Licensed venue numbers fall 1% to 98,319 as closures outpace openings, NIQ data shows
Casual dining site numbers fell 2.2% year on year, while hotels and holiday parks recorded growth, according to NIQ's Hospitality Market Monitor.
Britain’s licensed hospitality sector recorded 977 net closures in the year to September, according to NIQ’s latest Hospitality Market Monitor, reported by BigHospitality. Net closures are the number of venues that shut minus the number that opened.
That works out at around 19 net closures a week. The total count of pubs, bars, restaurants and other licensed premises now stands at 98,319, down 1% on the previous year.
The decline continued over the most recent quarter. Since June, the number of licensed sites has fallen by 245, or 0.2%.
High churn behind the net figure
The quarterly data shows how much movement lies beneath the overall decline. In the three months to the end of September, 2,436 venues closed, a gross rate of around 27 closures a day.
Over the same three months, 2,191 venues opened, often in premises left vacant by previous operators. The difference between the two figures accounts for the 245-site fall in the quarter.
Casual dining was among the segments hit hardest, with venue numbers down 2.2% year on year.
Accommodation bucks the trend
Accommodation-led businesses moved in the opposite direction. Licensed hotel numbers rose by 0.2% in the year to September, while the holiday and caravan park sector grew by 0.7%.
Wider signs of pressure
The longer-term picture is starker. According to NIQ, the licensed sector has contracted by 23.4% since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
The closure figures sit alongside other data pointing to strain on businesses. The NIQ RSM Business Tracker has recorded growth below the rate of inflation for managed groups for 16 consecutive months, meaning a decline in real terms.
NIQ’s latest Business Confidence Survey, conducted with Zonal, found that just 37% of hospitality leaders were optimistic about their business prospects over the next 12 months.
Karl Chessell, director of hospitality operators and food, EMEA at NIQ, said nearly 1,000 net closures over 12 months highlighted “the pile-up of challenges facing hospitality”.
He acknowledged that there were pockets of growth but said the overall direction was clear. In his view, the sector is now entering a critical couple of months.
Chessell said meaningful support on costs was needed to protect thousands of vulnerable businesses from closure. He added that, with the right backing and a stimulus to consumer spending, hospitality could deliver growth and job creation for the wider UK economy.