UK retailers, pubs, hotels and restaurants are all hoping for a boost in sales sparked by the coronation of King Charles III on Saturday after three years of weak consumer demand.
The Center for Retail Research estimates that total spending on coronation-related street parties, souvenirs and overseas tourists will be more than £1.4billion this weekend, up from just over £400million pounds during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June last year.
But consumers are also feel the pressure of the soaring cost of living. Just a third of Britons will spend on activities over the Coronation Bank Holiday weekend, with one in 10 consumers planning to buy food and drink to welcome friends or family and just 8% planning to spend money for drinks in bars and pubs, according to recent Barclays research.
“People don’t have a lot of discretionary spending, so they can’t afford to spend on non-essentials,” said Tash Van Boxel, retail analyst at GlobalData. More than half of respondents to a GlobalData survey said that Cost of life would affect their celebrations.
While Coronation Weekend is expected to increase annual attendance by 4% across all UK retail destinations it is still expected to be 8% lower than last weekend, another UK public holiday, when “consumers took advantage of warmer weather and longer daylight hours,” said Diane Wehrle , director of MRI Springboard, a retail traffic provider. data. The weather this weekend should be more stereotypical for a British bank holiday: wet and dull.
The food and grocery sector is most likely to benefit from the coronation, according to Van Boxel. Simon Roberts, managing director of J Sainsbury, and Kathryn Turner, director of food development at Marks and Spencer, predict customers will buy more than normal.
“At Christmas and Easter, we found that despite cost of living pressures, families were looking for a reason to celebrate and to make the occasions special. We’re seeing the same sentiment with the Coronation so far,” said Turner, who added that M&S had sold more than half a million tins of commemorative shortbread and Coronation tea tins so far.
Sainsbury’s sold 143.3 miles of streamers, which would be enough to stretch from Buckingham Palace to Sheffield. Sparkling sales are up 128% year-over-year, with prosecco and crémant being the favourites. Sales of Nyetimber, an English sparkling wine, were up 600% year-on-year as customers bought Britons for Coronation weekend, according to the supermarket chain. Meanwhile, Tesco has opened its own pub in London in honor of the coronation, serving customers for just two days.
Pubs that survived the pandemic suffered from supply chain disruption and soaring food inflation after the war in Ukraine. They now face high energy bills that threaten to wipe out all of their profits.
Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, has warned of impending pub closures “by the thousands”. It means the planned £71m, or 17m extra pints, increase for pubs this weekend can’t come soon enough.
“I hope everyone takes this moment to support their local pub as we are in a very difficult and precarious situation,” said McClarkin.
Going to the pub is always an affordable way to party. “People still see the importance of the pub, for socializing and for the community,” said Nick Mackenzie, managing director of Greene King, a pub group that marks the occasion with its Coronation Golden Ale. The company expects to sell a quarter of a million pints of the new beer, which is on sale until May 14.
Mackenzie added: “I don’t think it’s going to be a very quick return to normal in any way. I think it’s going to take some time before things get easier for the client.
Hotel chains also profit from the celebrations. Premier Inn expects 17% of Britons to travel to London. Simon Ewins, managing director of the hotel chain, said some of its hotels near Coronation Road were “selling out within minutes”.
The Lanesborough, one of the most prestigious hotels in London, which is only a stone’s throw from the route of the coronation procession, is hosting delegations, royal families and a few heads of state for the occasion. The hotel also hosts a photo exhibition of the royal family.
“With Covid not too far behind us and Chinese tourists are starting to diversify [to Europe] until recently the coronation was great publicity for London,” said Stuart Geddes, chief executive of The Lanesborough.
Average London hotel room rates for Saturday are £277, up 10% from the updated price on the same date last year. It’s still cheaper than recent royal events: the average discounted price of hotel rooms over the Platinum Jubilee weekend in June 2022 was £280 and £344 during Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral in September, according to data from OTA Insight.
An official from a hotel data provider said: ‘The Queen was a global figure and her popularity will never be rivaled by anyone, probably not even the King.’
Additional reporting by Laura Onita and Oliver Barnes in London
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