The latest ONS data show that the number of small pubs and bars (that is, those with fewer than 10 employees) increased by 85 (a 0.4% increase) in 2019. This follows more than 15 years of closures.
Hugh Stickland, senior statistician at the ONS, said, “While smaller pubs have been struggling to survive in recent years, bigger pubs have been growing in number. This growth has been driven by food rather than drink and we’ve seen a big rise in the number of people employed as pub kitchen and waiting staff.
“The latest year, however, shows the first rise in total numbers since before the financial crisis, with growth in pubs of all sizes. We’ll have to wait to see if this marks a revival for smaller ‘locals’.”
The total number of pubs and bars increased by 315 new sites to 39,130, which has been driven by food sales.
Food offer drives sales & kitchen staff numbersThe ONS suggested that the rise was down to changing consumer habits. Brits are now spending more of their disposable income on eating out, rather than just going for a drink.
The overall consumption of alcohol has fallen by about 16% since 2004, according to the charity Alcohol Change UK, which may be related to the growing trend for non-alcoholic drinks.
The ONS data also shows that pubs and bars now employ more people to serve food, rather than drinks. Back in 2003, around four in 10 staff in the pub sector were behind the bar, with approximately three people working in the kitchen. However, today the opposite is true.
Some 457,000 people now work in pubs and bars across the UK, with food staff making up 43.8% of employees in the sector.
Having seen a significant numbers of pub closures in recent years, its surprising to find that the number of jobs in the sector has risen. In 2019, there were 7,000 more jobs compared with 2018 - an increase of 1.6%.
(source: ONS, image: pexels)