The Covid-19 pandemic has wiped a staggering £80.8bn off hospitality’s sales in just 12 months, the latest edition of the UKHospitality Quarterly Tracker with CGA reveals.
It shows sales from the start of April 2020 to the end of March 2021 totalled £46bn, down by 64% on £126.8bn in the previous 12 months.
The drop of £80.8bn is equivalent to around £220m of sales lost every day, or more than £9m every hour.
This collapse in trade fall reflects the waves of national and local lockdowns and severe trading restrictions that the UK’s hospitality businesses have endured since the pandemic began.
Many venues have been unable to trade for the majority of the past year, and all restaurants, pubs and bars have been limited to deliveries and takeaways throughout the first quarter of 2021.