After-work drinks are making a comeback as staff return to offices, a leading pub boss has said.
In a sign that city centres are roaring back to life after Covid, brewer Shepherd Neame said sales in London in the six months to Christmas were 39 per cent higher than the year before.
‘There’s something very special about spilling out on to the pavement and unwinding after work, and I don’t think that has changed,’ chief executive Jonathan Neame said.
Recovery: Shepherd Neame, led by boss Jonathan Neame (pictured) said sales in London in the six months to Christmas were 39% higher than a year before
The 59-year-old said working from home is losing its attraction as people have ‘learned the value of being in the office again’.
‘Employers – and most employees – want to be back in the office at least three days a week,’ he added.
Neame, who has run Britain’s oldest brewer since 2003, also said that the return of Asian tourists will give a boost to pubs this summer.
He said that American and European travellers have returned to the UK since Covid travel restrictions eased, but there have been ‘very few’ visitors from the Far East.
Neame added: ‘Now that restrictions have been lifted in China we are expecting some pretty good inbound tourism.’
It came as Kent-based Shepherd Neame, which runs 301 pubs in the South-East, said overall sales in the six months to December 24 hit £85.3million.
That was up 8.4 per cent from a year earlier. Sales were comfortably ahead of pre-pandemic levels.
Profit rose 1.8 per cent to £5.5million despite soaring food, energy and staff costs.
The 325-year-old business has also struggled with the cost of living crunch facing consumers.
But Neame said he is ready for a ‘very good’ summer as the firm capitalises on the return of office working and tourism – as well as easing inflation and stronger economic growth.
Shepherd Neame shares fell 1.65 per cent, or 10p, to 595p.
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