The October Greene King Leisure Spend Tracker  Report showed that consumer confidence is stagnating. This is also bourn out by what I am seeing with my own clients.

In September the total leisure spend by the average British household was £207, a fall of £13 (6%) year on year.

Unlike other statics that show London and the South East are doing better than the rest of the country, the Greene King report shows that there was a greater decline in this region (10%) compared with the rest of the county where it was only 4%.

Due to the warm weather in September, which allowed people to spend more time outside compared with last year, spending on Other Leisure (eg. bowling, cinema & live events) was down 18% compared with September 2013.

In line with the overall fall in Leisure Spend, drinking out saw a 6% decline compared with September last year.

The only bright light was Eating Out, which saw the average household increase their spending by 7% (£5).

Greene King’s Commercial Director, Steve Jebson, said “We have seen leisure spending dip in September compared to the same month last year, as most people are still not feeling better off as their costs continue to rise faster than their incomes, despite improvements in the economy. With the run up to Christmas, it will be interesting to see if consumers act more prudently next month.”