Cost of living crisis impacting Christmas party bookings

Pubs and restaurants say the cost of living is causing many people to think twice before booking a Christmas party.

Several venues in the West Country said they have noticed a drop in the number of corporate pre-bookings, with people reluctant to pay a deposit in advance.

Some companies are adapting their offer to counter the soaring price of food.

Owner of The Pump House in Bristol, Toby Gritten, said: "People are being more wise with their money because they have less of it."

He added that at this time of year they would normally already have many bookings for Christmas.

"In previous years, the Thursdays and Fridays before Christmas would be fully booked by now, with bookings coming in fast after the summer holidays," Mr Gritten said.

"But not anymore. We've had a few, but not that many so far this year. People are very reluctant to pay a deposit."

Mr Gritten said he believes people are still nervous after "the cancellation of Christmas" two years ago, due to the Covid pandemic.

"I don't think it's necessarily the death of the Christmas party, its just people being more wise with their money."

Mr Gritten said that in the quieter autumn months he would have had teams of staff prepping for the Christmas party season - making stocks, sauces and frozen puddings in advance - but not this year.He added: "People might be choosing just one Christmas meal out for cost - and many are opting for a family meal instead of a work meal out if they can't afford both.

"The days of bosses paying for meals are also over for many."

While the average cost of supplying food to hospitality businesses continues to increase, the desire to remain competitive means that this has not been reflected in the average price charged by pubs, cafes and restaurants.

Michelle Michael, from the Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare said: "Our Christmas parties are sold out and have been for two months,

"We have tried to keep our prices competitive and looked around at what was being offered locally and to keep our prices within that 10% margin.

"This year we are still experiencing a lot of staffing shortages in our industry. Coupling that with a serious economic crisis, we have mortgage, energy and food increases.

"Generally, people have less disposable income and although people's salaries have gone up it's not enough to close the gap."

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