Halloween delivered Stonegate Group’s busiest trading day outside Christmas in five years, according to figures released by the pub and bar operator.
The group said customers ordered 248,000 cocktails across the weekend, including 171,000 on Halloween night. Between 10pm and 11pm on Saturday 31 October, its managed venues served 14,258 cocktails.
Craft Union pubs poured more than 289,000 pints on Halloween night. Guinness led the reported pint sales in Stonegate’s managed venues, ahead of Birra Moretti and Cruzcampo.
The figures cover different parts of the business and different trading periods, so they should not be treated as a single like-for-like sales measure.
Chief executive David McDowall credited venue teams and said the occasion showed the continuing appetite for nights out despite pressures on hospitality.
The results put a spotlight on Halloween’s place in the pub calendar: a themed occasion capable of bringing customers into community locals as well as late-night bars.
Story reported 6 November 2026. Source report. Pub Social coverage published 6 November 2026.
