Unique 360 wellness coaching programme and alcohol-free community designed specifically for women, www.totiuss.com, conducted extensive research to find out exactly where in the UK is the most sober-friendly, and which of the UK’s biggest restaurant or bar chain is the most sober-friendly.
Analysis was carried out into the online drink’s menus of the top 10 bars in each of the UK’s major cities (London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and Liverpool) – the top 10 bars for each city were taken from Design My Night.
The research found that Manchester is the most sober-friendly city within the UK, with The Lawn Club offering the biggest selection of alcohol-free drink options; 13% of its drink’s menu offers alcohol-free versions, such as mocktails and 0% alcohol beer.
The full results were as follows:
- Manchester – The Lawn Club(13% of the drinks menu is alcohol free)
- Liverpool – Revolution De Cuba(10%)
- Birmingham – The Botanist(10%)
- Leeds – Dirty Martini(9%)
- Bristol – The Florist(9%)
- London – The Escapologist(6%)
The team also investigated which of the UK’s biggest restaurant and bar chains are the most sober-friendly, based on the number of venues they hold across the UK and a deep analysis of their online drink’s menu.
It was revealed that Turtle Bay came out top, with 44 venues and 29% of the full drink’s menu being alcohol-free. However, household name chain Greene King came out bottom of the pile, with 3,100 venues across the UK but no alcohol-free options being available on their online drink’s menu, followed by All Bar One and Common Room both also offering 0 alcohol-free options on their drink’s menus, but with far less venues.
The most sober-friendly chains were found to be:
- Turtle Bay – 44 UK venues – 29% of the menu alcohol free
- Beefeater – 186 UK venues – 28% of the menu alcohol free
- Slug & Lettuce – 80 UK venues – 26% of the menu alcohol free
- Wetherspoons – 925 UK venues – 25% of the menu alcohol free
- O’Neills – 37 UK venues – 16% of the menu alcohol free
Carmela Coop-Rodia, Co-Founder of www.totiuss.com, commented:
“Deciding to live a sober lifestyle can be hard enough for a lot of people; it will change their lives in so many different ways, with their social life being the most notable area where they’ll first feel the changes. People are always going out for drinks to catch up, or to celebrate, or to commiserate something; alcohol always seems to be the centre of social get togethers. So, when someone decides to remove alcohol from their lives, they can start to feel isolated from their friend, possibly preferring to avoid social gatherings to remove temptation and, quite simply, because of the lack of alcohol-free drink options that aren’t just coke and lemonade.
“However, when bars have options such as mocktails, alcohol free wine and 0% alcohol beer, it allows them to once again feel part of the group and as though their lifestyle is no different from their friends – they won’t have to just sit there with a coke or a glass or water. Venues that offer a good variety of alcohol-free drinks are doing so much to help those choosing to live a sober lifestyle, helping them adapt, and it’s so vital that others begin to follow suit and start making more inclusive drinks menus that aren’t completely alcohol oriented.”
