- New Meaningful Vision data shows fast-food, pub, and casual dining footfall declined in the first six months of 2026, as the industry continues to struggle
- June offers signs of positivity for fast-food, with the first year-on-year increase of 2026
- Five out of 13 UK regions saw growth in the number of customer visits, with the South of England and Greater London leading the way, boosted by staycations
- Chicken shops continue to perform well, while footfall at burger restaurants slides again
The anticipated boost for the UK’s pubs from this summer’s World Cup slowed the year-on-year decline in punters during the first half of the tournament in June, but it was not enough to reverse falling footfall for the struggling sector, according to new data.
Figures from Meaningful Vision – which tracks customer visits, pricing, promotions, and store openings at 60,000 outlets run by the UK’s top 300 fast-food, pub, and casual dining brands, ranging from Domino’s to Wetherspoon’s – showed footfall fell at pubs by -4.8% in June compared to the same time last year.
While that was the smallest year-on-year decline of any month in 2026 by a considerable margin, pubs and restaurants remained deeply in negative territory for customer visits during the second quarter of the year, down by -7.0% – an almost identical decline to recent quarters.
The firm said overall consumer traffic across the fast-food, casual dining and pub sector remained weak between April and June, declining by -2.1% year-on-year. Across the first six months of the year, fast-food traffic remained lukewarm with a -0.9% decline in footfall compared to the same period in 2025; however, June was the strongest the first month of the year to register an increase, at 0.3%.
Footfall performance in fast-food chains was highly polarised. While chicken shops continued to do well, with 10.5% growth between January and June, burger restaurants saw customer visits fall another -4.0%, adding to the -2.6% registered in the first three months of the year.
There was a stark regional difference in consumer footfall growth, with only five of the UK’s 13 regions seeing a rise in the first half of 2026. These were concentrated in the south of England – the South East, South West, London, and Greater London – which may have seen a boost from Brits opting to staycation this year, due to the rising cost of going abroad. Northern Ireland also saw growth, but at a much slower rate than 2025, which was supported by new store openings.
Price inflation in restaurants remained much higher than in retail at 6.8% year-on-year, although it began to slow from March onwards. That was still four-times higher than the Office for National Statistics’ food and beverage inflation figure of 1.7%, with delivery continuing to grow faster than in-store prices, at 7.2% vs 6.6%.
Price growth varied significantly across different item categories during the second quarter, ranging from 2.2% for lunch deals and 3.1% for pizzas to as high as between 8% and 11% for extras and dips, savoury bakery, and hot drinks.
Maria Vanifatova, CEO of Meaningful Vision, said: “The start of the World Cup provided a sentiment boost and filled pubs for live screenings, but the uplift was not strong enough to reverse the broader downward trend for the sector. More widely, the UK foodservice industry is still struggling, as consumers reduce how often they eat and drink out, while food and labour costs continue to rise, putting significant pressure on profits.
“February and April were the toughest periods for the industry, with an almost -3% decline across the fast-food, restaurant, and pub market. But June did bring around a relative improvement across all sub-sectors, pushing fast food back into positive territory. The hope will be that this can continue into the second half of the year, with price growth beginning to stabilise.
“The industry asked the government to reduce taxes and, in response, received a temporary VAT reduction on kids’ meals and a reduction for pubs on business rates, recently announced by the new Prime Minister. Although these measures are unlikely to have a major impact – many restaurants already offer free or discounted kids’ menus – operators are using it as an opportunity to offer better value to customers, which may encourage more footfall to return.”