). Additionally, 62% of managed venues from 2014 were still open in the same format at September 2024, but only 52% of independent outlets are still around.
Reuben Pullan, senior insight consultant at CGA by NIQ, commented: “These numbers show the heavy impact of Covid, high costs and weak consumer confidence on Britain’s hospitality sector in the last few years.
“But they also highlight another big trend that is sometimes overlooked: the constant stream of new entrants into the market. Fresh concepts and expanding multi-site groups are keeping the on-trade diverse and dynamic, and they provide suppliers with great potential to sustain sales and reach new consumers.
“However, amid so much change and churn, it’s crucial to stay right up to date with the outlet universe and ensure that the right brands are being positioned in the right ways in the right venues.”
London churn ‘notably high’
The environment in London is said to change the most in the UK, which is considered the nation’s centre for eating and drinking out.
CGA noted that the pace of change in the city has ‘stepped up’ since the pandemic as, since March 2020, nearly 3,000 venues have opened in London, although 6,000 have also closed.
In the capital, close to 16% of licensed venues are new ones open since 2020. CGA pointed out that this can also be viewed as a ‘sign of high level of investment and innovation’.
For the rest of the UK, new venues making up the total trading environment since 2020 comprise 16% for Lancashire, 14% for the North East, 9% in Wales, 10% for East England and 10% for the South West.
CGA added that venues that have closed in these parts have been ‘much less likely to reopen again’, which can potentially be attributed to ‘lower levels of demand’ and ‘fewer sources of investment’.
Observing business over the festive season in the UK, CGA found that bars in Britain outperformed pubs and restaurants in the run-up to Christmas.
Pressure has been further heightened on the industry with the rise in National Insurance (NI) contributions and minimum wage from this April.
The increase, raised in October’s budget by chancellor Rachel Reeves, could cost the UK on-trade up to £150,000 (US$193,820) a year.
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