How Much Does a UK Pub Make Per Week?

Last updated: 7 April 2026

Most pub owners I speak with can tell me their weekly takings to the pound. What they can’t tell me is their actual profit. Turnover and profit are not the same thing — and the difference between them is where most pub landlords lose control of their business.

The average UK pub makes somewhere between £3,000 and £15,000 per week in total sales, depending on location, size, and clientele. But that number tells you almost nothing about whether the business is actually making money. I’ve seen pubs turning £10,000 a week that are genuinely struggling, and smaller pubs hitting £4,000 weekly that are consistently profitable. The difference? One tracks their numbers properly. The other doesn’t.

In this article, I’m going to break down exactly what “making money” actually means for a pub, show you the real numbers that matter, and explain why most landlords are flying blind on their finances. By the end, you’ll know not just how much pubs make per week — but what percentage of that is actually profit, and what’s eating the rest.

What “Weekly Earnings” Actually Means for a Pub

When someone asks “how much does a pub make per week,” they’re usually asking about gross takings — the total money that comes in over seven days. But that’s where most landlords stop, and that’s where they lose control.

Gross takings are what customers hand over the bar. Net profit is what’s left after you’ve paid for everything: stock, wages, rent, utilities, rates, insurance, and everything else. These are wildly different numbers, and confusing them is how pubs go under while appearing to turn good money.

At The Teal Farm, I track three separate weekly numbers. First, total takings. Second, cost of goods sold (COGS) — what I actually paid for the drinks and food sold that week. Third, controllable costs — labour, utilities, supplies, repairs. Only then can I calculate what I actually made.

Most pub owners are working with one number. That’s the problem.

The average UK pub operates on a net profit margin of 20–35%, depending on the region and pub type. That means if you’re turning £10,000 gross in a week, you’re probably keeping between £2,000 and £3,500. The rest is consumed by stock costs, wages, premises costs, and overheads.

Real Weekly Takings Across the UK: The Data

What do pubs actually make per week in 2026? The numbers vary significantly based on geography, type, and trading pattern.

By Region

• London and the South East: £8,000–£15,000+ per week. Central locations and affluent areas push higher. Premises costs are also proportionally higher, so margin is often tighter.
• Midlands and North: £4,000–£10,000 per week. Strong regional variation. City centre pubs trend higher; village pubs trend lower.
• Scotland and Wales: £3,000–£8,000 per week. Smaller population density. Lower absolute turnover but often better margins due to lower rent.

By Pub Type

• High Street wet-led pubs (drinks-focused): £4,000–£9,000 weekly. Seasonal variation can be severe.
• Gastropubs (food-focused): £6,000–£14,000 weekly. Food sales add volume but higher COGS.
• Community / village pubs: £2,000–£6,000 weekly. Often rely on loyalty and events for consistency.

The most realistic benchmark for a standard UK pub is £5,000–£8,000 per week in gross takings. If your pub is consistently above or below this range, that tells you something — but it doesn’t tell you whether you’re profitable.

Why Takings Don’t Equal Profit

Here’s the reality check: a pub turning £8,000 per week might be making £2,000 profit one week and losing £500 the next week. The takings number doesn’t capture what happened.

Three variables destroy profits while takings stay flat:

1. Stock Costs (COGS)

Every drink sold cost you something to buy. Your cost of goods is typically 25–35% of turnover for drinks, and 60–70% for food (if you serve it). If you don’t track what you actually sold versus what you actually bought, you won’t spot waste, spillage, or stock shrinkage — which typically costs pubs £100–£500 per week in margin loss.

2. Labour Costs

This is the single biggest controllable expense in any pub. It typically runs 25–35% of turnover. A £8,000 week might have £2,000–£2,800 in labour costs depending on how many staff were on shift. If you’ve had unexpected absences and had to call in premium shifts, or if you’re overstaffed during a quiet period, your labour percentage creeps up and profit shrinks. Many pub owners don’t realise their labour bill has drifted until the month-end figures come in — by which point the damage is done.

Staff cost tracking in real-time is the fastest way to spot this, but most pubs are doing it manually by spreadsheet, which means the numbers are always two or three days behind reality.

3. Premises Costs and Waste

Utilities, maintenance, pest control, waste removal — these don’t change week-to-week much, but they add up. A £5,000 per week pub might have £400–£600 in fixed premises costs. That’s 10% of turnover gone before you’ve paid labour or restocked.

The point: a pub turning £8,000 one week and £8,200 the next looks like growth. In reality, the second week might have lower profit due to a higher labour bill or unexpected maintenance. That’s why tracking takings alone is useless.

The Hidden Cost Breakdown: Where Your Money Really Goes

Let me walk you through what actually happens to a realistic £8,000 weekly takings figure for a standard UK pub in 2026.

Starting point: £8,000 gross takings

Minus cost of goods sold (30% average for drinks): -£2,400
Remaining: £5,600

Minus labour costs (32% of turnover): -£2,560
Remaining: £3,040

Minus rent and premises (15% for most tenanted pubs): -£1,200
Remaining: £1,840

Minus utilities, waste, insurance, rates, and other overheads (8%): -£640
Remaining: £1,200

Net profit from £8,000 week: approximately £1,200 (15% margin)

But here’s where it gets real. Those percentages don’t stay static. A week where you’re unexpectedly busy can push labour up to 35%. A quiet week can push it to 28% but destroy overall volume. A cold snap hits, utilities spike 20%. A delivery goes wrong and you waste stock.

That’s why I said earlier: I’ve seen pubs with £10,000 weeks struggling and £4,000 week pubs thriving. The £10,000 pub might have 18% margins (£1,800 profit). The £4,000 pub might have 32% margins (£1,280 profit) — nearly as much money from half the sales, because they’re controlling costs ruthlessly.

Margin tracking is the real skill. Turnover is vanity. Margin is sanity.

How to Actually Track Your Weekly Performance

You cannot control what you do not measure. And you cannot measure what you do not track. Most pubs are one spreadsheet away from knowing their actual position — but they’re not doing it.

The minimum you need to track weekly:

• Total takings by category (drinks, food, other) — so you know what’s selling
• COGS by category (what you actually paid for goods sold) — so you know your gross margin per product type
• Labour hours and cost (by shift, by day) — so you can spot overstaffing before the payroll hits
• Controllable overheads (utilities, waste, supplies) — so you can spot unusual weeks
• One-off costs (repairs, stock write-offs) — so they don’t surprise you at month-end

At The Teal Farm, I do this every single week. It takes me 20 minutes on a Friday morning. I can see instantly whether the week was profitable, why it was, and what to adjust the next week.

Without this, you’re guessing. And guessing is what destroys pub businesses.

Pub Command Centre does this automatically — it pulls your takings data, your labour data, your stock costs, and calculates your real position every single day. No spreadsheets. No manual entry. No surprises. Most pub owners find £1,000s in hidden savings and margin improvements in their first week once they can actually see what’s happening.

Improving Your Weekly Profit Without Increasing Turnover

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: most pubs can’t grow their way to profitability. They can grow their turnover, but if their margins stay the same or worse, profit doesn’t follow.

The real lever is cost control and margin optimization. Here’s what actually works:

1. Fix Your Labour Scheduling

Most pubs are overstaffed during quiet periods and understaffed during busy ones. Labour monitoring in real-time shows you exactly when you’re spending too much. I’ve seen pubs cut £300–£500 per week from labour without reducing service, just by scheduling smarter. That’s £15,000–£26,000 per year straight to your bottom line.

2. Track COGS by Product Category

You’re almost certainly making more money on some products than others. Spirits typically margin 65–75%. Beer margins 35–45%. Soft drinks 50–60%. If you don’t know which products are selling, you don’t know what to push. Soft drink margins in particular are often left on the table — they’re high margin but many pubs don’t actively sell them.

3. Eliminate Stock Shrinkage

Spillage, pouring errors, waste, theft — it all adds up. Most pubs lose £50–£200 per week to shrinkage without realising it. Proper stock control and regular stock takes catch this fast.

4. Negotiate Your Premises Costs

Rent reviews, utility suppliers, waste contracts — these are annual or quarterly. Most pubs never renegotiate. If you’re paying 16% of turnover on rent and premises and you can get it down to 14%, that’s another £160 per week on an £8,000 week. Every bit compounds.

The combination of these four changes can take a 15% margin pub to a 22% margin pub without changing turnover by a penny. That’s going from £1,200 profit on £8,000 sales to £1,760. That’s an extra £29,000 per year.

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