Back-to-back growth for licensed premises numbers
CGA by NIQ’s Hospitality Market Monitor has reported another quarter of growth.
The number of licensed premises across Britain has increased for a second successive quarter.
In what is encourgaing news for the pub and bar sector, the Hospitality Market Monitor from CGA by NIQ and AlixPartners shows a 0.7% rise in outlets between July and September 2024, equivalent to 661 net new openings or seven per day.
It follows the 0.5% growth in the second quarter of the year, which was the first positive quarter-on-quarter movement since mid-2022.
The latest increase brings Britain’s total sites to 99,868, which according to the data specialists is virtually level with the figure 12 months ago.
"Two successive quarters of growth in site numbers is an encouraging sign of hospitality’s strength in the face of major challenges," says Karl Chessell, CGA by NIQ’s business unit director for hospitality operators and food. "While the sector is smaller in outlet terms than before Covid, the last six months have shown that hospitality groups, investors and entrepreneurs have been confident enough to be opening rather than retrenching.
"With inflation, GDP and other economic indicators moving in the right directions, the sector should be looking forward to 2025 with guarded optimism. However, with substantial extra costs on labour and rates now looming, there is a real danger that hospitality’s momentum will be lost."
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