Millions of people were enjoying the Great British bunk-off on Friday as glorious weather and the start of the Ashes combined to lure them away from their working day.
London’s pubs — which are already experiencing a heatwave boost — were expecting crowds of early drinkers as play between England and Australia started at 11am.
Shops were also expecting the tills to be ringing as many people took advantage of working from home and started the weekend early with drinks and barbecue food all proving popular.
The sunshine and temperatures in the mid to high 20s, which the Met Office say will last into Sunday morning, have already seen pubs and restaurants booming.
Workplace analysts said Friday’s start of the Ashes was likely to follow the pattern seen with other major events, with office occupancy dipping compared with previous Fridays — but higher in the days after.
Lorna Landells, of Remit Consulting, said: “National events, such as the coronation, have a clear impact on the data, but what is interesting is that there is often a noticeable uplift in the figures during the following week as staff, presumably, look to catch up with work and face-to-face meetings.
“It will be interesting to see if this happens after the Test match and other sporting events this summer,” she added.
West End venues have been seeing as much as a one-third spike in customers with outdoor terraces proving understandably popular in the sweltering conditions. David Loewie, chief executive of fine dining group D&D London, told the Standard: “As soon as it got sunny people came out in large numbers. We saw a 30 per cent increase in turnover last week because the weather had been so depressed for so long.
“The biggest effect was on venues with outdoor terraces like Coq d’Argent or Madison but even places with no outdoor space like 100 Wardour Street improved. Perhaps it was because they have good air conditioning.”
Clive Watson, who chairs the City Pub Group, said: “Trading has been strong with sales this year up 20 per cent.
The hot weather has been excellent for trading with customer utilising our extensive outside space. We are optimistic for the remainder of 2023 and beyond.” He said venues known for their beer gardens had “great” sales growth during the weekend with Aperol spritz, Pimms and Prosecco in high demand.
Simon French, chief economist at Panmure Gordon, said there was “plenty of pent-up demand for revenge spending — social events frustrated by almost two years of lockdowns”. He added: “Part of the developing consensus that the economy will avoid a recession is rooted on recent good weather continuing to boost the coffers of the hospitality industry.”
The weather is also bringing out the shoppers. Adam Cummins, centre manager at CBRE Investment Management’s Angel Central, said the Islington shopping centre “is having a very strong summer so far, with footfall and sales both ahead of 2019”.
He said: “Best sellers are linens and homewares, the latter as people accessorise for entertaining in the garden.”
Mr Cummins added: “Our restaurants and bars are enjoying a positive summer too. This is driven by many workers in Islington returning to the office five days a week, and people socialising in the sun after work and at weekends.”
Ashley Saxton, of Harrods, said: “We’ve noticed an increase in guests flocking to Studio Frantzén’s roof terrace. It’s the only rooftop bar and restaurant in Knightsbridge.”
The Ashes have created levels of anticipation not matched since England’s epic series win over Australia in 2005.
England and their swashbuckling “Bazball” style have 11 wins in 13 Tests since Ben Stokes took over as captain, while Australia were crowned Test world champions on Sunday.
Ahead of today’s opening match, Stokes said: “What we have done over the past year is show how we want to play. We have found a way to get the best out of the team and the individuals.
“We get asked a lot if we are going to continue to play this way against this opposition or that opposition and we have made it clear that this is how England play their cricket against any opposition, because it’s worked more than not.
“There’s no question around how we are going to go out and play our cricket, even though it’s against Australia.”
