Pubs and restaurants in Britain are cutting back hours to pay smaller bills

More than a third of them British pubs and restaurants have shortened their opening hours over the past three months to curb rising energy costs, the country’s statistics office has announced.

Around 6% of pubs, cafes and restaurants have decided to close two extra days a week, 7% to operate one day less, while 21% have reduced opening hours but not the number of days they operate, he said. today the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Reduced operating times are far more common in the hospitality industry than in other sectors of the UK economy, with only 7% of businesses reporting such a move.

Many businesses in the hospitality industry also reported reduced demand as patrons have been hit by rising energy bills following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The government announced temporary energy subsidies for businesses in September, but the ONS highlighted that this led to little change in the proportion of hospitality businesses saying energy bills were their main concern.

Last month, trade body UKHospitality said more than a third of the sector was at risk of bankruptcy early next year due to rising energy and other bills, as well as falling consumer spending. Staffing also remains a challenge.

However, more food and beverage businesses plan to stay open in November, according to the ONS survey, which showed 4% of firms plan to cut opening hours by one day a week, compared to 7% who did in the last three months.

In the run-up to Christmas almost all UK hospitality businesses expect a significant income and this year many pubs are hoping to get a boost from viewers of the World Cup in Qatar.

Wetherspoon, which operates nearly 900 pubs in Britain, said last week it was “cautiously optimistic” about its prospects despite the recent slowdown.