Can England’s ladies give the retail and hospitality trade a much-needed boost as they reach the World Cup final?
17 August 2023
After nearly a year of rising prices, rising business rates and a cost-of-living crisis of the likes most of us haven’t seen for a generation, the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup has given everyone something to smile about this summer – particularly England fans, after the ladies’ impressive win over the host nation, Australia, this week sees them reach the World Cup Final for the very first time in their history.
And with that World Cup final match kicking off this weekend, the hospitality trade will be hoping that this final game of the tournament provides an extra boost to businesses across the UK after a summer of rain and misery.
Since the Lionesses won the Euros in 2023, viewing figures for women’s football have grown by a staggering 70%, reaching over 21 million during the 2022/2023 season. And while this figure may be small in comparison to the 3.2 billion viewers that the Men’s Premier League games amassed in the same season, any England team reaching such an important sporting final is bound to encourage families and friends across the country to get together this Sunday, which means splashing out on drinks and food, whether in the comfort of their own home or down their local pub or restaurant.
With Christmas spending and footfall in our high streets already predicted to be lower than normal this festive season, thanks to money worries across the UK and consumers tightening their belts accordingly, many businesses - particularly those in the hospitality and retail trades - have another opportunity with the Women’s World Cup final to boost their profits ahead of the final summer Bank Holiday weekend.
Research from Grocery Gazette predicted in early August that retailers and hospitality venues could earn as much as £463 million in sales during August thanks to the Women’s World Cup as consumers stock up as the tournament progresses. And with the final match forecasted to be watched by approximately 7.1 million Brits (VoucherCodes research 2023), plus England’s victory in the Women’s Euros final still in recent memory, hopes are still high that football could be once again coming home for England.
This could mean a very healthy end to the summer is on the horizon for pubs, bars and restaurants that offer customers what they want. In a survey conducted by Heineken UK during the men’s World Cup last Christmas, 48% of respondents said they would be more likely to watch matches at the pub, and with energy prices still rising, it might well be cheaper to watch the women’s final at the pub than at home, meaning that figure could be even higher.
Getting prepared for a spending increase
While most pubs and restaurants gearing up for this kind of global sporting event will already have invested in wide-screen TVs and comfy sofas, as well as a footie-themed menu, they should also be thinking about how an increase in spending will impact the daily operation of their establishments.
Research from the Bank of England has shown that since the cost-of-living crisis began, more and more people in the UK are turning back to cash to help them budget. Even younger people have been demonstrating the use of ‘cash folders’ in TikTok videos, showing how to save cash for different expenditure, so pubs and restaurants need to be prepared to accept more cash and also be prepared for how to handle it securely and process it correctly.
The Volumatic Solution
With pubs potentially bursting at the seams this weekend, the last thing anyone in this industry needs is to worry about manual cash counting, and that’s where Volumatic can help.
We offer a range of innovative cash handling solutions that can reduce manual processes from hours to minutes and additional security for large volumes of notes.
Our CountEasy 2 money counting scale is the obvious choice for busy public houses and eateries, and is already used by both Mitchells & Butlers’ and Marston’s PLC, who run well over 3,500 pubs and restaurants across the UK.
The CountEasy 2 offers 100% accurate cash counting and can count a till drawer in under a minute, resulting in huge time savings for hospitality staff when it comes to daily reconciliation. The CountEasy 2 is also lightweight and portable, meaning that cash counting can be done anywhere, plus its software records counts and is perfect for daily reporting purposes.
The CountEasy range also includes the CountEasy IP version with an integrated printer and the CountEasy TS version with a touchscreen.
Ian Gosling from Mitchells and Butlers said: “We have been buying Volumatic CountEasy cash counters for some years now. The units are reliable, and easy to use and therefore no training is required. I would be more than happy to recommend them.”
Volumatic’s Sales and Marketing Director Mike Severs added: “Our best-selling CountEasy range is so popular for a reason – it reduces the time spent counting a till drawer to less than a minute and it is so easy to use, requiring hardly any training. As Mitchells and Butlers and Marston’s can attest to, the CountEasy 2, which was upgraded last year, really can help those in the hospitality trade become more efficient and save money during the busy World Cup period and in the build-up to the festive season ahead.”