Research by data and insight consultancy CGA has suggested that as many as 30,000 pubs and restaurants may not open once lockdown restrictions are lifted.

CGA group chief executive Phil Tate said: “Industry estimates of the scale of closures vary widely, from below 10% to as high as 30% of total sites. The challenge for business owners will be to understand not just how long the casualty list will be, but which will be the worse hit areas and how individual sites will pivot to new styles of operation.”

CGA recorded a 2.4% fall in the number of licensed premises in the year to the end of March which CGA “…now expects the decline to worsen once the hospitality sector begins to reopen at the start of July.”

The data also showed that two-thirds of the UK’s 115,108 licensed venues are independents and that ‘casual dining restaurants’ are at particular risk because many are located in shopping centres and near office blocks and may take longer to bounce back.

Source: The Telegraph

View the report from CGA