"Trading was also impacted by prolonged wet weather in many parts of the country, and by participation in 'Dry January'. The NIQ RSM Hospitality Business Tracker reveals pub groups achieved marginal like-for-like sales growth of 0.4% in the first month of 2026. This was fractionally ahead of managed restaurant operators, where sales edged up 0.3%. It means pubs have outperformed restaurants every month since the start of 2025."
"Among other channels, bars sustained a long run of negative numbers with sales slipping 4.9% behind the levels of January 2025. In the on-the-go segment, trading dropped 3.2%. There was more encouraging news in the Tracker on a total sales basis. Adding in venues opened by hospitality groups in the last 12 months, growth rose to 3.1% - in line with the country's rate of inflation in recent months. However, sharp increases in the costs of labour and other key inputs mean operators' profit margins have been very tightly squeezed in recent months."
"January is always a tough month for hospitality, and many venues struggled for footfall as the post-Christmas pinch and rain kept many people at home. New openings and higher prices mean"
Like-for-like sales at Britain's top managed restaurant, pub and bar groups fell 0.1% in January 2026. December saw a 2.9% year-on-year sales increase, which likely constrained post-festive spending in January. Trading was affected by prolonged wet weather and participation in Dry January. Pub groups recorded 0.4% like-for-like growth and managed restaurants 0.3%, while bars declined 4.9% and on-the-go fell 3.2%. Including venues opened in the past 12 months, total sales rose 3.1%, roughly matching recent inflation. Rising labour and input costs have tightly squeezed operators' profit margins. Sales outside the M25 nudged up 0.1%, inside fell 0.4%.
Read at London Business News | Londonlovesbusiness.com
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