Are Aperitivo Hours Coming for the British After Work Pint — or Have They Already Arrived?

In British city centers, something intriguing usually begins to happen around six o’clock in the evening. A different sort of meeting is emerging alongside and increasingly in place of the pub, which is still there, warm, comforting, and consistently dispensing its pints. On little tables strewn with olives and arancini are tall balloon glasses, either bright orange or delicate elderflower green. Instead of gulping, people are sipping. There seems to be a purposeful lack of urgency in the debate. You’re looking at aperitivo hour, which seems to have been subtly taking over the British after work beverage scene for longer than most people have realized.

It’s difficult to dispute the numbers. In the summer of 2025, Greene King, which has about 2,600 locations in the UK, claimed that spritzes made up 45% of their cocktail volume, up 12 percentage points from the year before. Twenty one percent of the estate’s total cocktail sales came from the Aperol Spritz alone. Two years ago, the Hugo Spritz was hardly known. Today, it has grown by more than 300 percent annually. These are not specialized individuals from a few trendy bars in London. These figures come from one of the most popular restaurant and bar chains in the nation, which serves drinks on suburban high streets, market towns, and retail parks. Something is changing.

Because the term “aperitivo” is used loosely, it’s important to understand what it really means. A aperitivo is a pre dinner social custom in Italy, particularly in the northern cities of Turin, Milan, and Venice. It usually takes place between 6 and 8 p.m. and is centered around low alcohol bitters, sparkling wine, and small plates of food. Avoiding intoxication is the goal. It is intended to provide a break between work and the evening, to encourage discussion and appetite, and to take pleasure in a sort of refined leisurely strolling. Aperol, Campari, Select, and vermouth are light, bitter beverages that are meant to be sipped. Olives, focaccia, cured meats, and small fried foods are what the Italians refer to as stuzzichini. No one is in a hurry. The structure is designed to prevent rush.

The growth of the aperitivo in Britain is intriguing because it goes beyond simple trends in drinks. The classic after work pint is under structural strain at the exact moment it is coming. Over 16,000 pubs have closed since 2000, according to the British Beer and Pub Association. By the end of 2025, the number will have dropped from 60,800 to 44,650, with closures occurring at a rate of about one every day.

Business rates, energy bills, increased wages, alcohol duty, the National Insurance increase, and rents that no longer reflect the trade are the well known and cumulative factors. After serving the City for decades, the Centre Page at St Paul’s Cathedral in London had to close due to its £127,000 rent and £45,000 tax bill. It’s still uncertain if the government will provide the industry the structural support it needs or if the closures will just keep happening until only the strongest businesses remain.

The aperitivo bar has moved into this space. Early arrivals included venues like Polpo, which introduced Venice’s bacaro culture to London in 2009. They were moving between 1,500 and 2,000 spritzes per week across six locations by the 2018 summer heatwave. The early evening menu at Cecconi’s, a part of Soho House, including a glass of wine for £4, an Aperol Spritz for £7, and zucchini fritti alongside. The format worked, and the prices felt more reasonable than a single £6 pint. Bermondsey’s Café Murano served Bellinis and Negronis for £8 starting at 3 p.m., plus free arancini throughout the first round. With a Spritzoncello limoncello, Cocchi Americano, basil, prosecco, and Sicilian chickpea fritters for £12, the Hari in Belgravia positioned the same routine at the upscale end. One spritz at a time, the early evening of the city was being rewritten.

All of this has a generational component as well, which is important to consider. The prevailing narrative for a large portion of the early 2020s was that Generation Z, a generation brought up on fitness apps, mental health awareness, and the cost of living crises, was simply consuming less alcohol. And some of that is accurate: according to the NHS Health Survey for England, 26% of those aged 16 to 24 had abstained from alcohol in the year prior. The tidy story is complicated by the more current Lumina Intelligence data.

The number of alcohol related incidents among those aged 18 to 34 actually increased by 4.2 percentage points annually, with young adults moving away from abstinence and toward selectivity drinking less frequently and more purposefully when they do. Perhaps the best format for this is the aperitivo. It provides them with an excuse to go out without committing to a strenuous session. Time limits it, and food moderates it. It takes good pictures, which is more important than it probably should be.

The pub may be misjudging its rivals. The aperitivo is more than just a drink. It is a social architecture: shared dishes instead of rounds, the setting table instead of bar counter, the sharpness of the drinks encourages sipping, and the food slows absorption. According to a 24 year old insurance worker who was interviewed at Leadenhall Market, his generation played volleyball before possibly having a pint or two. Previous generations simply drank. The story no longer starts and ends at the pub.

The regional image is not as clear cut as the London story implies. If you ask for an Aperol Spritz in a pub in a tiny Midlands town, you’ll probably get a raised eyebrow and a gesture toward the wine fridge. When asked how popular the spritz was in British bars, a Reddit member replied that it was fairly common in London but not in their region, where anyone wanting one would likely be directed to the pricey cocktail bar across the street. Although the aperitivo movement is genuine and expanding, it is still mostly an urban phenomena, with its highest concentrations in the city centers of Brighton, Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, and London. It hasn’t reached every location yet, and it might never do so in some.

The Aperol Spritz at Six campaign, which debuted in around 2,000 locations in 2026 with spritzes starting at £5, is an attempt to nationalize the event. Campari offers more than just drinks. It is attempting to incorporate the 6 p.m. pause, a daily ritual that the Italians have enjoyed for a century, within the framework of the British workweek. It remains to be seen if that is as successful in Wolverhampton as it is in Walthamstow. It is a serious strategic endeavor supported by significant financial resources, and the growth figures indicate that it is gaining momentum.

The truth is that, in the locations that contribute to the trend’s momentum, aperitivo hours for the after work pint have already begun. There is no death in the pint. Pubs are still considered a national institution by 68% of Britons in one survey, demonstrating how firmly ingrained they are in British identity. The evening drink is no longer a singular, unchanging phenomenon. Tradition and innovation, perseverance and enjoyment, the vivid orange glow of a balloon glass capturing the last of the summer light, and the familiar dimness of the local are all in rivalry. Some of that competition is being won by the spritz. And it appears to be here for some time to come.

i) https://sviluppina.co.uk/civilising-the-evening-italian-aperitivo-culture-redefining-british-social-ritual/
ii) https://www.standard.co.uk/going-out/restaurants/best-aperitivo-menus-london-italian-happy-hour-a4200466.html
iii) https://thesaucemag.com/aperitivo-bar-london/
iv) https://www.designmynight.com/london/bars/best-for-after-work-drinks