UK pubs will have benefited from a boost over the long weekend, with around 57 million pints poured and enjoyed. But five million more, worth £22m, could have been sold if many weren’t battling with staff shortages, says the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA).
As the holidays drew to a close, pubs welcomed people looking to enjoy glimmers of sunshine and the long weekend. But the hospitality provided was not without its challenges. Staff shortages are currently holding back many pubs from fulfilling their full potential, with revenue likely down by around 8% as a result.
A recent cross-industry survey, conducted by the BBPA, British Institute of Innkeeping, Hospitality Ulster, and UKHospitality, showed that 61% of hospitality businesses are currently experiencing staff shortages. Forty-two per cent are reducing opening hours on weekends due to a lack of team members.
For more than two years hospitality has had the highest vacancy rate of any sector,. The most recent Office for National Statistics figures show the UK’s average vacancy rate is at 3.2%, with hospitality almost 2% higher than that at 5.1%.
With £1.6bn usually generated in tax for the Treasury across the whole of the summer season, the BBPA is calling on the government to take action to solve the staffing crisis, to allow pubs to unlock their full economic potential.
“Our pubs support economies across the country, and during the summer season they thrive on welcoming people from near and far, but they are being held back by an ongoing staffing crisis,” said Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the BBPA.
“Businesses are taking initiatives to overcome these challenges through altering menus and shortening hours, but ultimately this means they are not trading to full capacity and, in turn, that means lower sales and less revenue generated for the Treasury.
“We urgently need the government to implement solutions to solve the staffing crisis by making changes to the youth mobility scheme and widening the Shortage Occupation List, because brilliant pubs thrive on brilliant people, and we need more of them to reach our full economic potential.”
