On-trade outlook: Spring visits up but volumes down

By Hamish Graham

Published: 14 April, 2026

New on-trade data for March 2026 from market intelligence company The Oxford Partnership shows improving average occupancy and dwell time year on year compared to March last year. In terms of the former this rose +1.1% to 65.4%, while the latter saw visit length rise +3.4% to 153 minutes.

Year to date performance also shows growth compared to 2025, with occupancy uplifting +3.6% and dwell time gaining +2.3%.

Despite the Spring shoots of optimism, sales volumes sunk -2% compared to March 2025. On a moving annual total (MAT) basis, ‘core lager’ was down -5.8%, with March 2026’s year on year performance for the category painting a similar story. Stout by contrast saw a +5.8% rise when comparing March 2025 to March 2026.

Read more: Kopke declares 2024 vintage port

The research also revealed that the number of venues operating in the UK has declined year on year – falling from 101,171 in March of last year to 99,789 for the same month this year.

Spend per visit rose in March year on year to £26.91. This was largely driven by an increase in food spend per head to £32.12 (£30.86 in March 2025) whereas drinks spend per head saw more modest growth (£21.28 in March 2026 compared to £20.89 last year).

In its report The Oxford Partnership gave an overview of the Spring on-trade outlook.

It added: “March highlights a market that has clearly improved month-on-month, but not yet fully recovered. Engagement metrics are strong, spend continues to rise, and volumes are increasing month on month, indicating positive momentum as the year progresses.

“However, the gap between engagement and consumption remains evident. Consumers are returning to venues, staying longer, and spending more, but drinking intensity continues to lag behind previous levels.”

Printer friendly version