New ‘Rule of Six’ Accelerates Need for Festive Season Planning

Following the Government announcement that social gatherings of more than six people are banned for the foreseeable future, planning effectively for the crucial festive season has become more urgent and sector technology experts, Access Hospitality, are hosting a live webinar on Tuesday 22nd September to support operators in their preparations.

The webinar follows research conducted by data consultancy CGA on behalf of Access Hospitality which revealed that more than a fifth of GB consumers felt hopeful about visiting on-trade venues during this year’s festive period.

Henry Seddon, Managing Director of Access Hospitality commented “There is an obvious desire for people to celebrate in a pub, bar, restaurant or hotel over Christmas and New Year but the choice of venue for almost half (45%) would be influenced by the level of COVID-19 safety precautions in place. We are delighted to welcome Kate Nicholls, CEO of UKHospitality and Karl Chessell, Food & Retail Business Unit Director of CGA for a live discussion on gauging consumer confidence levels and responding appropriately to maximise income from this crucial trading period.”

In December 2019, 37.5 million GB consumers visited the out of home market and 13.2m people in the UK visited the on-trade on New Year’s Eve and this emphasises why, even with restrictions on social gatherings, the festive season is so important to the survival of hospitality venues.

“The research had already identified that hospitality operators would need to move away from traditional Christmas parties and offer more premium occasions for smaller groups” added Seddon “and this has only been reinforced by the introduction of stricter regulations on social gatherings. Our expert panel will be looking at the implications of consumer confidence and Government guidelines and help guide the sector in their festive planning.”

The live webinar forms part of Access All Areas, a week-long virtual conference offering support and advice to hospitality operators which is free to attend. It will be on Tuesday 22nd September at 1400-1500 and there will be a Q&A session at the end of the presentation. Anyone interested in finding out more or attending the webinar should register at https://bit.ly/35zdTyD

Access Hospitality has also compiled a report of the survey findings and the online guide ‘The Twelve Weeks to Christmas’ is available for free download at https://pages.theaccessgroup.com/ChristmasGuide