According to a Deloitte survey, Britons are beginning to avoid going to the pub - the main venues for Category C machines and other coin-operated products - because of the impact on their leisure spending.
The survey, published in the Financial Times, concludes that the average Briton is choosing to spend less on social drinking than at any other time since the pandemic.
Cost of living pressures are blamed for the radical change in leisure habits, says the survey, which covered 3,200 consumers in the UK.
It asked whether they had spent more or less on leisure in the previous three months, recording the differences in eating out and drinking in pubs and bars. Both had declined by around six per cent from the previous quarter.
A spokesperson for Deloitte said that there was “no doubt that people are still trading off between spending on food at home and on going out.”
In a press report, Tim Martin, head of pub operator Wetherspoon said that the competiton from supermarkets was a major challenge for pubs, leading to people drinking more at home.
The Deloitte survey incidentally also found that betting and gaming was the only leisure category to register an increase in interest.
