Warm September helps drive strong Q3 spending on pubs and restaurants

11 October 2016 by
Warm September helps drive strong Q3 spending on pubs and restaurants

Consumer spending and confidence has continued to climb, aided by a warm September, confounding fears that Brexit would put a dampener on economic performance.

Data from Barclaycard for the third quarter of this year showed that year-on-year spending growth in pubs and restaurants was up 17.3% and 14.9% respectively. Overall growth during the quarter was up 3.6%, dragged down by clothing and department stores.

Barclaycard said that almost half (48%) of consumers are now confident in the UK economy, the highest level since Barclaycard began monitoring it in 2014, up from 34% before the EU referendum in June.

Data from Barclaycard, which processes nearly half of the nation's credit and debit card transactions, shows consumers spent 4.2% more in September 2016 than the same month last year. This made it the joint strongest month for growth this year following the same increase in August, after muted 2.6% growth seen in July.

The unseasonably warm weather in September boosted spending on experiences significantly. Consumers took advantage of one of the warmest starts to autumn in 100 years and splashed out in pubs (17.3% increase) and restaurants (14.9%), pushing up spending growth in both to a 20- and 15-month high respectively.

Paul Lockstone, managing director at Barclaycard, said: "For the first time since Barclaycard began tracking consumer confidence in 2014, more people now tell us they feel confident about the UK economy than those who don't, and the proportion has jumped since the EU referendum vote in June.

"This recovery in confidence, combined with the warmer September weather, helped to prolong the summer feeling among consumers last month. Increased spend on experiences, and in particular with friends and family in pubs and restaurants, delivered one of the strongest months for spend growth so far this year."

VisitBritain and VisitEngland report record tourism growth >>

Hospitality spending bounces back strongly in September >>

August record-breaking month for English day trips >>

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