How will pubs fare when they re-open for trade next month? The common assumption is badly – that drinkers have got used to imbibing at home or in the garden and that pubs are likely places to get ill.
All that jostling, social contact and slightly grubby toilets.
A survey for Roxhill by digital poll Findoutnow (I declare a financial interest) offers some hope.
FoN asked 70,000 people yesterday how often they visited pubs or restaurants before the lockdown. You can see the results here.
It then asked those same 70,000 how often they will go once hospitality sector restrictions are lifted.
What’s striking is how many of us plan to return to our normal habits. There is a big jump in folk who answered “never”, from 7% before to 20% after.
Regulars will also cut their visits down — these people need wooing.
Occasional boozers still plan to call in, however. There looks to me to be more than enough enthusiasm for the great British pub to survive.
Because findoutnow is such a clever bit of kit – I can say that since I am nothing to do with the clever part – it can segment results by almost anything.
Age and gender obviously, but also by voting behaviour, newspaper preference, social media use, alcohol (mis)use and thousands of other things.
Some other recent polls:
Boris loses 23% of his leadership approval in a week
Most in England think lockdown is being lifted too early
You can read more here
A special offer for TB readers: We’ll do one free poll for you up to 1000 responses just so you can see for yourself. Email ask@findoutnow.co.uk.
For businesses, knowing what people think and how they expect to act has never been more important.
