The boss of pub chain Fuller’s has said start times of 9pm and 10pm for England World Cup group stage matches could work to their favour
England’s late World Cup kick off times are good for pubs, says one industry boss.
Simon Emeny, who runs pub firm Fuller’s, said afternoon starts for matches can actually suck trade away from other times of the day.
England’s World Cup group stage matches begin against Croatia on June 17, with a 9pm start time here. It is the same for Thomas Tuchel’s team’s next game against Ghana on June 23, then an even later 10pm start for the final group match against Panama on June 27.
“I think it is going to be a very different World Cup to previous events, mainly because of the kick off times” said Mr Emeny, executive chairman of Fuller’s.
“What we have previously seen is that when you have kick off times at one o’clock, three o’clock, five o’clock it can cannibalize normal summer trading. The later kick off could potentially play very well to pubs.”
Pubs are set to serve a bumper 55 million extra pints – if captain Harry Kane and England make it to the World Cup final, that is. For each pub across the country, that translates to the average venue selling an additional 1,240 pints, or an extra 14 kegs across the tournament.
Fuller’s says it is “garden-ready” for the World Cup and the rest of the summer season, as more consumers book ahead and opt for staycations.
The firm, which has 337 pubs and hotels across the south of England, reported revenues of £397.8million for the year to March 28, up 5.7% on the prior year. This was driven by higher food and drink sales as well as room bookings at its hotels.
Sales growth has continued since April, rising 4.4% in the first 10 weeks of the financial year, compared like for like with the year before.
Fuller’s said it was well prepared for the summer and to host football fans coming to pubs to watch the 2026 Fifa World Cup, which will see England and Scotland play in the group stages of the tournament in the coming weeks.
It also highlighted strong hotel bookings linked to an increase in demand for staycations, particularly in the Cotswolds.
Mr Emeny said: “As we move into our summer season, preparations have gone well.
“Our garden investment programme has seen fresh space created for peak trading, advance bookings for the World Cup have been strong and we are seeing increased demand for staycations benefiting our excellent rooms business.”
Mr Emeny said the group has been managing to grow sales “against an increasingly challenging macroeconomic and political backdrop”.
He said the industry has grappled with “unprecedented government interference, additional taxes and regulations”, particularly taking aim at last year’s increase to employer national insurance contributions, as well as costs like alcohol duty and sugar tax.
“These decisions come with consequences,” he warned, pointing to an increase in levels of youth unemployment and the closure of pubs in the UK.
