Drinking out falls in build-up to festive period

The Greene King Leisure Spend Tracker​ found the average household spent £188 on out-of-home leisure, £17 less than in October.

Overall leisure spending was also down 2%, or £5, compared to this time last year.

The month-on-month decrease was largely the result of a 15% decline in the amount spent drinking out in November.

But eating out also fell by 7% compared to October - when the Rugby World Cup was in full swing.

Spending down

Year-on-year figures were also down for drinking out (8%) and eating out (7%) while other leisure activities, which includes cinema, bowling and going to the gym, was unchanged.

Greene King group marketing director Fiona Gunn said: "With the Christmas festivities fast-approaching, Brits tightened their belts in November, reducing their spending on drinking and eating out compared to last month.

"This was exacerbated further by a particularly busy October, when households up and down the country were going out to enjoy the closing stages of the Rugby World Cup and celebrate Halloween."

Online

Industry figures have indicated that online sales represented their largest ever share of retail sales during November, helped by Black Friday. 

Reflecting this, high street footfall fell during the month. This had a knock-on effect on spontaneous lunches, dinners and drinks out.

Households with kids saw just a 1%, or £3, month-on-month decline in spending, likely due to some early Christmas shopping. Households without kids saw a decline of 10%, or £18.

Key findings

• On a year-on-year basis, households in London and the south-east reduced their spending on out-of-home leisure by 3% versus a 2% fall among households in the rest of Britain
• The average British household spent £188 on out-of-home leisure, a 2% decrease year-on-year and an 8% fall on the previous month
• Spending on drinking out underwent significant declines on both a month-on-month (8%) and year-on-year (2%) basis
• Other leisure spend saw a 6% fall in November versus October, largely driven by 10% decline in spend on live sports events following the end of the Rugby World Cup
• Family households continue to buck a largely consistent trend in leisure spending, with other leisure up £18 (19%) year-on-year – an increase that offsets a £7 fall in spending among households without kids.

Tracker

The Greene King Leisure Spend Tracker​ is part of an omnibus questionnaire run on behalf of Greene King by research partner YouGov and analysed in conjunction with Trajectory Partnership.

The tracker aims to provide insights into consumer discretionary spending, focusing on eating out, drinking out, gambling, cinema-going, health & fitness and live events.

Each month's report is based on an online, nationally representative sample of 4,000 people, reflecting the behaviour of 4,000 households.