New figures show August profit growth for restaurants

The latest figures to be published by Barclaycard show that August brought an upturn in trade across the hospitality industry in the UK. That includes restaurants, which experienced their first profit growth since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, and there are prevailing trends that point to the recovery continuing.

Real signs of restaurant revival

The restaurant segment of the UK hospitality sector has been perhaps the most severely impacted by the lockdowns imposed to stop the spread of Covid-19. However, the Barclaycard data for August makes for far happier reading for those working within it.

The company secured its figures by keeping records of close to 50% of all transactions using debit or credit cards during the month. The results reveal that there was 0.1% growth in the levels of customer spending in restaurants throughout August.

It represents the first positive growth in consumer spending for that part of the industry since the pandemic first hit the UK and, for that reason, is one of the most encouraging hospitality trends pointing to a bounce-back for the sector.

Office returns to boost growth

That is not the only trend indicating that the recovery of the hospitality industry is well underway. Another sign pointing towards this is the return of workers to offices in cities across the country, which has now started in earnest.

Barclaycard spoke to those who are now resuming working from their offices – either on a full-time or part-time basis – and the findings are very encouraging for the industry. 34% of respondents stated that they were intending to regularly buy lunches or breakfasts to eat out, said that they would visit a restaurant or pub to socialise after work now that they are back in their offices.

Pubs and clubs back to pre-pandemic heights

This positivity towards visiting hospitality venues was not just reflected in renewed restaurant profit growth during August, as clubs and pubs also enjoyed the economic benefits.

Indeed, the Barclaycard data shows that spending by the general public in those venues reached its highest level in more than 17 months during August – which strongly suggests a return to pre-pandemic levels of public confidence. Overall, spending in clubs and pubs rose by 43%, with after-work socialising by office and shop workers accounting for much of it.

A number of venues throughout the country will be looking to hire more staff as customers return across the board with food & beverage jobs at an all time high.

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