Falling interest rates, inflation and energy prices have led to cautious optimism in the hospitality sector recently after several difficult years. England’s football team reaching the final of the Euros 24 also provided a welcome boost to London’s pubs

Vincent Burke caught up with some key players to get their views on the current state of London’s hospitality industry and its likely future.

Enduring appeal

Luca Virgilio, general manager of Dorchester Hotel, is upbeat about the capital’s long-term attractiveness, as demonstrated by the hotel’s decision to extensively refurbish one of the capital’s most iconic venues and its plans to open a roof terrace next year.

He is confident about the capital’s enduring appeal: “London is a city that has so much to give and many reasons to visit, whether it is our history, the Royal Family, theatreland, restaurants or bars. There are few cities in the world that can package everything that London has.

He also highlights the unfortunate reality that London may benefit from the environmental challenge facing other European cities. “With climate change, London is a place you can come during summer and still feel comfortable and enjoy. I’m hearing that a lot of people are not visiting cities in other parts of Europe because summers have become too hot.”

Healthy profits

Some pub groups have also recently reported healthy profits as new eating and drinking places open or re-open after refurbishment.

Fullers, one of London’s major pubs chains, is performing strongly, especially in central London, with like-for-like sales up significantly on last year.

Another positive sign is Fullers’ decision to spend over £27 million renovating many pubs around London over the last year, including several City pubs.

Operations manager Patrick Wagstaff said: “Pre-pandemic, trading patterns were very different. We see a slightly different customer on Friday evenings and weekends. People are back in their offices and a lot of our City businesses are performing really well.

“One of the great things about the area around the City is that you get the international and domestic tourism trade around Shoreditch and Spitalfields market and you get ordinary Londoners who want to visit the area and spend time.”

Expansion

Urban Pub and Bars, the biggest independent pub group in London, has also performed very well recently. It has doubled its pubs across the capital in recent years with more expansion planned.

Among several new pubs the group have opened across London is the Red Setter in Battersea. Marketing director André Johnston says: “London is a great city and has come back to life. There are still exciting things happening here and the pubs are a feature of that excitement.”

Bonus

Martin Dibben of Searcy’s champagne bars, which opened last year as part of the spectacular transformation of Battersea Power Station, is also optimistic. He believes that one unexpected bonus of their recent opening has been the sense of community with the other shops and new residents in the development.

Many hospitality firms have started to look expectantly at Christmas, traditionally the sector’s busiest period. Hopefully the usual round of Christmas parties and other seasonal celebrations will provide a further boost to London’s unrivalled offer of bars, restaurants and hotels. Let’s drink to that!

Vincent Burke is a communications consultant, podcaster and film-maker

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