May sales for managed groups fall flat

Like-for-like sales for Britain's leading managed restaurant, pub and bar groups last month were just 0.1% ahead of 2019's pre-Covid levels, according to the latest Coffer CGA Business Tracker. 

The results from the May tracker – produced by CGA by NielsenIQ in partnership with The Coffer Group and RSM – follows like-for-like growth of between 2% and 4% from February to April. However, given high levels of inflation since 2019, sales are significantly behind pre-pandemic levels in real terms. 

Restaurants recorded growth of 2% last month, while pubs were down 1% and trading in bars remained flat.

Last month, trading in London improved, with like-for-like sales flat within the M25 as more workers and tourists returned to the capital. Sales outside of the M25, which were ahead of London for the first four months of the year, were also flat – a sign of a tightening squeeze on consumer spending in many regions.

The Tracker also highlights operators' current reliance on delivery for sales growth. Dine-in only sales across all managed groups were 3% lower than in May 2019, while the CGA & Slerp Hospitality at Home Tracker – based on a different cohort of businesses – has shown that delivery sales have been four times higher than pre-Covid-19 in recent months. 

Karl Chessell, director of hospitality operators and food at CGA, comments: "Managed restaurants, pubs and bars have shown impressive resilience since the start of their pandemic, and their appeal remains strong. However, rising costs in many areas are clearly tightening the squeeze on both operators' profit margins and consumers' discretionary spending. These all highlight that a number of challenges are likely to remain for the rest of 2022."

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