UK ‘spending festival’ with live entertainment up 8.5 per cent year-on-year

03 July 2015 - Press release

Live entertainment in the UK enjoys a renaissance, as consumers make the most of a rise in spending power, splashing out on tickets for a summer of fun in 2015.
 
With over 300,000 people enjoying Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park across the fortnight and 175,000 converging in Glastonbury this weekend, exclusive data from Barclaycard reveals venues across the UK are set to enjoy a bumper summer festival season. Year-to-date figures show a surge in spending on live entertainment of 8.5 per cent compared to the same period last year, with three of the last five months enjoying double digit growth.
 
Scotland is leading the resurgence, as July sees T in the Park festival take up a new residence at Strathallan Castle. Scots are spending 42 per cent more per person than the UK average, outpacing even Londoners, who spend only 11 per cent more per person than the average.
 
The Barclaycard data also shows that men are spending more than women on live entertainment, accounting for 57 per cent.  While this proportion has remained mostly steady, there were peaks seen around May of 2013 and 2014, as football fans attended the FA Cup and playoff finals.
 
The results contrast starkly against the first five months of 2014, where year-on-year spending on live entertainment decreased for four of the first five months, with an average 2 per cent decrease over the period compared to the previous year.
 
However, while people are going out again, they are more thoughtful in their spending. Average transaction values for live entertainment are largely in decline, and have decreased each month in 2015 as consumers prefer to enjoy live entertainment more often but at a lower cost. So far this year, consumers have spent £37.62 on average per transaction, down from £40.37 at this point in 2014.
 
Katherine Whitton, Chief Marketing Officer at Barclaycard, said: “As the country enjoys a rise in spending power, people are keen to indulge their love affair with live music and entertainment. However, consumers still want to get the most from their money, and we’ve seen strong demand for our exclusive pre-sales and ‘Fee Free Fridays’, where booking charges are on us.  These are just two of the ways we’re helping our customers get more out of going out.
 
“The impressive growth so far this year shows no sign of slowing down, and we expect live entertainment to ride the wave of the economic recovery over the coming months.”