Brits to spend £210m in pubs this weekend as more than one third return to their local in first week of reopening

6.5 million pub trips expected to be made this weekend compared to 5 million on normal weekend

A bartender pours pints for takeaway customers at The Ten Bells pub in east London on June 27, 2020. (Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images)

Britons are expected to spend £210 million in pubs this weekend as more than one third return to their local.

About 35 per cent of UK adults plan to visit a pub in the first week they reopen after the coronavirus lockdown, new research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) predicts.

A “substantial proportion” of these are intending to go during the initial weekend in what is expected to be a major boost for the sector’s hopes of rapid recovery, the think tank said.

CEBR expects about 6.5 million pub trips to be made this weekend, which is about 1.5 million more than would be the case on a normal weekend.

However, it stressed that a majority of the population “remains cautious” over a return to bars and pubs.

The rush to get back to the pub after more than three months stuck at home is expected to result in a jump in consumer spending, with spending expected to increase by 32 per cent over the weekend, it said.

The CEBR report added: “The longer-term outlook for the pub industry may not be so rosy, however.

“Many within the wider hospitality industry had warned that the need for two-metre social distancing rendered a majority of businesses unviable.

“Though the replacement of this rule with a new “one-metre plus” recommendation means that many more pubs will now be able to return to operation, it still represents a considerable restriction for others.”

The think tank also estimates average profits for those which reopen to be about 46 per cent of pre-crisis levels, as dwindling sales are eaten up by cost rises.

Additional reporting by Press Association