The market intelligence firm’s figure’s showed sales across the on-trade were up by 3.3% between Friday 15 and Sunday 17 March against the same weekend in 2023.
In addition, the weekend was up 11% compared with every other weekend so far this year, thanks to the St Patrick’s Day celebrations and ‘super Saturday’, which saw the finals of the Six Nations Rugby tournament.
According to the figures, a total of 27m pints of draught beer and cider, including 4.5m pints of stout, were consumed in UK pubs across the 3 days, equating to 1,077 pints sold in the average venue and generating £3,301.
Great result
Moreover, this was an extra 106 pints sold per pub versus an average weekend this year.
England had the thirstiest fans drinking an extra 126 pints, with Scotland a steady second drinking an extra 96 pints while Welsh fans drank 72 pints less than average.
Footfall was also up over the three-day period, growing by 2.9% versus the same weekend in 2023, while dwell time grew from 131 minutes last year to 135 minutes this year.
Saturday was the best day for growth in city centre pubs and Sunday proved best for rural and suburban areas.
Oxford Partnership CEO Alison Jordan said: “The weekend’s sales were a great result for the on trade and exactly what the hospitality sector needed – here’s hoping the Easter weekend will continue this trajectory and show equally strong results.”
Bounce back
Furthermore, the latest card spend data from Barclays bank showed a 23% uplift in sales during the Six Nations ‘super Saturday’ on 16 March with transactions up 19% against the average Saturday so far this year.
Last month, sporting events boosted draught beer and cider sales by 19%, according to data from Oxford Partnership, while the latest Daily Drinks Tracker from CGA by NIQ revealed drinks sales in managed venues achieved year-on-year growth in the week to Saturday 9 March following more than five weeks of stagnant or declining figures.
Barclays head of retail Karen Johnson said: "Pubs and bars will undoubtedly be hopeful that Saturday’s result will set the tone for the rest of the year.
“With many major sporting events taking place this summer – including the Olympic Games, UEFA Euro 2024 and Wimbledon – we may see consumers’ non-essential spending bounce back as we approach the warmer months.”