Pubs to lose out on £9m during England v Italy

09-Jul-2021 - Last updated on 09-Jul-2021 at 09:45 GMT

Number crunching: the British Beer & Pub Association predicts more than 7m pints will be sold during the England v Italy game this weekend (image: Getty/Jonathan Knowles)

While 7.1m extra pints are expected to be bought on during Sunday’s UEFA Euro 2020 final on Sunday (11 July), due to ongoing restrictions, the trade will miss out on £9m in beer sales, it has been predicted.

The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) worked out this was equivalent to 2.4m fewer pints sold during the game than if the Covid restrictions has already been lifted.

Overall on Sunday, the trade body said almost 13m pints could be sold with 7.1m of those being served during the match itself.

However, if restrictions were lifted totally, this would have been closer to 17m pints, it added, showing the huge impact the measures such as table service and social distancing have on the viability of the sector.

Government investment needed

Furthermore, financial experts Raisin UK estimated England fans at the final will throw more than 3.2m pints in the area with the number rising from 550,000 if a similar result to England’s 4-0 win against Ukraine and 2-1 against Denmark happens.

After the football competition, the BBPA is calling on the Government to invest in the on-trade so pubs can begin their recovery.

The trade association is doing this through supporting and promoting the Long Live the Local campaign.

The campaign is urging the Government to reform VAT, beer duty and business rates to reduce the tax burden the trade faces.

Restrictions to greatly hinder boost

BBPA chief executive Emma McClarkin said: “After a 55-year wait, it is incredible to see England reach a tournament final. Sadly though, the restrictions still in place on pubs are going to greatly hinder any boost they could have hoped from it.

“We expect England fans to buy more than 7m pints during the match at the pub. However, if restrictions had been lifted already for the final, we think as many as 9.5m pints could have been sold during the match.

“Only when the restrictions are removed can our pubs recover, but to do so they need Government investment to build back better.
“We are backing the Long Live The Local campaign which celebrates our pubs and brewers but will urge the Government to invest in their recovery.

“We are calling for reform of VAT, beer duty and business rates on pubs and breweries which will help build stronger communities, jobs, investments and a thriving British beer and pub sector we can be proud of.”