Spending in pubs surged by a third on the day of England’s debut match in the 2018 World Cup, figures show.
Revellers splashed out 33% more when England kicked off their winning streak against Tunisia on June 18, compared to the same day a week earlier.
Boosted by the start of the World Cup, pub expenditure grew by 9.5% overall in June, when compared with June 2017, according to Barclaycard’s data.
Spending grew by 5.1% overall year-on-year in June.
Non-essential spending grew 5.5%, its best performance since October 2016 – driven by a particularly strong month for entertainment, the finance company said.
Entertainment spending increased by 10% week-on-week in the first seven days of the football.
The hot weather is also encouraging people to open their wallets according to Barclaycard, which surveyed 2,000 people as well as using its own data.
One in three (33%) people say they have spent more than normal so far this summer which has been marked by Britain’s longest heat wave in five years.
Of these, nearly three in 10 (28%) said this is because they are planning more activities to make the most of the hot weather.
Nearly two-thirds (65%) of people now feel confident in their household finances, the study found – the highest proportion in 12 months.
Esme Harwood, director at Barclaycard, said: “As the warm weather continues and World Cup fever sets in, it’s clear many households are prioritising fun in the sun while making the most of the summer’s best experiences.
“While some lingering caution remains, confidence in household finances is at a 12-month high. This may be good news for retailers, especially as many shoppers are keen to use their spending power to help their local high street.”
Meanwhile, separate figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC)-KPMG retail sales monitor showed that in June, UK retail sales increased by 1.1% on a like-for-like basis from June 2017.
On a total basis, sales increased by 2.3% annually in June.
But while football fans might be enjoying themselves in the pubs, they weren’t having much joy yesterday trying to secure tickets to a public event screening England’s match against Croatia.
On Monday Culture Secretary Matt Hancock and London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced 30,000 tickets would be available via ballot to attend a screening of the match at Hyde Park on Wednesday.
Registrations opened at 4pm, but within minutes the website crashed as British Summer Time Hyde Park website administrators urged football fans to “please keep trying”.
A midnight cut off time for registrations was later extended until 8am Tuesday.