June sees stagnant sales for restaurants

Britain’s leading restaurant and pub and bar groups finished a soft first half of trading with sales exactly level year-on-year in June, the latest CGA RSM Hospitality Business Tracker has revealed.

It follows a drop of 1% in May, and means sales were static or negative in four of the first six months of 2025, with a warm April the only period to deliver real-terms growth.

June trading was affected by mixed weather and tough comparatives with the same month last year, when the Euro 2024 men’s football tournament was underway.

For the sixth month in a row, restaurant and pubs achieved the best growth of the major segments of hospitality.

Managed pub groups’ like-for-like sales were 1.2% above June 2024, while restaurants saw trading slip fractionally by 0.5%. Bars continued a long run of negative numbers with a year-on-year dip of 5.7%, and the on-the-go segment slipped by 4.0%.
 
The Tracker, produced by CGA by NIQ in partnership with RSM UK, shows groups’ June sales within the M25 were down by 1% year-on-year, while sales further afield rose marginally by 0.4%. It means trading in London lagged the rest of the country for five of the first six months of 2025.

Groups’ total sales through all channels, including at venues opened by groups in the last 12 months, were 2.8% ahead of the same month in 2024 – slightly below the UK’s rate of inflation, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index.

'Pockets of growth'
Karl Chessell, director – hospitality operators and food, EMEA for CGA by NIQ, said: “June’s numbers round out a tough first half for hospitality groups. They have had to deal with the dual challenges of fragile consumer confidence and a hike in labour costs from April, and with inflation ticking up again, the second half of 2025 may be just as challenging.

"Nevertheless, there are some encouraging pockets of growth – especially in pubs, where people seem to be spending with a little more confidence. Operators will be hoping the rest of the summer brings some brighter weather to help lift the sector back into growth.”

You may also be interested in…