Across May, hospitality sales saw a slight uplift of 2.7% compared to the same month last year, according to the latest S4labour report.
Between London and non-London, the growth was split relatively evenly, with a 3.1% and 2.7% like-for-like increase respectively.
The data also suggests that May’s overall increase was driven by food-focused sites, which were up 5.7% compared to last year, whilst sales in drink-focused sites were down by 0.9%.
Chief Customer Officer at S4labour, Chris Welham, added: “May marks the second positive month in a row, however, with warmer weather and three bank holidays, growth is lower than operators would have expected and falls below the rate of inflation. Dry weather and longer weekends seem to have encouraged at-home drinking, rather than visits to pubs. Operators will be hoping for sunshine over the summer months to take advantage of rising consumer confidence.”
