Britain’s Pub Industry Grows for the First Time in a Decade

(Bloomberg) --

The count of U.K. drinking establishments rose for the first time in a decade last year.

The overall number of pubs and bars grew by 315 in 2019, according to data from the Office for National Statistics published Thursday. Those with fewer than 10 employees also increased, bucking a 15-year slide.

The figures show that more people are now employed serving food than pulling pints though, reflecting the changing nature of the industry as Britons spend more of their income on eating out, but less on drinking out.

That’s no bad thing for the industry. Real turnover rose to the highest level since the financial crisis last year and it created 7,000 more jobs.

To contact the reporters on this story: Lucy Meakin in London at lmeakin1@bloomberg.net;Andrew Atkinson in London at a.atkinson@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Gordon at pgordon6@bloomberg.net, Brian Swint, Fergal O'Brien

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