It’s coming home for the hospitality industry, but a note of caution for pub landlords

It’s coming home for the hospitality industry this Sunday, but Gareth Hunt, Head of Business Recovery at RPG Business Recovery adds a salutary warning to publicans.

As football supporters across the country are celebrating England being in the final of Euro 2024 on Sunday, publicans are also celebrating. According to the Beer and Pub Association, a £50 million boost is expected for pubs in England with an extra 10 million pints expected to be served on Sunday alone and many pubs expected to stay open for the Government approved two hour licence extension. This is on top of the additional sales already generated by England’s successful journey through the month-long tournament.

“This is excellent news for the hospitality industry which has experienced declining pub numbers for decades, exacerbated significantly by the Covid pandemic,” commented Gareth Hunt, Head of Business Recovery at RPG Business Recovery incorporating Crawfords.

“However company liquidations within the Accommodation and Food Service sector are still very high and I urge an element of caution to all landlords who will be celebrating on Sunday.”

“The impact of Covid is still being felt by the industry after the periods of closure were followed by the repayment of bounce back loans and since then, the industry has suffered the impact of inflation on their operating costs and consumers’ drop in disposable income.”

“The Insolvency Service figures show that there were 3,735 company liquidations within the Accommodation and Food Service industry in 2023. That’s an increase of 38% on the previous year’s 2,711, with a further 882 company insolvencies within the industry during January to March 2024.”

“Whilst I am delighted that the tills will be ringing on Sunday, I hope that all of those in hospitality will treat this month’s windfall sensibly. My advice as ever is to monitor your financial position very closely, looking at your overall cashflow for the next 12 months before booking a celebratory holiday,” concluded Gareth Hunt. “We need all of our pubs still to be vibrant in readiness for the World Cup 2026!”

Good Luck England!