Pub sales fell by up to 40% following riots

According to a survey of pubco bosses conducted by BigHospitality’s sister publication The Publican’s Morning Advertiser​, both the riots themselves and the knock-on effect has hampered what should have been roaring trade for pubs.

Rioting that broke out in London on 7 August soon spread to other major cities including Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Wolverhampton, where many pubs were forced to close early or, even worse, damaged by looters.

Although its sites were left undamaged, the 11-strong cocktail bar Be At One saw a 40 per cent fall in revenue on Monday and Tuesday last week, although trade soon picked up towards the weekend.

Rhys Oldfield, co-founder of Be At One, said: “We had a decent Thursday and the weekend was fine too. The volume of people was lower, but there was a sense that people were not going to get down about it.

“I think people who lived locally were very nervous about what happened and concerned about their homes. Overall, it was very unfortunate, but we just have to move on.”

Charlie McVeigh, who owns pub chain Draft House claimed the group lost a full days takings over the evenings of Monday and Tuesday at its Northcote Road site in Clapham.

“The site was closed on both nights under police guidance, with the staff extremely nervous,” he said. “Both the other two sites were very quiet during the period as people stayed at home in the evenings. However all three sites were back to normal by last Thursday.”

Walkabout operator Intertain was forced to close a number of its sites in London, Wolverhampton, Liverpool, Enfield and Birmingham on police advice, which had some impact on trade.

“It could have been a lot worse. Losing the international football match [between England and the Netherlands] was a shame. But weekend trading was back to normal August levels,” said John Leslie, chief executive of Intertain.

Knock-on effect​

But the effects of the riots were also felt beyond those areas directly hit by disturbances.

Inventive Leisure, operator of Revolution vodka bars, saw trade fall by 20 per cent, with its sites in London, Birmingham and Manchester most severely affected.

“We don’t have many businesses in the vicinity of the looting — it’s just that people were more subdued in the cities of London, Liverpool and Birmingham and it was quieter over last weekend,” said founder Roy Ellis.

“However, we were right in the middle of it in Clapham Junction. We were very fortunate there [not to have the business damaged].

“The knock-on effect has been detrimental. I’m hoping this week is a bridging week to get back to normal rather than the start of a long, subdued period.”