Total sales across hospitality sector plummet by 79% during November: Total sales at Britain’s pubs, pub-restaurants, restaurants and bars fell by 79% during November versus November 2019 as lockdown hit in England and tough trading restrictions continued in Scotland and Wales, according to data from the Coffer Peach Business Tracker. Data from the tracker showed wet-led managed pubs and pub-restaurants were badly affected with total sales for the month 88.8% down on November last year, with sales down 90.2% at bars. Group-owned restaurants faired marginally better, as some were able to rely on delivery business, but still saw total sales tumble 65.9% against the same month in 2019. Total sales in food-led pubs were down 85%. With lockdown in England from 5 November and partial openings in Scotland and Wales, by the last week of the November, just 6% of Britain’s managed pubs and restaurants were trading. “November was a wipe-out for the sector, and came on the back of difficult trading in both September and October as the rollout of more regional covid-19 restrictions depressed sales,” said Karl Chessell, director of CGA, the business insight consultancy that produces the tracker, in partnership with The Coffer Group and RSM. He added: “Although August, with the Eat Out To Help Out initiative, saw healthy sales in food-led businesses, since then trading has become progressively harder. Total sales for the sector were 21% below 2019 levels in September and 33.9% down in October before hitting the buffers last month.” At the end of November, underlying annual like-for-like sales for the whole market were down 43.7% on the previous 12 months. Trevor Watson, executive director, valuations, Davis Coffer Lyons, said: “Sadly, with effectively the whole country in tier two or three for the first half of December at least, prospects for a reasonable bounce back in the most important month of the year are very weak indeed. We hope and pray this Christmas that vaccine progress will soon enable the politicians to swing their policies in favour of saving the economy as well as saving lives.”