So, was Christmas actually good or not?

Published 19.01.2026

The honest answer is yes, no, maybe, and it depends who you ask and which spreadsheet they woke up believing in that morning. I read two industry articles on Friday. Same sector. Same festive period. Both very sure of themselves. One said Christmas trading was up overall but margins were tighter. That felt about right. People were out more, staying longer, spending a bit more as we crept toward the end of 2025, even if costs were still doing their best to ruin everyone’s mood. Not thrilled about the margin squeeze, but nothing there was shocking. It matched what many of us were seeing on the floor.

Then I read another article, just as confident, saying diners were cautious and fewer people were eating out over the festive period. Same country. Same Christmas. Completely different story. And that’s where I start to raise an eyebrow. Both things can be true at the same time, and both can be deeply unhelpful if you take them as gospel. Industry platforms aren’t lying, but they do love a broad brush. The data can be small, skewed, or totally irrelevant to your business, your postcode, and your guests. A busy neighbourhood restaurant does not live the same life as a suburban pub or a shopping centre brand, no matter how neatly someone wants to bundle them into a headline.

So what should we actually do with all this noise? Read it, sure. Obsess over it, absolutely not. Keep your own counsel. Be present in your business, properly present. Know what Tuesday felt like, what Saturday looked like, and where guests loosened up or pulled back. Talk to your competitors. Talk to your neighbours. Talk to your suppliers. Those conversations will tell you far more than a quarterly report ever will. Take what’s useful from competing narratives, ignore the rest, and build your own story based on what you are actually living, not what someone else is selling. And stay positive. Hospitality has always been learned in the middle of service, not from the walk-in. You only really know what’s going on when you’re on the floor, hearing the complaints, feeling the pace, watching where things wobble and where they flow. It’s a messy, noisy, very human business, and no article can tell you what last Saturday night actually felt like in your place. Don’t let hospitality rags get you down. They’ll move on to the next panic headline next week. You’ll still be unlocking the door, turning on the lights, and getting on with it.