Pubs are now the UK’s favourite place for eating out, according to the latest Greene King Leisure Tracker report, which also found that Brits spend more on wining and dining over Christmas than in previous years.
The report confirmed pubs as the go-to destination for eating out in the evening, ahead of restaurants and fast food outlets.
The majority of those surveyed (37%) said they’d prefer to go to a pub for an evening meal, while 35% said they preferred restaurants and 12% opted to visit fast-food outlets.
Household leisure spending on eating and drinking out in December also increased 2% year-on-year.
Kenny Skelton, Greene King’s Digital and Insights Director, said, “The Christmas period is a clear demonstration of consumer priorities as British households increased spending on eating and drinking out.
“These are increasingly ‘protected’ areas of spend with people unwilling to cut back on what they now consider essential leisure spending.”
“Pubs continues to be an important venue”
According to the latest Coffer Peach Business Tracker, pub and restaurant groups saw collective like-for-like sales increase 2.2% over the six-week Christmas and New Year period compared with last year.
Drink-led pub and bar businesses generally out-performed food-led operations, again suggesting more people visited pubs this festive season than last.
Skelton added, “The Greene King figures show the Great British pub continues to be an important venue for many British households, not only as a place for socialising but as a preferred destination for eating out.
“This has been helped by an industry-wide focus on improving the dining experience for customers – one that will stand it in good stead moving forward into 2017.”
