London, May 2026 – The UK on trade enjoyed a strong Early May Bank Holiday, with pubs selling 27.3 million pints over the four-day weekend, up +5.0% on last year, as warmer weather and longer visits combined to drive higher volumes.
New data from The Oxford Partnership shows that the Bank Holiday generated an average of 823 pints per pub, up from 793 in 2025, delivering £4,303 in income per site and underlining the continued importance of key calendar events for the sector.
Crucially, the uplift was driven not just by footfall, but by consumers staying longer, with dwell time rising to 157 minutes, up +11 minutes year on year. At the same time, occupancy increased to 65.5%, signalling stronger and more sustained demand across the extended weekend.
Trading momentum built throughout the weekend, with Monday emerging as the standout day, up +6.7ppt year on year, suggesting that consumers are increasingly extending their Bank Holiday social occasions beyond the traditional peak days.
Performance was broad-based across the market, with all location types seeing growth. City centres remained the busiest (70.8% occupancy), while rural pubs saw the strongest uplift, benefiting from favourable weather and destination-led visits.
Beer category performance reflected a continued shift towards premium and experience-led drinking. Stout led the market, surging +14.8% year on year, while World Lager (+8.4%) and Premium Lager (+8.1%) also delivered strong growth. In contrast, Core Lager (-1.1%) and Premium 4% (-0.7%) remained under pressure.
Ali Jordan, CEO of The Oxford Partnership, said:
“This Bank Holiday shows the on trade at its best. When the conditions are right, consumers are coming out, staying longer and fully embracing the social occasion. What’s particularly encouraging is that this growth is being driven by longer, more relaxed visits rather than just spikes in footfall.”
“However, the shift in behaviour is clear. Growth is increasingly coming from premium, experience-led occasions, with consumers prioritising quality and time spent over pure volume. For operators, the opportunity is to maximise these longer visits and trade consumers up across the occasion.”
The data highlights a market continuing to evolve, where longer dwell, sustained footfall and premium choices are becoming the key drivers of growth, particularly during high-value trading moments such as Bank Holidays.
Source: The Oxford Partnership Market Watch May 2026
The Oxford Partnership is a real time market intelligence business that informs customers’ decision making to increase growth revenue, market share and efficiency. Proprietary algorithms developed by sector leading data scientists combined with intricate knowledge of the hospitality sector enable the delivery of leading insights to customers around the globe.
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