Analysis from S4labour shows that hospitality like for like sales in September were down 4.3% compared to the same month last year. With consumer confidence boosted in August by EOTHO, the momentum seems to have continued as sites that were trading showed like for like growth in food sales of 12.4%, while drinks sales were in decline of 16.3%. It’s worth noting that this only takes into account sites that were trading,  9% of sites are still closed.

Outside of London performed better than London, with 2.3% growth compared to 28.2% decline. On top of this, 15% of London sites were closed compared to 8% of Non-London. We see this as a reflection of the impact of working from home, and that London relies on a steady flow of commuters into the city. The effect of the curfew was not fully realised in the month and we will continue to monitor this impact of this and the change in consumer behaviours.

Richard Hartley, Chief Product Officer at S4labour, commented “The continuation of sites’ own offers after EOTHO has definitely bolstered sales. We are concerned about the ongoing impact of the curfew as initial data shows this has had impacted by circa 13%.”