Profit per available room in F&B has dropped by 19.6% at regional U.K. hotels due to declining revenues and increasing costs, according to a study by hospitality intelligence firm HotStats.
The study, Benchmarking Beyond RevPAR, polled a consistent sample of nearly 45,000 hotel bedrooms across the U.K. over a 15-year period and found that the F&B department now accounts for 34.3% of total revenue in the regions and 22% in London.
F&B revenue per available room at regional hotels was recorded at £31.65 in 2015, 8.5% behind the peak in 2007 at £34.46; the low of £29.98 was recorded in 2011.
At hotels in both London and the regions, approximately 30% of all F&B revenue is derived from the conference and banqueting department, with room service accounting for 4.2% of all departmental revenue at regional hotels, compared with 6.7% in London in 2015.
For regional hoteliers, the growing cost of labor in F&B has been a key challenge to profitability, with an 11.8% increase in payroll recorded over the past 15 years on a per available room basis.