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Britain has lost roughly one in 18 of its licensed premises, which makes up 5,736 hotels, pubs, restaurants, bars and cafes, in the last 12 months, according to the new Hospitality Market Monitor from CGA by NIQ and AlixPartners.
The current closure rate means that about 5% of the market is closing annually and that since March 2020, the market has seen close to 15,000 outlets close, as measured by on-premise licences.
In the latest quarterly analysis, Britain’s number of licensed premises dipped by 1.1% in the three months from April 2023 to June 2023. This drop represents 1,139 net closures in Q2, which is equivalent to 12.5 per day.
The rate of hospitality venue closures is a result of relentlessly high costs for businesses and consumers alike, which have sent many venues that were already weakened by Covid-19 to the wall.
According to the market monitor, smaller businesses have borne the brunt of closures, as the independent segment shed 7% of outlets in the last 12 months in sharp contrast to fractional growth of 0.1% in the managed hospitality sector.
However, the market monitor also revealed signs for “cautious” optimism, as net closures across the first half of 2023 (1,895) were less than half the number seen in the second half of 2022 (3,841), and some units vacated recently have been repurposed by other operators including emerging groups.
While the casual dining segment is now 5.6% smaller than 12 months ago, food-led pubs (down 2.9%), high street pubs (down 3.1%) and community pubs (down 4.1%) have all recorded notably fewer closures than the sector as a whole.
Meanwhile, British city centres are showing growing resilience, with a 4.2% net fall in licensed premises in the 12 months to June 2023 being a better figure than the drops of 5.9% and 5.4% in large and small towns respectively.
It follows a steady return of commuters and visitors to major hubs, and an increase in residents in central areas of many of the country’s largest cities in recent years.
