Marston's boss Andrew Andrea
(Picture: Marston's)The chief executive of Marston’s expects Brits to flock back to the pub now that Plan B restrictions have been scrapped.
Andrew Andrea told the Standard: “We know there is demand to go to the pub. We’re just starting to see numbers move in the right direction. You just sense confidence coming back.”
Figures published this morning revealed the impact of Omicron restrictions on the pub group’s business. Sales were down 3.9% on pre-pandemic levels in the 16 weeks to 12 January, with December restrictions derailing otherwise good momentum.
Andrea called Plan B “an eight week blip” and said performance over Christmas was “probably slightly better than I thought it would be”.
Marston’s owns 1500 pubs across the UK, mostly in suburban locations.
Shares improved 1p, or 1.3%, to 79.15p.
Businesses are facing a growing storm of rising costs, taxes and a tight jobs market. Andrea said the “vast majority” of Marston’s costs were fixed but said the business was seeing rising prices, which could put upwards pressure on what it charges customers.
He joined the calls for the chancellor to scrap a planned increase in VAT in April, saying shelving the policy would be “the biggest single support to the sector overall.”
Andrea said the job market was “challenging” but added: “We’re not closing pubs down due to no labour.”
