Pub Visits Up by 2.2%

Pub Visits Up By 2.2%

The Wall Street Journal reports that pub visits are up 2.2% compared with a survey last year, with the average U.K. consumer going to the pub 4.6 times a month. The results come from advisory firm Zolfo Cooper in its bi-annual survey of 3,000 consumers.However, average spend fell by 9.5% per pub visit to £14.69, in line with falling incomes across the country.

Zolfo Cooper analyst Paul Hemming said the numbers are a sign the leisure sector may be able to capitalize on 'austerity fatigue', even as U.K. consumer spending is under pressure from tax hikes, spending cuts, rising unemployment and below-inflation pay rises.

"Consumers are increasingly aware that the economy is experiencing a prolonged trough not a dip, and that wages and growth will not be rising dramatically any time soon. After at least two years of virtuous belt-tightening, they are fed up of being stuck indoors by an austerity curfew and are now beginning to venture out more often."

The pub sector is profiting from two different trends--families treating themselves to an eat-out meal, and the rising popularity of casual dining in pubs as consumers trade down from eating out in more expensive restaurants.

via pubs-for-sale.biz

Posted via email from UK Pubs For Sale And Development