North West hospitality boss says pubs and bars need more than just the Euros to stay sustainable
He says he was hoping to see more of an impact
A North West pub and bar tycoon says it's going to take more than just England winning the Euros to save the hospitality industry.
"The Euro's have done fantastic so far over our chain of 19 pubs and bars in the North West. Trade was up for us, but it wasn’t what we thought it would be" said Tony Callaghan.
"People aren’t coming out in the numbers again we thought they'd come out, again it’s a mixed bag and we’re hoping Sunday will be fantastic."
A recent report produced by Shakespeare Martineau for the Night Time Industries Association has shown that the hospitality and night time economy sectors in the UK have experienced a significant increase in businesses going into administration.
Of particular concern is the position of the hospitality sector relative to other industries. In the first quarter of 2024 (January-March), hospitality emerged as the fifth worst-hit sector, following retail, manufacturing, real estate, and construction.
Tony continued: "I think customers drinking habits have changed, and with it being on a Sunday at 8 o’clock it’s not the best time for us. It would be ideal at 2 o’clock or 3 o’clock in the afternoon.
"Saturday will be a bad night for us - so we will lose on Saturday, and we will get it on Sunday - customers will potentially save up and say we’ll just got that one night so it has a detrimental effect.
"So many people are going to go to the supermarket getting the beers in, or having a barbecue, so it really hasn’t helped the hospitality industry. I think if you just reduce duty on alcohol, it wouldn’t solve the problem for us. I think it’s the whole issue of how they tend to go out, to the local pub and High Street."
First for all the latest news from across the UK every hour on Hits Radio on DAB, at hitsradio.co.uk and on the Rayo app.