Consumer spending on hospitality continues to rise

Consumer spending grew 14.8 per cent in restaurants and 12.1 per cent in pubs year-on-year, according to Barclaycard’s latest report.

Ongoing economic uncertainty in Europe and concerns over the security of travelling abroad has seen a quarter of UK citizens opt for a UK staycations, which are predicted to boost hospitality profits this summer.​

As a result consumers spent 6.9 per cent more on hotels, while there was an 8.4 per cent increase in spending on travel – the highest level since Q2 2013.

Despite reports of a dip in spending in June attributed to squeezed middle income earners​, Barclaycard said consumer confidence was high following the General Election result in May.​

“A decisive General Election, low inflation, an uptick in earnings and improving job security all contributed to a sense of financial well being among consumers in the second quarter, which in turn led to record growth in both overall and discretionary spending,” commented Chris Wood, chief operating officer at Barclaycard.

Nationwide rise​

Overall spending rose in every region in the UK, with the biggest rises witnessed in London (5.4 per cent), the North West (4.9 per cent) and Scotland (4.7 per cent).

At the lower end of the scale, spending in the North East, East of England and South West still increased by 3.9 per cent, 3.8 per cent and 3.7 per cent respectively as consumers across the UK felt the effects of rising wages and falling inflation.

“Rather than a fleeting trend, consumer spending has been growing steadily since last summer as more and more people started to believe that improvements in the macro environment were here to stay. With the UK's economic recovery appearing now to be firmly established, households are likely increasingly to spend more on themselves and their families,” said Wood.

Barclaycard's processes nearly half of all card payments in the UK, its report was based on transactions between 29 March - 27 June 2015.