Hospitality drives city centres' post-Covid recovery

Restaurants, pubs and bars across the UK's city centres saw solid sales growth in the first six months of 2022, according to the latest 'Top Cities' ranking from CGA and Wireless Social. 

The study indicates that trading in Britain's 10 most populous cities has improved on the benchmarks of 2019 in six consecutive four-week periods this year. Sales over the most recent four-week period, to 2 July, were an average of 2% higher than the same time in 2019. 

The 'Top Cities' research combines CGA's sales data with device login data from Wireless Social. The result is a 'vibrancy' ranking of Britain's biggest cities. The latest edition demonstrates that, in the first half of the year, Glasgow secured the highest average ranking, scoring best for vibrancy in three of the six four-week periods. Bristol and Birmingham rank second and third on average. Between late February and early June, Manchester performed better than any other British city. 

At the other end of the scale, London has consistently finished bottom in the first six months of 2022, with sales down by 8% on 2019 in the latest four weeks to 2 July. A slower than hoped return of office workers and tourists – made worse by rail strikes in June – has held down sales in central parts of the capital, though there are promising signs that sales are now approaching pre-Covid levels. The study also indicates that device logins remain down in all 10 cities compared to 2019. 

The 'Top Cities' research reveals fluctuations in vibrancy from city to city and month to month. In the most recent four-week block to 2 July, Leicester is placed top for the first time, with Edinburgh coming second having steadily moved up the rankings this year. Bristol and Leeds are third and fourth respectively in the latest list. 

Britain’s 10 biggest cities, ranked by vibrancy
Average rankings in the first six four-week periods of 2022
 
1. Glasgow
2. Bristol
3. Birmingham
4. Leicester
5. Manchester
6. Leeds
7. Edinburgh
8. Liverpool
9. Sheffield
10. London

"Britain’s cities were badly hit by two years of Covid restrictions, but this research shows how hospitality can help revitalise them. While so much retail activity moves online, restaurants, pubs and bars are giving people reasons to visit cities, and keeping their central areas vibrant," says Chris Jeffrey, client director at CGA. 

"However, operators face huge inflationary pressures, which is making real-terms sales growth difficult, and the cost-of-living crisis is constricting consumers’ spending," he adds. "Hospitality can continue to fuel Britain’s economic revival, but it deserves proper support from government to help sustain fragile businesses over this challenging period."
 

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