New openings boost bar numbers in Britain
While the number of nightclubs in Britain continued to decline last year, bars managed to grow their sites as cash-strapped consumers chose drinking over eating out.
NIQ’s latest Hospitality Market Monitor report looked at the pace of closures across the pub, bar and restaurant industry in Britain.
It revealed there were a total of 98,914 licensed premises in Britain as of December 2025. This figure was slightly down on December 2024 (0.2%), when there were 99,120 sites.
It also represented a 0.4% drop in September 2025 (99,296 venues). The 382 net closures are equivalent to more than four per day, the report noted.
By segment, nightclubs suffered the biggest drop, decreasing from 828 nightclubs in December 2024 to 799 last month. However, the figure did not change when compared with September 2025.
Bars, on the other hand, saw the biggest increase in venues for 2025. The segment’s number of sites rose to 4,721 in December 2025 – up by 2.2% year on year (4,621). It also marked a 1% increase in September 2025 when there were 4,674 sites.
Bar-restaurants, large venues, and high street pubs were the only other types of outlets to grow last year, reporting gains of 1.4%, 1.6% and 0.5% respectively.
“Bars and large venues were the only two segments in quarter-on-quarter growth,” the report said. “It suggests that operators in these channels have been slightly better insulated from cost pressures, and that some consumers have been choosing to drink out rather than eat out in recent months.”
Restaurants saw a decline of 1.4% to 14,675 venues last month compared with December 2024, while community pubs dipped by 0.2% to 17,905. Food pubs saw their year-on-year numbers fall by 1.1% to 11,148 venues.
Karl Chessell, director – hospitality operators and food, Europe, Middle East and Africa, at NIQ, said: “An acceleration of closures in the final quarter of 2025 shows the toll that relentless increases in operating costs are taking on hospitality.
“The dip is particularly concerning since it came during hospitality’s most important trading period of the year, when businesses traditionally build the cash reserves to sustain them through the quieter first quarter of the new year.
“Despite the government’s recent rethink on rates for pubs, conditions are unlikely to get any easier in 2026. NIQ’s research indicates low optimism among leaders and flat or negative year-on-year trading in real terms. Nevertheless, there are pockets of positivity.”
Bar openings outpace closures
NIQ also warned that the data “disguises a lot of market volatility and outlet churn”, highlighting that 4,865 sites closed last year while 4,659 opened.
“New openings were often in the same locations, with closed sites swiftly occupied by new businesses that were able to take advantage of fitted-out units and, sometimes, better rent terms,” NIQ noted. “New arrivals included both managed groups looking to expand into new areas, and independents making their first moves into hospitality.”
The report also found that some segments experienced more churn than others, with hotels, sports clubs and community pubs being the slowest.
In contrast, bars had the fastest churn with 482 sites closed in 2025, but 582 opened the same year.
Looking specifically at five UK cities, London managed to increase its number of licensed premises to 2,976 last month – a gain of 0.6%, following four consecutive years of decline.
However, NIQ pointed out that London still has 14% less venues than in the pre-pandemic month of March 2020, when it had 3,462 sites.
Meanwhile, Glasgow saw a 1.8% increase in sites last year and Liverpool was up by 0.2%.
Manchester and Edinburgh didn’t follow the same trend, with the number of venues falling by 0.3% and 0.6% respectively.
Furthermore, food-led venues saw a year-on-year drop of 0.9% to 35,534 venues last month, while drinks-led outlets were stable (up 0.2% to 54,335).
Chessell believes that without more support and an uptick in consumer spend, there will likely be “hundreds more permanent closures in the months ahead”.
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