Good weather and early Easter leads to boom in March leisure spending

British household spend on eating and drinking out rose to £216 in March, up £20 (or 10%) on last year and a £34 increase on February this year.

‘Eating out’​

The largest increase was in people eating out, a rise of £14, which the tracker said had been driven by Good Friday Weather and the Easter school holidays. Brits spent an extra £5 on drinking out in March when compared with the same period last year, with people in London and the south east increasing their spending considerably more than those living in the rest of the country.

Households without children increased the amount they spent on leisure by £15 but households with children spent considerably more, upping their spending to £38, an 18% increase.

‘Lads who lunch’​

The tracker also identified a new trend for ‘lads who lunch’, with 43% of men surveyed saying that their weekend pub visit is mainly to have lunch friends or family. Only 19% said their pub visit was to watch TV sport and 4% said they visited to play pub games like pool.

Greene King group marketing director Fiona Gunn said: “Easter falling early this year saw many British households increase their leisure spending across the board, particularly in Eating Out. There was also the excitement of the Cheltenham Festival, which boosted Other Leisure spending, and the fact that the school holidays allowed many families to enjoy some quality time together out of home.”

The Greene King Leisure Tracker is conducted by YouGov and surveys 4,000 households on their eating and drinking out habits.