UK hospitality sees Q1 sales drop 21.3%

The UK hospitality sector saw sales decline 21.3% in the first quarter of 2020, as the country and the industry moved into COVID-19 lockdown, according to CGA.

The total value of the sector to the UK economy at the end of 2019 was £133.5bn. CGA said: “It will be a long time before that level is reached again.”

The drop in trading across the nation’s pubs, hotels, restaurants, bars, clubs and attractions in the first three months of the year was concentrated in March as figures showed total annualised sales across the hospitality sector at £126.8bn, down 2.7% on the previous 12 months.
 
The total value of the sector to the UK economy at the end of 2019 was £133.5bn. CGA said: “It will be a long time before that level is reached again.”
 

Kate Nicholls, CEO, UKHospitality, said: “The scale of the fall underlines the severe impact the COVID-19 crisis and the lockdown imposed by the Government from March 23 has already had on the sector. At the end of December, the industry had seen year-on-year growth running at 3.9% - the turnaround has been dramatic and will only get worse in the coming quarter. A continuation of business support is the only way to avoid a bloodbath of job losses and company failures in the hospitality sector, one of the UK economy’s jewels in the crown.”