Drink sales soar as English pubs re-open after lockdown

Drinks sales soared on Monday as pubs, restaurants and bars in England re-opened after several months of lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Hospitality data specialists CGA said that like-for-like drink sales jumped by 113.8% on the first day of outdoor trading, compared with the same day in 2019, the Press Association reported Wednesday.

Hospitality firms in England welcomed customers again on Monday after being closed for at least three months due to lockdown restrictions.

However, only 38.2% of venues, around 41,100 licensed premises in total, had the outdoor space to enable them to reopen this week.

All others are only allowed to open when more restrictions ease in the next step, which is planned for 17 May.

Experts said the increased sales were noteworthy as people may only drink outdoors.

It was chilly in London and large parts of England for the first half of the day on Monday.