May sees 2.9% spending rise

The research, from Barclays Consumer Spend report, showed the overall hospitality and leisure sector saw a 2.7% rise in spending.

This was down a little on April figures​, which saw consumer spending in whole industry up 4.1%.

Meanwhile in May, restaurants saw a drop in spending of 15.7% - this was a larger decline than in April (13.1%).

Future spend​

However, the data also showed some positivity as almost a third (28%) of those surveyed said we would be spending more when the weather improves this summer. This figure increased to 39% for 18-to-34-year olds.

Almost four in 10 (39%) of this group were planning to spend more on food and drink for picnics while a third (34%) said they would be drinking and dining al fresco at pubs and restaurants.

Barclays head of retail Karen Johnson said: “Retailers faced a challenging May, yet the few sunnier days in the month did bring a welcome uptick in footfall.

“As consumers gear up to spend more with better weather and with the Euros, Wimbledon and Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour on the horizon, there’s a brighter outlook for the coming months.”

Economic strength​

Barclays chief UK economist Jack Meaning was optimistic about the economy in the coming months.

He said: “The economic strength we saw in the first three months of the year was always expected to ease as we moved into the second quarter, with GDP having seen the extra bounce needed to recover the ground lost in last year’s recession.

“The underlying direction of travel remains though, with falling inflation, real income growth and low unemployment all pointing to a gradual acceleration in consumer spending over the next 12 months, especially as we begin to see the Bank of England reduce interest rates in H2.”