https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/dec/28/christmas-takings-in-pubs-bars-and-restaurants-fall-almost-80

Analysis from S4labour shows that total hospitality industry sales were 79.4% down on last year from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day. Drink was down 84.2% and food was down 64%. Given that households were prevented from mixing in hospitality venues, it is no surprise that bookings were cancelled and sales plummeted.
 
Individually, total figures for the individual days were as follows: Christmas Eve was down by 71.5%, Christmas Day was down by 78.5% and boxing day was down by 88.1%.
 
During the festive period, sites often close for at least one of the days, however this year with the recent Tier 4 introduction, most sites have been unable to open this year the majority of sites were closed; 53.3% of sites were closed on Christmas Eve, 33.6% of sites were closed on Christmas day and 65.2% on boxing day.
 
Richard Hartley, Chief Product Officer commented: “this unpredictable year has ended in very suppressed Christmas sales due to ever increasing COVID restrictions, and it’s not looking likely to change for a while yet.”

 Analysis from S4labour shows that sales are down 64.3% year on year for Tier 2 venues, for December to date. As a result of the restrictions places on hospitality, food is down 55.3% and drink is down a significant 72.5%. Given that Tier 1 is a tiny percentage of the country, these Tier 2 figures are the best case scenario for the majority of the hospitality industry, most of which is now in Tier 3 or 4, and down over 90% year on year.

London has fared worse, down 71.1% year on year, while the rest of the country is down 61.9%. These figures in the capital are due to drop even further to full lockdown levels, given the recent announcements regarding further restrictions.

Richard Hartley, Chief Product Officer commented: “the everchanging covid restrictions continue to have a damaging effect on the industry as expected, and Christmas this year is now set to look even more uncertain than previously expected.”

Joint Research Between S4labour and Tenzo identifies 98% rise in takeaway sales, but has little impact on overall decline of hospitality like for likes. 

15.12.2020

Joint research from hospitality software providers S4labour and Tenzo the business intelligence specialists, reveals that despite a 98% year on year increase in takeaway sales during the first full week of trading since lockdown 2.0, eat in sales slumped 50% over the same period, resulting in a 46.7% overall decline in year on year sales, comparing last week with the same week in 2019.  The research by S4labour and Tenzo was done in conjunction with each other to highlight the plight of the industry and help forecast trends for 2021.

Taking a look at the whole Covid period between March the 20th to the 21st of December, the hospitality industry has suffered a sales decline of 56.5% on the same period in 2019, the majority of this driven by lockdowns and the Tier system. During the periods of the year with the least restrictions, between July and September, sales were down just 7.5% year on year.

Christian Mouysset, CEO at Tenzo, the business intelligence and forecasting platform for hospitality, commented that “Unfortunately, restaurateurs can no longer rely on eat-in sales. With changes to restrictions happening so often and at such short notice, the only way for restaurants to recoup revenue is to focus on diversifying their offering by focusing on the delivery and takeaway channels.’

Alastair Scott, MD of S4labour and Malvern Inns added “Covid-19 and the various restrictions on hospitality have been devastating. The innovation in take-away and the speed at which operators have adapted has been remarkable. While take-away will have helped some operators keep their heads above water, the model doesn’t work for many. News that London is going in to tier 3 this week will be devastating, for those who would not have been able to plan for such an abrupt end of trading. “