By region
Activity grouped by defined geographic area, so that a figure can be read for a single region or across every region reported. Regions are added to the Index as they are brought into coverage.
The Thurloe Index
A monthly measure of new licensed premises applications.
Reported by region and by category, from the public statutory registers maintained by local authorities. Published without charge, and free to quote with attribution.
Introduction
A single figure, published every month.
The Thurloe Index reports the volume of new licensed premises applications recorded in public statutory registers over a calendar month. It is broken down by region and by category, and it is published without charge.
It exists to give the hospitality sector, the trade press and the wider industry a consistent monthly figure for activity that has been applied for but has not yet reached the public eye. Anyone may quote it. There is nothing to buy on this page, and nothing to sign up to in order to read the figure.
What it measures
Applications recorded in public registers.
Before new licensed premises can trade, an application must be made to the local licensing authority, and that application is entered in a register which the authority is required to make available for public inspection. The Index counts those entries, and reports the total for each month.
The figure is a count of applications, not of openings. It records intent that has been formally lodged with a public authority — an established, dated, verifiable event — rather than an estimate of what the sector may do next.
By category
Activity grouped by the type of premises to which an application relates. Categories reflect how premises are described in the underlying records, and are extended as reporting develops.
By period
Each release states the figure for the reporting period alongside the period immediately before it, and the equivalent period a year earlier where a comparison is available.
By application type
Applications for new premises are reported separately from applications that affect premises already licensed, so that the two are never read as one number.
Why it exists
A leading measure, where the published ones trail.
The measures the sector already has report what has happened. Openings, closures, net change in the number of trading premises: each of them counts an event after it has occurred, and each of them describes a position that the industry has already had to respond to.
An application is recorded before any of that. It is lodged while a site is being taken, fitted out and staffed, and months before the doors open. A monthly count of applications therefore measures the pipeline rather than the present — what the sector is preparing to do, in the period when preparation is still under way.
That is the whole of the distinction, and it is why the figure is worth citing. Where other numbers tell you the state of the sector, this one tells you its direction.
Sample release
What a monthly release looks like.
Every release carries a headline figure for the period, a regional table, a breakdown by category, and a short written note. The block below shows that format. The figures in it are not real.
Illustrative example — figures shown are for format demonstration only
Reporting period · [Month] [Year]
370
Applications for new licensed premises recorded across all reported regions
Change on previous period: +4.2% · Equivalent period a year earlier: not available
By region
| Region | Applications recorded | Change on previous period | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Region 1] | 148 | +6.5% | |
| [Region 2] | 96 | +1.1% | |
| [Region 3] | 74 | −2.6% | |
| [Region 4] | 52 | +9.8% |
By category
142
Restaurants and cafés
38.4% of total · +3.6%
118
Bars and public houses
31.9% of total · +7.3%
64
Hotels and accommodation
17.3% of total · −1.5%
46
Other licensed premises
12.4% of total · +2.2%
Illustrative example — figures for format demonstration only
Every release also keeps a permanent page of its own, so that a citation made today still resolves to the same figures in a year's time. The link to this release's own page appears here on publication.
Coverage
Regions currently reported.
The Index reports every region within coverage, and names the local authorities behind each one. Coverage expands over time; regions are added as they are brought into the Index.
| Region | Local authorities reported | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Greater Manchester | Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan | Reported |
Further regions are in preparation. We state coverage in full and we do not report a region before it is in the Index, so this table is the complete picture at any given time.
Definitions
The terms used in each release.
These are the definitions behind every figure the Index publishes. They are given here so that the figure can be reported accurately without having to ask.
- Application
- A single application made to a local licensing authority in respect of premises, and recorded by that authority in a public statutory register.
- Application recorded
- An application that has been entered in a register within the reporting period. The date used is the date the authority records, not the date a business may have decided to apply.
- Application type
- Whether an application relates to new premises or to premises already licensed. The headline figure reports new premises; other application types are reported separately.
- Category
- The type of premises to which an application relates, such as restaurants and cafés, or bars and public houses. Categories reflect how premises are described in the underlying records, and are extended as reporting develops.
- Region
- A defined geographic area made up of named local authorities, listed in section 05. A regional figure is the sum of the figures for its constituent authorities.
- Reporting period
- The calendar month to which a release relates. Each release states its period explicitly.
- Change on previous period
- The difference between the figure for the reporting period and the figure for the period immediately before it, expressed as a percentage of the earlier figure.
- Share of total
- A region's or category's applications as a percentage of all applications recorded across reported regions in the same period.
- Not available
- Used where a comparison cannot be made — for example where a region has not been in the Index long enough to support a year-earlier figure. It never means nil.
An application is not an opening. Some applications are withdrawn, some are refused, and some never proceed. The Index is a measure of what has been applied for, and should be reported as such.
Publication and citation
Published monthly. Free to quote.
The Index is published every month, without charge, and may be quoted and reported freely with attribution. No permission is needed and no licence fee applies.
Preferred attribution
Source: The Thurloe Index, Thurloe Bancroft
Where a piece is published online, a link to this page is appreciated but not required. We ask only that a figure is quoted with the period it relates to, and that the Index is not described as measuring openings. The full position on citation is set out in section 4 of our Terms of Use.
Journalists are welcome to make contact directly — for the current release, for a regional or category breakdown not shown in the published figure, or for comment on what a month's movement reflects. Write to index@thurloebancroft.co.uk.
Release archive
The first release is in preparation. Each release will be listed here on publication, at a permanent address of its own.
Receiving the Index
Have each release sent to you.
Write to the address below and each month's release will be sent to you when it is published. There is no charge and no form to complete.
- The Index
- index@thurloebancroft.co.uk
Tell us your name and organisation in the message. Nothing else is needed, and the address is used for the Index and for nothing else.
The Openings Report
The Index counts. The Report names.
The Thurloe Index is free, published monthly, and reports the volume of applications by region. The Thurloe Bancroft Openings Report is a paid weekly file naming the individual premises behind those figures — what has been applied for, where, and by whom.
The two are drawn from the same public statutory registers and answer different questions. Journalists want the first. Suppliers want the second.
Commentary
Applications recorded rose against the previous period, with most of the movement in [Region 1] and in the bars and public houses category.
Each release carries a note of this length: the direction of the figure, where the movement sits, and anything in the period that affects how the figure should be read.