The Night Time Economy Adviser for Greater Manchester, Sacha Lord, has praised the region’s hospitality sector, as figures show the industry is outpacing London in its recovery.
Report insights released by CGI and Wireless Social, which combines sales and device log-in data to assess the performance of Britain’s 10 most populous cities, revealed Manchester ranked third in its hospitality recovery behind Glasgow and Birmingham.
London ranked tenth in the data. Heavily reliant on lunchtime and after-work trade, operators across the capital have been critically affected by a sluggish return to the office as city professionals continue to work from home.
Pre Covid, the night time economy contributed £66 billion per year to the UK economy, making it the UK’s fifth largest industry, accounting for 1.3 million jobs and 8 per cent of the UK’s total workforce.
In Greater Manchester, the sector employed around 33 per cent of the region’s workforce in 2019. By 2021, nine in ten hospitality businesses in the region had been forced to temporarily close as a result of COVID regulations, higher than any other UK region.
Sacha Lord said,
“Greater Manchester was one of the worst hit areas of the UK in terms of restrictions during Covid, and our hospitality sector was severely damaged. To see the region bounce back like this is extremely positive, and will provide a level of confidence to operators and investors that has been missing for so long.
“We are seeing recovery across the board. Our commercial areas in the city and across the town centres are now seeing strong levels of footfall, buoyed by increased transport links and the reopening of workplaces. In addition, and setting us apart from other cities in the UK, we have an extremely strong suburban and rural hospitality sector, sustained by an incredible level of independents who offer a point of difference to customers and which are performing strongly despite the return to the office.”
Reflecting on how the current cost of living crisis will hamper recovery, Lord continued,
“There are still multiple hurdles that the sector is facing and recovery will remain on a precipice for many years to come. Debt burdens from the pandemic are now being exacerbated by the energy crisis and mounting supply costs, and we remain vigilant as to the ongoing difficulties. However, this data shows that there are emerging shoots of hope that we can grasp onto, and a definite public appetite to get back to normal.
“We remain cautiously optimistic that we can and will recover from this dire few years and we will be announcing our night time economy strategy in the coming weeks, outlining how we will continue to work with and support the sector as it continues in its fight back.”
