Drink and eat for your country!
The hospitality industry has taken a beating over the past year, reportedly losing £80bn in revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic. But over the next month, as the three home nations continue their campaigns at the Euros, pubs and restaurants could see an impressive financial improvement.
It is estimated that today, Britons will drink around 10 million pints, which speaks not only to our love of the sport but also our capacity to consume alcohol in comparable amounts. This drunken splurge is part of a larger picture that estimates around £400 million will be spent this weekend alone.
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Joshua Bamfield, the director for the Centre of Retail Research, spoke to
Metro about the enormous cash flow the UK will experience in the coming weeks:
"With £397million forecast to be spent this weekend alone as the first games kick off, it’s highly likely that the Euro 2020 tournament will create a substantial boost to the economy.
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"With odds on England reaching the later stages of the tournament, it’s likely that subsequent games will draw the same, if not more attention than this weekend’s matches, and with that a similar level of spend.
"Should a British team reach the finals, the UK is set for a significant cash injection from fans’ spending power."
A study by Voucher Codes has illustrated just how much money fans are willing to spend this weekend. £334 million will be spent by fans at home, while a further £63 million will be spent in pubs and sports bars.
The Mirror reports that supermarkets have also reported an uptake in sales, with Co-Op preparing to sell 220,000 pizzas, hopefully without pineapple. Waitrose has said that their sales of burgers and kebabs will also increase by 27% and 44%.
One thing is for sure, despite the pandemic, the British have not lost their sense of a good time. Whether you are spending the Euro’s in a pub, at home, or merely going for drinks, remember that the more you drink, the more the economy benefits. Drinking and eating is not a choice; it’s your civic duty.
