Pubs strong and restaurants flat in mixed December for hospitality: Festive celebrations helped Britain’s managed pub groups to end 2025 on a high, the latest NIQ RSM Hospitality Business Tracker reveals. The Tracker – produced by NIQ and powered by CGA intelligence, in association with RSM – shows pubs’ like-for-like sales in December were 5.1% ahead of the same month in 2024. The growth is well ahead of the country’s recent rate of inflation and was powered by celebratory visits to pubs in the run-up to Christmas and New Year. Consumers’ December spending was softer in managed restaurants, where like-for-like sales rose by just 0.8%. It means pubs comfortably outpaced restaurants for growth in every month of 2025. Managed bars faced an even more difficult festive season, with sales down by 1.7% year-on-year. However, these figures represent the best month of 2025 for both restaurants and bars. With all channels combined, Britain’s managed hospitality groups achieved like-for-like growth of 2.9% in December. It was the Tracker’s highest point since April, and only the second time it topped 1% in the whole of 2025. When venues opened by groups in the last 12 months are factored in, growth rose to 6.2%, around twice the rate of inflation. A breakdown of sales also shows a marginally better December for groups outside London, as like-for-like growth within the M25 stood at 2.8% but reached 3.0% beyond it. Karl Chessell, director – hospitality operators and food EMEA at NIQ, said: “December’s like-for-like growth was steady rather than spectacular, and it is unlikely to have been enough to offset the extra burden of costs imposed on hospitality over the course of 2025. More positively, a late flurry of celebratory drinking-out means many pub operators ended the year on a high and start the new year with valuable extra reserves. Strong total growth also shows groups remain optimistic enough about the long-term future to invest in new sites. However, with consumers’ spending still fragile and margins so tight, the trading environment is likely to remain challenging for some time to come.”

Inda Pubs chair – hoping to add two more sites this year, should help us reach target of £20m turnover: Clive Watson, non-executive chair of London pub group Inda Pubs, has said the company is hoping to add two more sites this year, which should help it reach its target of £20m in turnover. The Corbett family-owned business said in May 2024 – when City Pub Group co-founder Watson joined – that is was aiming to double its then eight-strong estate and reach £20m in turnover in the next few years. Inda added two new pubs last year and saw its turnover increase by 18% to £14.5m (for the year ending 31 December 2025). Those new locations – the Rose and Crown on Kew Green and The Admiral Codrington in Chelsea – contributed significantly as turnover increased by 39% in the last six weeks of the year – with like for like sales up 15.3% over the festive period. Watson told Propel: “We’re hoping to add another two pubs this year. You can see from the Christmas trading that there was a lot of momentum coming through with the two openings at the end of last year, and if we can get a couple more sites, we will be well north of £20m. But it will be controlled expansion that doesn’t put any unnecessary strain on the business – as a private business there is no external pressure to expand, so opportunities will be taken on assuming they complement the existing estate.” Although nothing is in the pipeline at the moment, Watson said the company – whose ten sites are spread across west, north west and south west London – would be willing to look at other parts of the capital. He said: “London is gentrifying all over the place, so there’s no no-go areas. But we’ll stick to the capital – it’s a well-tested model and seems to be working well.” In terms of a potential business rates relief package for pubs, Watson said: “It seems to be a long time for them to correct the errors of their ways, but let’s hope they do, and hope it’s meaningful change rather than just cosmetic.” Meanwhile, James Corbett, who founded the business with his father, Hugh, in 2007, said 2025 had been a “really encouraging year” for Inda. He added: “The head office team has been fantastic, and our pub staff have done brilliantly. 2026 will be about investing in our staff to help them with their career development. We also intend to invest more in technology to help improve customer service and improve the running of our operations.”