Hospitality site numbers rise in third quarter but sector seeing 11 closures every week: Britain’s number of licensed premises has fallen 0.6% in the last year despite modest growth in the third quarter of 2025, according to the latest Hospitality Market Monitor from CGA by NIQ. The country had 99,296 licensed venues at September 2025, having recorded 572 net closures in 12 months, or 11 every week. It means there are now 15,812, or 14.2%, fewer premises than at March 2020 – due to the fallout from the covid pandemic and the sustained high inflation and weak consumer spending that has followed. However, the latest quarter has brought reasons for cautious optimism about future prospects. In the three months to September, Britain’s number of licensed premises rose 0.6% – the monitor’s first quarter-on-quarter increase for 12 months and only the third since mid-2022. The monitor highlights a tentative recovery of independently run pubs, bars, restaurants and other licensed premises. After losing nearly a fifth of its sites in just five years, the independent sector grew 0.9% in the third quarter. The monitor also flags the resilience of pubs and bars in 2025. The number of these and other drink-led venues nudged up 0.1% in the 12 months to September, while restaurants and other food-led sites dropped 1.7%. This pattern matches sales trends measured by the CGA RSM Hospitality Business Tracker, in which managed pubs have outpaced restaurants for growth in every month of 2025 so far. Karl Chessell, director – hospitality operators and food, EMEA at CGA by NIQ, said: “High costs and fragile consumer confidence have created a very difficult trading environment for hospitality in 2025, and these numbers show the toll they have taken on venues. Against that backdrop, a modest rise in sites in the third quarter shows the sector’s impressive resilience. Well-run businesses continue to expand, and the confidence of independent venues is particularly encouraging. These businesses are working exceptionally hard to navigate multiple challenges, and as the Budget nears, they will be hoping for respite on their disproportionately high costs. Government support can help to nurture these green shoots of recovery, but failure to act risks thousands more closures and job losses.” 

Almost half of young adults now choosing no and low-alcohol drinks: Almost half of young adults (49% of those surveyed) are now choosing no and low-alcohol drinks, according to a new report from alcohol charity Drinkaware. This number has almost doubled from the 28% reported in 2018, with 44% saying they choose no and low options to moderate their drinking, up from 31% in 2018. The uptake of alcohol-free drinks among “risky drinkers” – those who drink above 14 units per week – has also more than tripled, rising from 7% in 2018 to 23% in 2025. Meanwhile, the majority (59%) of “risky drinkers” who consume such products use them instead of regular strength alcohol, while a further 25% use them either as a replacement or an addition, and only 9% said they drink them alongside regular alcohol. Drinkaware chief executive Karen Tyrell said: “It is great to see young adults leading the charge in the growth of no and low drinks. But it is the rise in their use by risky drinkers that shows their potential for helping to reduce alcohol harm.”