A major pub and bar chain has revealed slower sales growth in the latest quarter after damp summer weather and disruption from UK riots in August.
Violence broke out in towns and cities across the nation last month sparked by misinformation surrounding the suspect of the horrifying stabbing rampage in Southport on July 29.
This coupled with extremely poor weather in the past weeks, has led to the owner of a pub and bar giant admitting that they have been faced with slower sales growth in the latest quarter.
During the height of the disorder, rioting in the UK led to a 10% drop in hospitality sales, according to figures at the time.
As businesses closed and shoppers stayed at home amid predictions of widescale disorder, sales fell by up to 40% in some areas and footfall was down by as much as 75%, UK Hospitality said.
Police outside a Sainsburys Local store in Manchester after it was ransacked
Abdelkader Mohamad Al Alloush, owner of the Sham Supermarket in Belfast, sits outside his shop after it was burned during disorder in the area following a protest
Poor weather over the summer period has also contributed to slower sales growth in the latest quarter, says Mitchells & Butlers
But the Mitchells & Butlers owner said it expects to deliver full-year results at the upper end of analyst expectations.
The London-listed firm, that owns All Bar One and Toby Carvery, said like-for-like sales have grown by 2.5% so far over the latest quarter.
However, it reflects a continued slowdown after 3.4% growth in the third quarter and 6.1% in the second quarter.
The major pub chain, which also runs Harvester and Miller & Carter, said the reduced growth was due to progressive easing of the inflationary environment, as well as an unseasonally cool and wet summer period and the disruption caused by riots in city centres during August.
Regional cities outside London witnessed the greatest impact caused by rioting, particularly in Yorkshire and the West Midlands, according to MRI Softwares OnLocation Footfall Index.
The violence in cities such as Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Hull and Belfast was sparked by false claims about the identity of the teenager suspected of killing three young girls and injuring several others in a knife attack in Southport.
Mitchells & Butlers said like-for-like sales have increased by 5.2% over the year to date, with all its brands in growth.
Phil Urban, chief executive of the group, said: Sales growth has continued to normalise as inflationary cost pressures ease, whilst our diverse portfolio of established brands and advantaged estate locations underpin our outperformance against the market.
Scientists want to shrink the size of your pint in order to cut down Britains boozing habits after a study found that smaller serving sizes reduce alcohol consumption
The interior of the Sainsburys store in Manchester after it was stormed by masked yobs
We enter the new financial year armed with a fresh wave of initiatives under our Ignite programme and a full capital investment programme planned to deliver cost efficiencies, increased sales and to further drive market outperformance and increasing profitability.
The company stressed that it expects a financial performance for the year to September as a whole at the upper end of guidance due to robust sales across the year and easing cost pressures.
It said its net cost headwinds will reduce to around £55 million this year as lower energy costs and easing food inflation offset higher labour costs.
The hospitality firm said it has converted or remodelled 185 of its venues over the year and opened another six new sites.
It comes as Labours latest attempt to cut the amount of alcohol consumed by Brits has led to fresh fears for the future of the hospitality industry.
On Monday, public health minister Andrew Gwynne announced that the government are considering plans to overhaul licensing laws in Britain to boost the nations health and tackle anti-social behaviour.
He indicated that the measures being considered include tougher action against irresponsible landlords and - far more controversially - tightening up on some of the hours of operation.
However, his words triggered alarm among hospitality experts with Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, warning the half-baked plans would be detrimental to the trade, with 50 pubs already closing each month.
Sir Keir has been branded No Beer Keir by outraged punters after news of the proposed policy broke
Meanwhile, Sir Keirs own cabinet minister Pat McFadden has vowed to table an emergency resoloution to ensure venue licensing times arent changed.
The move is the latest proposal from the Labour government to change the hospitality industry in an attempt to boost the nations health.
Along with the governments plans to overhaul licensing laws, scientists have also suggested that the size of pints should be reduced, raising alarm and anger.
Back in August, it was revealed that Labour plan to ban smoking from outdoor places like pub gardens - while Sir Keir has also reiterated his election pledge to ban junk food adverts before 9pm.