Sales at Britain's leading managed restaurant, pub and bar groups are up 3 per cent on pre-Covid levels.

The Tracker, produced by CGA in partnership with The Coffer Group and RSM, shows total sales achieved modest sales growth in October amid mounting operational pressures. Sales were 64 percent higher than in October 2020.

October was a slightly better month for pub groups than restaurants, with total sales growth of 3 per cent and 2 per cent respectively. Bars performed best of all with an increase of 13 per cent as the recovery of the late-night market continued.

Across all sectors and regions, October delivered a third consecutive month of 2021-on-2019 increases, though the rate of growth dipped from 8 per cent in September.

Paul Newman, head of leisure and hospitality at RSM, said: "Post lock-down euphoria appears to be waning with sales growth compared to 2019 falling to 3 per cent in October vs 8 per cent in September as consumers begin to feel the impact of rising household bills on discretionary spending.

"Sales comparisons to 2019 are also being impacted by acute labour shortages, forcing many hospitality businesses to cut trading hours with operators, conscious of the need to give their teams a chance to 'recharge their batteries' before the all-important festive trading season kicks in. It could spell the start of a long, hard winter for the sector if this downward trajectory in sales growth continues for the rest of the year."

A total of 59 companies provided data to the October edition of the Coffer CGA Business Tracker.