Deliveries and takeaways double pre-Covid levels in February, but growth slows.

Britain’s managed restaurant and pub groups’ delivery and takeaway sales continue to run at more than twice the level seen before Covid 19, the CGA & Slerp Hospitality at Home Tracker has revealed, but trading has dipped from the peaks of early 2021.

The latest edition of the Tracker shows that groups’ combined delivery and takeaway sales in February were 131% higher than in February 2019. Growth has been powered by delivery orders, which were nearly four times higher than three years ago. Eat-at-home sales accounted for around 26 pence in every pound spent with managed restaurant and pub groups in February 2022.

However, February’s sales were 17% lower than in February 2021, when national lockdowns were in place and restaurants, pubs and bars were closed. The removal of Covid 19 restrictions has led some consumers to eat out this year instead of ordering in as they did in early 2021.

Karl Chessell, CGA’s director - hospitality operators and food, EMEA, said: “As restrictions end and restaurants and pubs recover their eating-out sales, it’s not surprising to see a drop in deliveries and takeaways from the heights of last year’s lockdown. However, the ordering-in habits that consumers have established during the last two years are not going to disappear. People have grown accustomed to the convenience of hospitality at home, and this is now an established part of their repertoire of eating occasions, allowing them to enjoy their favourite food both in restaurant and at home.”

Slerp founder JP Then added: “What we’re seeing, almost a year on from the end of the last lockdown, is the normalisation of takeaway and delivery levels. The hospitality sector has forever changed, the brands that not only survive, but thrive are those who are able to bring their brand to their customers, wherever they are. And those that do this via direct selling versus relying on marketplaces will ultimately see more profitable results.”

The CGA & Slerp Hospitality at Home Tracker is a source of data and insight for the delivery and takeaway market, providing monthly reports on the value and volume of sales, with year-on-year comparisons and splits between food and drink revenue. It offers a benchmark by which brands can measure their performance, and participants receive detailed data in return for their contributions.

Partners on the Tracker include Azzurri Group, Big Table Group, BrewDog, Burger King UK, Byron, Cote Restaurants, Dishoom, Gaucho Grill, Giggling Squid, Honest Burgers, Island Poke, Nando’s Restaurants, Pizza Express, Pizza Hut UK, Prezzo, Rosa’s Thai, TGI Fridays UK, The Restaurant Group, Tortilla, Wagamama and YO! Sushi.

Make the most of extended licensing hours over the Platinum Jubilee weekend

The government has confirmed licensed premises will be able to extend their opening hours to 1am on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings of the special bank holiday weekend (2-5 June 2022).

Industry body, UKHospitality, has applauded the temporary change in licensing rules for England and Wales. The measures, for which UKH had campaigned strongly, will allow people to come together for longer in hospitality venues to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee in their community and aid the recovery of the beleaguered sector.

Having missed out on two years of full and unrestricted trading over dates such as Christmas, Mother’s Day and Easter, this summer’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations to mark 70 years of the Queen’s reign, represents an opportunity for hospitality businesses across the UK looking to boost the recovery.

UKHospitality CEO, Kate Nicholls, said: “We welcome that the government has seen the importance of extending licensing hours for an occasion as momentous as the Platinum Jubilee Weekend, when pubs and bars are likely to be a focus of community celebrations.

“The boost to business will be very welcome for operators facing soaring costs and plummeting consumer confidence. With the higher 20% rate of VAT also set to return for the sector in April, businesses will need to capitalise on every opportunity to drive revenue if they are to have any hope of recovery postpandemic.”

The trade body is also calling for the relaxation of pavement licences to be made permanent in order to aid businesses in the industry. Responding to a recent Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) call earlier this month for views on pavement licences, UKHospitality said the temporary scheme should become permanent, pointing to their success in helping businesses survive. The move would be a ‘low-cost, low admin’ helping hand for the sector, it said.