Household eating out falls by 7% in November as footfall drops

Eating out among British households fell by 7% in November compared with October, with a 15% monthly drop in drinking out, according to the latest Greene King Leisure Spend Tracker.

The decrease was attributed partly to a reduction in spontaneous lunches, dinners, and drinks from passing footfall, thanks to shoppers' increased preference to buy online, spurred on by retail events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Year-on-year, eating out also dropped by 7%, and drinking fell by 8% year-on-year, coinciding with a 10% decline on spend on live sporting events following the end of the Rugby World Cup, the report suggested.

Households with children saw just a 1% month-on-month decline in spending on leisure, while those without kids saw a 10% drop (£18).

Excluding the eating and drinking out sectors, ‘other' leisure (cinema, bowling, gym) dropped 6% monthly but stayed the same year-on-year.

Fiona Gunn, Greene King group marketing director, commented: "With the Christmas festivities fast approaching, Brits tightened their belts in November, reducing their spending on drinking and eating out compared to last month. This was exacerbated further by a particularly busy October."

The Greene King Leisure Spend Tracker is run on behalf of pub and brewing company Greene King by research partner YouGov and analysed with the Trajectory Partnership. Greene King operates over 3,100 pubs, restaurants and hotels across England, Wales and Scotland, including retail, tenanted, leased and franchised.

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