Britain’s supply of restaurants, pubs, bars and other licensed premises fell by 1.8% in the 12 months to December 2019—the lowest rate of year-on-year decline for nearly two years.

That is the headline finding from the latest Market Growth Monitor from CGA and AlixPartners, the definitive survey of openings and closures in the out-of-home sector. It shows Britain had a total of 116,203 licensed premises at December 2019, which represents an average net closure rate of six sites a day over the last 12 months—but the pace of closures has now dropped to the lowest point since Market Growth Monitor data for March 2018