Following the pandemic, recovery in the hospitality sector has centred around a resurgence in the neighbourhood hospitality industry with 60 percent of national employment gains in hospitality taking place in commuter regions and suburbs that surround London.
Our new report The Big Shift: Rise of the Neighbourhood Economyreveals insights into how the hospitality industry is coping more than two years after the pandemic began, amid widespread staff shortages, energy price hikes, the cost of living crisis and ongoing supply chain disruptions.
The report was created in partnership with independent labour economist Shashi Karunanethy PhD, who provided expert insight into market conditions over an analysis of more than 2.3 million and 17,3 million hours across 41,884 British hospitality workers.
ONS data finds that gains in employment surrounding London (an additional 41,000 jobs) are almost equal to the fall in employment in the city centre (a loss of 45,000 jobs).
This suggests that as a result of a shift of workplace activity from the city centre to the suburbs, the hospitality economy has rebalanced to neighbourhoods.
Hybrid work arrangements have led to a rebalancing of the economy to the neighbourhoods. In addition the increased cost of travel and commuting (from higher fuel prices) has encouraged even more remote working arrangements, incentivising them to spend more time and money locally.
What does this mean for your hospitality business?
How will it affect how different demographics in your employee base engage with the labour market?
For insight and answers, download The Big Shift: The Rise of the High Street Economy now.
