Culture lovers flocked to the Hockley Social Club this year to marvel at the Birmingham Royal Ballet performing highlights from Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty. On Sunday, it will be the balletic grace of local lad Jude Bellingham that awakens the spirits of 1,000 football fans gathering to watch England battle Spain in the Euro 2024 final. The success of the Three Lions heralds a badly needed money-spinner for the venue, one that is particularly poignant because it came courtesy of a last-minute winner from another Birmingham hero, Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins.
"We were booked up within minutes of the final whistle going," says Jack Brabant, a Villa fan and director of the social club and its sister venue, Digbeth Dining Club. "It was a flood, we were just watching the ticker going up and we had to close off bookings completely." The British Beer & Pubs Association (BBPA) has estimated that Gareth Southgate's men reaching the final means British bar staff will pull 10m extra pints, worth £48m.
The broader hospitality sector stands to enjoy a boost of between £700m and £800m across the whole of the tournament, according to the trade body UK Hospitality. The upper end of the estimate is dependent on good weather and an England victory that would see fans take full advantage of government-approved late licensing, until 1am. That is why the final is "more than just a match; it is a beacon of hope", according to the chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, Michael Kill.
The hospitality sector has...
Rob Davies.
