Analysis from S4labour shows that hospitality sales from last week were down 12.8% compared to last year, however when we take a closer look, sales in dry-led venues are up 16% on last year, yet wet-led venues are down 40%. Whilst London is still suffering more than the rest of the country, wet-led venues are also taking a big hit.

If we look at a little more detail, it can be seen that in dry-led venues, both drink and food sales are up compared to last year, whereas both types of sales are down in wet-led venues. What we can take from this is that people are increasingly going out for a sit-down meal with drinks rather than heading out to a pub or bar for a drink. It is also worth noting that roughly 10% of sites are still yet to open after lockdown measures were introduced, more of which are likely to be wet-led venues. This continued level of decline since March within wet-led venues is unprecedented and extremely worrying for the industry.

Chief Product Office Richard Hartley commented: “venues that are established as table service have an already adapted way of working, and greater consumer confidence, alongside much larger capacity with the given restrictions.”

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%.”

Weekly hospitality sales down 9% on last year but remain 10.4% on pre EOTHO levels.
 
Analysis from S4labour shows that in the first full week without any government support, hospitality like for like sales were down 9.0% on the same week last year, albeit 10.4% up on the last week of July.
 
Despite the overall slip in like for likes, food sales continue to be in growth, up 4%. This is in contrast to the 17.5% decline in drink sales comparing last week with the same week in 2019.
 
Chief Product Officer, Richard Hartley stated that the figures indicate that EOTHO has successfully generated some residual effect in driving out of home eating habits. With the U.K. in recession and the withdrawal of EOTHO, it is unsurprising to see some tailing off of sales. However, with operators standing on their own two feet, it is highly encouraging to see that food sales are still in growth.

Notes to Editors:
To interview Richard Hartley, S4labour, please contact Matt Sweetman, Digital Marketing manager, on 01295 267400 or matt@s4labour.co.uk.
S4labour are a leading provider of labour management software and an award-winning independent consultancy firm.  Go to s4labournewstg.wpenginepowered.com for more information.

Weekly hospitality sales up 19.9% on pre EOTHO levels.

Analysis from S4labour shows that last weeks hospitality sales were up 19.9% on pre EOTHO levels. However, as the Eat Out to Help Out scheme came to an end, children returning to school and many going back to work, hospitality sales tailed off with a 12.8% week on week decline.

London bore a less severe week on week dip than the rest of the country, down 9.4%, but up 26.4% compared to the week before the EOTHO scheme launched. Outside the capital, week on week sales were down 13.4%, but up 18.8% compared to the week before EOTHO.

Over the last month, there has been a significant difference between the like for likes performance of food compared to drink, with food sales growing more dramatically in the wake of the EOTHO support. However last week, with EOTHO not available for the majority of the week, there was for the first time since July, a relatively modest difference, with drink sales slipping 11.5% and food sales down 14.0% on the previous week.

Sam Wignell, Chief Customer Officer at S4labour commented, last week was interesting because we had one day of EOTHO and a bank holiday Monday. This week will be the first full week without the government backed discount and so give a much clearer indicator of the health of the sector. While week on week sales were down, it is highly encouraging to see operators are still trading well above where they were a 6 weeks ago. On the whole, these set of figures point to a healthy level of public confidence albeit with a hard road of recovery ahead.

Analysis from S4labour shows that hospitality like for like sales in August were flat, down just 0.4% compared to the same month last year. The Eat Out To Help Out scheme had the desired effect with those sites that were trading showing like for like growth in food sales of 22.2%, while drinks sales were in decline of 16.2%. The offer of a government supported meal helped to increase consumer confidence and has provided the lifeline that hospitality required. In July we saw like for likes down 30% and at this level many hospitality businesses would have been making a loss.

Outside of London performed better than London, with 4% growth compared to 19.5% decline. This is a reflection of the impact of people still working from home and it is likely that all urban areas that rely on a population of people working in nearby offices will be suffering. We are starting to see more organisations bring people back to their offices but this will take time and is unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels.

Richard Hartley commented “EOTHO clearly did a job in restoring consumer confidence. There were some great sales and this suggests that the message has got through to consumers that the hospitality sector is very much open and very much safe”