Latest figures from the CGA AlixPartners Market Recovery Monitor show that at the end of March this year, the pre-lockdown number of licensed premises in Britain stood at 115,108, a 2.4% reduction on March 2019.

Numerically the independent sector remains the largest segment of the market, with 74,271 sites, almost two-thirds of the total. The future of those largely small businesses, alongside almost 41,000 group-owned sites, is now under threat as a result of the COVID crisis.