August bank holiday was busiest spending period since Christmas 2019

Britons splurge out on August bank holiday as long weekend marks busiest spending period since Christmas 2019

• Card transactions on Saturday and Sunday at highest since Christmas Eve 2019
• Leisure and entertainment see biggest upsurge ; payments up 37% from last year
• Restaurants and pubs see transaction volumes up 20.3% compared to 2020

By Camilla Canocchi for Thisismoney.co.uk

Published: 13:57 BST, 1 September 2021 | Updated: 13:57 BST, 1 September 2021

Britons went on a spending spree during the August bank holiday weekend, which represented the busiest spending period since Christmas 2019, new data reveals.

The biggest upsurge in spending was in entertainment, leisure as well as food and drink as people celebrated the long weekend by going out to pubs, restaurants and festivals.

That offers some tentative hope that the UK economy is continuing to recover from the pandemic, as consumer spending is the main driver of growth. 

Festival goers watch Declan McKenna perform at Reading Festival on 27 August

Barclaycard said it processed more credit and debit card payments on both Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 August than any other dates since 24 December 2019, the last major shopping milestone before the pandemic.   

From Saturday to Monday, transaction volumes were up 14.4 per cent compared to the same long weekend in 2020, and 9.4 per cent higher than in 2019. 

The biggest surge in spending was in the leisure and entertainment sector, where the amount of transactions was 37 per cent ahead of last year and 27 per cent higher than the same weekend in 2019. 

There was also significant growth in the the food and drink sector, with transaction volumes up 20.3 per cent year-on-year, and 14.5 per cent year-on-two-years.

Barclaycard, which processes £1 in every £3 spent on credit and debit cards in the country, said this was hopefully a sign that the economy is continuing to recover.

‘We haven’t seen transaction volumes like these since Christmas 2019, the last major shopping milestone before the pandemic,’ said Barclaycard Payments chief executive, Rob Cameron.

‘This is hopefully a sign of more positive times to come, and a testament to the strength and resilience of British businesses when it comes to adapting and thriving in a post-lockdown world.’

Cheers: Card transaction volumes in pubs and restaurants were up 20% on last year 

However, data released by the Bank of England yesterday paint a different picture – one where shoppers are being more cautious.   

Britons saved another £7.1billion in July as the pingdemic and Covid worries prompted shoppers to hold onto their cash.  

The rate at which people are putting money aside also continues to be faster than before Covid-19.

Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, noted yesterday: ‘The economy now has been fully open for three months and most people have been vaxxed recently. If not now, will this cash ever be spent?’   

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