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Hospitality closures accelerated in fourth quarter as costs rose again: Britain’s number of licensed premises fell by 0.4% in the last three months of 2025, according to the latest Hospitality Market Monitor from NIQ. The country had 98,914 sites at the end of December – 382 fewer than in September and equivalent to more than four net closures per day over the fourth quarter. It represents an abrupt end to a resilient year for hospitality, after site numbers rose by 0.2% in the first nine months of 2025. The reversal in fortunes follows relentless inflation for businesses in key cost areas, alongside fragile consumer confidence about spending. The Hospitality Market Monitor, produced by NIQ and powered by CGA intelligence, shows fourth-quarter losses were especially high in the casual dining and restaurant segments, which recorded net declines of 1.8% and 1% respectively. In these two channels combined, there were 241 net closures in just three months, or nearly 19 per week. Across all food-led businesses, sites fell by 0.8% between September and December. Fourth-quarter performance was slightly stronger on the drink-led side of hospitality, where numbers slipped only 0.1%. Bars recorded quarter-on-quarter growth of 1% – a sign that operators here have been slightly better protected from cost pressures, and that many consumers have been choosing to drink out rather than eat out in recent months. NIQ’s Hospitality Market Monitor also showed a steady return to growth in London, where site numbers rose by 0.6% over the course of 2025. The capital is still 14.0% short of the pre-covid benchmark of March 2020, but hospitality there has been boosted by the steady return of office workers to their desks after sustained periods of working from home, as well as an uptick in visitors from overseas. Karl Chessell, director – hospitality operators and food, EMEA at NIQ, said: “An acceleration in closures in the final quarter of 2025 shows the toll that relentless increases in operating costs are taking on hospitality. The dip is particularly concerning as it came during hospitality’s most important trading period of the year, when businesses usually build the cash reserves to get through the quieter start to the new year. Despite the government’s recent rethink on rates for pubs, conditions are unlikely to get any easier in 2026, and business confidence and sales growth both remain weak. Some hospitality groups and entrepreneurs continue to open sites, but without more support and an upswing in people’s spending, we are likely to see hundreds more permanent closures in the months ahead.”

Premium Club subscribers to receive updated Multi-Site Database with 3,518 operators and 31 new companies on Friday: Premium Club subscribers are to receive the updated Multi-Site Database on Friday (30 January), at midday. The next Propel Multi-Site Database provides details of 3,518 multi-site operators and is searchable in seven main segments. The database features 1,019 (29%) operators from the casual dining sector, 803 (23%) pub and bar operators, 617 (18%) cafe bakery operators, 496 (14%) quick service restaurant operators, 289 (8%) hotel operators, 237 (7%) experiential leisure operators and 55 (2%) fine dining operators. The database is updated each month, and this edition includes 31 new companies. The database includes new companies in the casual dining sector such as Latin American dining concept Tigermilk, Thesleff Group, with its fast-growing collection of London restaurants, and Essex Bangladeshi and Indian restaurant concept Kaani Kaana. Premium Club subscribers also receive access to five additional databases: the New Openings Database, the Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database and the Who’s Who of UK Hospitality. All Premium Club subscribers will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to Propel paid-for events and discounts on specialist sector reports. Operators that are Premium Club subscribers are also able to send up to four members of staff to each of our four Multi-Club Conferences for free. Premium Club subscribers receive their daily Propel Info newsletter 11 hours earlier than standard subscribers, at 7pm the evening before. They also receive videos of presentations at eight Propel conference events two weeks after they are held. This represents around 100 videos of industry insight over the course of the year. Premium Club subscribers also receive exclusive opinion columns every Friday at 5pm, which include the thoughts of Propel chief operating officer – editorial, Mark Wingett, and a host of industry leaders from across the sector. A Premium Club subscription costs an annual sum of £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Premium Club for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or supplier. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.

Plea to expand hospitality support: The government is facing last-ditch calls to broaden an expected £300m support package this week for pubs facing a surge in business rates. The Times reports the Treasury is expected to announce a temporary support package focused on pubs after the chancellor indicated at Davos last week that she would not extend relief across the sector to hotels, restaurants and cafés. The support is intended to help pubs, which are facing much higher commercial property tax bills after an end of pandemic-era support measures and much higher revaluations than those calculated during the covid-19 crisis. The government was responding to a backlash over post-budget rises in rates and warnings about a new wave of pub closures. The sector has been under pressure from rising costs and from customers who are struggling to make ends meet. The industry anticipates that the Treasury’s support could be announced tomorrow, when the chancellor is expected to join the prime minister’s trade delegation to China. Allen Simpson, the chief executive of UKHospitality, has stepped up calls for the Treasury to broaden its support, saying: “It’s not even remotely sustainable to claim that this is a pubs-only issue. This is a whole-sector problem for hospitality, and we need a whole-sector solution, or the businesses that provide six out of seven hospitality jobs will be left unsupported.” Research shows spending in pubs, bars and restaurants dropped by 60% in real terms between 2000 and 2024, according to the New Economics Foundation, a left-leaning think tank, based on data from the Office for National Statistics. Much of the fall was caused by working from home and taking more holidays abroad instead of in the UK, it said. Writing in The Times, James Browne, a senior policy adviser on economic policy at the Tony Blair Institute, said liability for paying business rates should be shifted to the landlord, so that tenants did not have to worry about changes to business rates or having to renegotiate rents when bills go up. This would not make them better off, as rents would adjust, but would “spare businesses the administrative burden of managing property tax” and reduce councils’ administration costs by sharply reducing the number of taxpayers.

Nero sales leave coffee rivals green with envy: The company behind Caffe Nero has achieved record turnover after ringing up £800m in sales last year despite a difficult trading environment that left rival coffee chains struggling. The Times reports that The Nero Group, which runs 1,154 coffee shops in 11 countries, including more than 800 in Britain, recorded a 13% increase in sales in the 12 months to the end of May last year compared with the previous 12 months. Underlying adjusted profits rose by a fifth, to $80m. In its UK business, which forms the core of the group’s operations, profits jumped 17% to £45.2m on revenues of £366m last year. Its performance was driven in part by innovation in its product range, such as the expansion of its coffee over ice menu, where demand is surging. The launch of its matcha range, which sold more than 650,000 units, also proved a hit. The bright green tea powder that has become a wellness staple among young people convinced of the purported health benefits. Nero’s coffee at home business, which sells packaged coffee in stores and through retail partners, generated sales of £8.8m. Momentum has continued with total like-for-like sales ahead by 5% in the first seven months of the current financial year, while its portfolio has increased with the opening of 27 shops. Gerry Ford, who founded the business in 1997 and is its chief executive, said its performance was “encouraging” despite “tough trading conditions across all our territories and ongoing challenges with inflation and government-imposed costs in the UK”.

Edinburgh is best for a big night out: Edinburgh has been crowned the country’s late-night capital, according to data tracking taxi journeys across the UK, with Glasgow and London completing the top three. The Times reports that Uber analysed millions of trips and deliveries and found that people in Edinburgh made the most journeys between 10pm and 4am, cementing the Scottish capital’s position as a hub of thriving pubs, bars and clubs. The UK’s capital, which has faced a wave of venue closures in recent years, clung on to third place with the help of trips to popular venues such as Fabric, which remained the most requested nightclub destination on Uber. Brummies preferred to see the sunrise, with more trips booked between 6am and 8am than anywhere else in the UK. Across the UK, one in four late-night venues have shut their doors since 2020. Data from the Night Time Economy Monitor last summer revealed that Birmingham experienced the largest decline since March 2020, at 27.5%, while Greater London’s numbers dropped by 20.8%, to 343 venues. Edinburgh’s decline has been more gradual, falling 13% since March 2020 to a total of 47 in June 2025. London’s Hyde Park, Edinburgh Castle, Birmingham’s Cadbury World and Liverpool’s Beatles Story were the most requested tourist attractions in their respective cities. Harrods was the UK’s most requested shopping destination as people flocked to see its luxury offerings, while Birmingham’s Bullring was the city’s top place for retail therapy. Uber found that university hubs like Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds were hives for late-night deliveries, with orders most often placed between 10pm and 4am. Chinese food was the most popular choice, but searches for sushi, pizza and Thai food more than doubled over the year. The matcha craze was also evident, as searches for the Japanese green tea powder drink soared by 700%.