Like-for-like sales in Britain’s managed pub, bar and restaurant groups plummeted 71% in the week that the Government ordered all licensed premises to close down because of the COVID-19 crisis.
Exclusive weekly figures from the Coffer Peach Business Tracker showed like-for-like trading in restaurant chains down 75%, with managed pubs down 67% and bars, which are more dependent on weekend business, tumbling 88%.
“Many pubs and restaurants, especially away from London, had stayed open even with dwindling trade after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s warning at the start of the week for people to avoid going out. The closure order on Friday obviously then killed all business overnight,” said Phil Tate, Group Chief Executive of CGA, the business insight consultancy that produces the Tracker, in partnership with The Coffer Group and RSM.
“It was pretty clear that more and more businesses would have shut up shop anyway even without the closure and then lockdown orders, as CGA’s snap consumer poll showed that more and more of the public were going to give up on even attempting to go out,” he added.
The current nationwide lockdown means that only pubs and restaurants providing takeaway or a delivery services will continue to operate, and from next week CGA plans to begin tracking those sales.
CGA’s consumer polling has already shown that the public’s appetite for delivered food and drink from restaurants and takeaways has grown significantly during the current emergency.
The Coffer Peach Tracker collects and analyses performance data from 57 operating groups, which between them operate 10,000 sites.
To join the cohort, contact Andrew Dean, Andrew.Dean@cga.co.uk
About Coffer Peach Business Tracker
CGA collects sales figures directly from 57 leading companies. Participants include: Alchemist, All Star Lanes, Amber Taverns, Azzurri Group (Zizzi, ASK), Banana Tree Restaurants, Bermondsey Pub Company (part of Ei Group), Bills, BrewDog, Buzzworks, Byron, Carluccio’s, Casual Dining Group (Café Rouge, Bella Italia, Las Iguanas), Coaching Inn Group, Deltic, Dominion Hospitality, Drake & Morgan, Fazenda, Fuller Smith & Turner, Gaucho Grill, Giggling Squid, Giraffe Restaurants, Greene King (Chef & Brewer, Flaming Grill, Fayre & Square), Gusto, Hall & Woodhouse, Honest Burgers, Laine Pub Co, Le Bistrot Pierre, Le Pain Quotidien, Liberation, Loungers, Marston’s, McMullen, Mitchells & Butlers (Harvester, Toby, Miller & Carter, All Bar One), Mowgli, New World Trading Co, Oakman Inns, Peach Pubs, Pizza Express, Pizza Hut Restaurants, Prezzo, Punch Pub Co, The Restaurant Group (Frankie & Bennys, Chiquitos, Brunning & Price), Revolution Bars, Rileys, Rosa’s Thai Café, Snug Bar, St Austell, Star Pubs & Bars, Stonegate Pub Co (Slug & Lettuce, Yates’, Walkabout), TGI Fridays, True North Brew Co, Upham Pub Company, Various Eateries (Strada, Coppa Club), Wadworth, Wagamama, Whitbread (Beefeater, Brewers Fayre, Table Table), YO! and Youngs.
