Square Mile pubs will be “jammed to the rafters” in the coming weeks as City firms hold more Christmas parties than ever before, the boss of Young’s has said.

Simon Dodd, chief executive of the premium pubs chain, said some of his pubs have put up their Christmas decorations two weeks earlier than in previous years amid huge levels of “corporate interest in the City” for office parties.

Dodd said the pub firm has seen an 11 per cent uplift in Christmas bookings year on year. He told : “And last year we had a record year, and the year before we had a record year. So every year Christmas seems to get bigger and better. 

Young’s operates about 280 pubs across the country, including The Oyster Shed near London Bridge, The Ship in Monument and the Fox & Anchor in Barbican. 

“We’re seeing a lot of corporate interest in the City and a lot of corporate bookings, which is a good sign that people are coming out to spend,” Dodd said, adding that the group has taken bookings for office Chritsmas parties as early as next week.

He added: “We have some very, very large bookings, and the likes of The Oyster Shed, The Lamb at Leadenhall, the Smithfields, your key barometers in the City are all jammed to the rafters over the festive period.”

The Young’s boss said the pub firm expects to see resilient demand over the Christmas period despite fears that fragile consumer confidence is causing Brits to go out less. 

Dodd said: “It’s been a tough year for everybody. And I think people maybe want to let their hair down and enjoy the festive period and worry about it in January. People want to come out to the pub. […] The resurgence of pubs is lovely to see.”

Jubel to be top Christmas tipple

Young’s returned a £33.4m pre-tax profit in the six months to the end of September, nine per cent higher than last year, as “excellent trading” during the World Cup powered the group’s revenue 10 per cent higher to £291m.

Rival premium pub group Fuller’s, which owns City favourites including The Banker and The Pavilion End, said this week that Christmas is coming to the City earlier than ever this year. 

Simon Emeny, the firm’s executive chairman, told on Wednesday that its first Christmas parties are booked for Friday 13 November, a week earlier than last year. Fuller’s has received 16 per cent more seasonal bookings now than at the same time last year.

“Christmas is now a six- to seven-week season now in the City, which really plays very well for us. It makes that period quite exciting and our bookings are up quite significantly,” he said.

This year, City workers are more likely to snub Guinness – usually a winter favourite – in favour of premium lagers like Jubel and Asahi. Young’s and Fuller’s said these pints are surging in popularity even as the weather becomes colder.

Guinness maker Diageo warned last week that UK sales of the stout are declining due to “competitive pressure”. Demand for the beer is “slowing quite significantly” from its highs a few years ago, Emeny said.