Mixed weather flattens June hospitality sales

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

 

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 unfavourable comparisons with the same month last year, when the Euro 2024 men’s football tournament was underway.

 

For the sixth month in a row, 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%.

 

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.

 

However, 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.

 

Karl Chessell, director – hospitality operators and food, EMEA at 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, he identified some “encouraging pockets of growth”, especially in pubs, adding: “Operators will be hoping the rest of the summer brings some brighter weather to help lift the sector back into growth.”

 

Saxon Moseley, head of leisure and hospitality at RSM UK, said: “June’s underwhelming results continue an unwelcome trend of subdued trading, with almost all segments of the market seeing negative like-for-like sales. This damaging combination of declining sales and higher operating costs is leading an increasing number of well-known brands to either appoint restructuring advisers, close sites or shut the doors completely.”

 

He also called for “meaningful intervention” from the treasury in October’s budget to ease operators’ burdens, especially in light of recent speculation about rising mandatory employer pension contributions.