Food hygiene inspection ratings give bar and pub operators a public signal of food-safety performance. In 2024, the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) measured not only the rating businesses received, but also whether the result was displayed, visible, accurate and available online. Consumer research adds another perspective: 42% of Food and You 2 Wave 8 respondents had checked a food business hygiene rating in the previous 12 months. Food and You 2: Wave 8 Key Findings
Contents
- How the FHRS scale works
- The bar and pub sector in the 2024 population
- Sticker display by country
- Trends in display from 2017 to 2024
- Accuracy, visibility and rating level
- Online transparency and operator views
- What consumers check
How the FHRS scale works
The FHRS rates food businesses from 0, meaning “urgent improvement necessary,” to 5, meaning “very good,” after the latest local-authority inspection. The 2024 audit says the rating is determined from three elements: hygienic food handling, the physical condition of premises and facilities, and food-safety management. Food Hygiene Rating Scheme Audit of Display and Business Survey: 2024
That structure matters for bars because food operations can sit alongside drinks service, entertainment and late opening. A rating is not a general review of the customer experience or a score for the bar atmosphere. It is the outcome of the scheme’s assessment of food handling, premises and facilities, and food-safety management.
The 2024 underlying FHRS population shows how ratings were distributed across the three participating countries. The share rated 5 was 71.5% in England, 77.2% in Northern Ireland and 67.8% in Wales. The share rated 4 was 16.7% in England, 15.8% in Northern Ireland and 20.0% in Wales. The share rated 3 was 7.8% in England, 5.2% in Northern Ireland and 8.3% in Wales. These are country-level underlying-population results, not a bar-only rating distribution. Food Hygiene Rating Scheme Audit of Display and Business Survey: 2024 Technical Report
The bar and pub sector in the 2024 population
Accommodation and pub, bar and nightclub businesses represented 17.0% of the underlying England FHRS business population in the 2024 weighting frame. The corresponding share was 14.5% in Northern Ireland and 21.8% in Wales. Food Hygiene Rating Scheme Audit of Display and Business Survey: 2024 Technical Report
These percentages describe the composition of the underlying business populations used in the survey weighting frame. They should not be read as the proportion of all licensed premises in each country, nor as the proportion of bars that serve food. They do show that the accommodation and pub/bar/nightclub category is a substantial part of the FHRS population, particularly in Wales.
For bar managers, the practical issue is the link between a post-inspection rating and what a customer can see before ordering. The 2024 audit therefore separates display inside or visible from outside, clearly visible placement, and non-display. Those measures reveal different levels of transparency.
Sticker display by country
The 2024 country audits found that 72% of all audited English food businesses displayed an FHRS sticker inside or visible from outside. The equivalent figures were 90% in Northern Ireland and 94% in Wales. In England, restaurants, cafes and canteens recorded a 78% display rate, compared with 72% across all audited businesses. Food Hygiene Rating Scheme Audit of Display and Business Survey: 2024
The Northern Ireland results provide a category-specific bar and pub figure. Among accommodation businesses, pubs, bars and nightclubs, 83% displayed an FHRS rating sticker. Takeaway and sandwich shops recorded 97%, while the all-business result was 90%.
For the same Northern Ireland category, 79% had a sticker in a location judged clearly visible. Across all Northern Ireland businesses, 82% had a sticker visible from outside and 8% had one visible only from inside. The remaining 10% represented non-display inside or outside.
The country comparison is compactly summarised below:
| 2024 audit measure | England | Northern Ireland | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| All audited businesses displaying inside or outside | 72% | 90% | 94% |
| Sticker visible from outside | 66% | 82% | 91% |
| Sticker visible only from inside | 6% | 8% | 3% |
| Non-display inside or outside | 28% | 10% | 6% |
| Clearly visible sticker | 69% | 89% | 92% |
The Wales audit found that 91% of businesses had a sticker visible from outside and 3% had one visible only from inside. In England, the corresponding figures were 66% and 6%. The 2024 audit also recorded 62% sticker display in London and 86% in Belfast, both below their respective national rates. These location figures are city-level audit results, not estimates for every business in either city.
Trends in display from 2017 to 2024
England’s all-business FHRS sticker display rate rose from 55% in 2017 to 72% in 2024. The audit reports this as a 17-percentage-point increase. The latest number still leaves 28% of audited English businesses with no sticker displayed inside or outside.
The more recent England series separates location and visibility:
| England measure | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sticker visible from outside | 63% | 64% | 66% |
| Sticker visible only from inside | 4% | 5% | 6% |
| Non-display | 33% | 31% | 28% |
| Clearly visible sticker | 66% | 67% | 69% |
Northern Ireland’s all-business sticker display rate was 87% in 2022, 91% in 2023 and 90% in 2024. Its outside-visible rate was 85%, 88% and 82% across those years, while its clearly visible rate was 86%, 89% and 89%.
Wales recorded 91% all-business display in 2022, 92% in 2023 and 94% in 2024. Its outside-visible rate was 88% in 2022, 88% in 2023 and 91% in 2024. The clearly visible rate was 89%, 89% and 92%. Separately, Wales’ all-business display rate rose from 87% in 2021 to 94% in 2024.
The category data available for Northern Ireland also shows that accommodation businesses and pubs, bars and nightclubs had an 80% sticker-display rate in 2023. That 2023 category result should be kept separate from the 2024 category result of 83%, because they refer to different audit years. Food Hygiene Rating Scheme Audit of Display and Business Survey: 2023
Accuracy, visibility and rating level
Display is useful only when the sticker is both visible and current. Among outlets displaying a sticker in 2024, the displayed rating matched the FHRS database for 93% in England, 94% in Northern Ireland and 96% in Wales. Incorrect display therefore affected 7%, 6% and 4%, respectively.
Across incorrect displays in all three countries, 65% showed a higher rating than the database value, 21% showed a lower rating, and 8% showed an awaiting-inspection sticker. The categories describe the incorrect displays recorded by the audit; they are not a measure of intentional misrepresentation.
Ratings of 5 were especially likely to be displayed accurately. Among outlets displaying a rating of 5, the displayed value matched the database for 99% in England, 99% in Northern Ireland and 98% in Wales.
England’s 2024 results also show a relationship between rating level and public visibility:
| England business rating | Outside-visible sticker | Display at any audited location |
|---|---|---|
| Rating 5 | 73% | 79% |
| Rating 4 | 48% | 65% |
| Rating 3 | 28% | 38% |
The audit recorded smaller samples for lower ratings in some countries. All 6 audited Northern Ireland businesses rated 2 or below displayed a sticker, compared with 15 of 17 in Wales and 6 of 20 in England. Those counts are observed audit results and should not be generalized beyond the audited businesses.
Operator reports did not always align with physical observation. In England’s 2024 operator survey, clearly visible self-reported display was 92% for rating-5 businesses, 79% for rating-4 businesses and 64% for businesses rated 3 or below. Across the three countries, 84% of self-reported displays were confirmed by the physical audit. Confirmation was 91% in Northern Ireland and Wales combined, compared with 70% in England.
Online transparency and operator views
The 2024 audit found that 74% of English, 75% of Northern Irish and 75% of Welsh audited businesses were active on at least one audited online platform. Yet among businesses active on an audited platform, only 3% in England, 2% in Northern Ireland and 4% in Wales displayed an FHRS rating online.
Online ordering was more common than online rating display. Among active businesses, 13% in England, 12% in Northern Ireland and 18% in Wales facilitated online orders. Separately, 32% of English, 19% of Northern Irish and 23% of Welsh businesses used Just Eat, Deliveroo or Uber Eats.
Business attitudes were strongly in favour of greater visibility. The share saying rating display should be mandatory on at least some online platforms was 96% in England, 95% in Northern Ireland and 93% in Wales. The share describing visible FHRS scores on delivery aggregators as a good idea was 72% in England, 72% in Northern Ireland and 66% in Wales.
Physical display also attracted majority support. In 2024, 89% of Northern Irish and 90% of Welsh businesses considered mandatory physical rating display a good thing. In the 2023 survey, 96% of Northern Irish and 97% of Welsh businesses aware of their rating also knew about the legal requirement to display it. Food Hygiene Rating Scheme Audit of Display and Business Survey: 2023
What consumers check
Food and You 2 Wave 8 indicates that checking hygiene ratings is a meaningful consumer behaviour. Overall, 42% of respondents said they had checked a food business hygiene rating in the previous 12 months. Among respondents who checked ratings, 34% had checked a pub’s food hygiene rating during that period.
Among respondents who had seen a rating sticker, 51% had seen one in a pub. For comparison, 70% of Wave 8 respondents had checked a takeaway’s hygiene rating in the previous 12 months, and 70% had checked a restaurant’s rating. These figures use the survey’s respondent groups as reported and should not be treated as the share of all pub visitors.
The earlier FSA Wave 4 tracker reported that 32% of respondents who checked ratings had checked a pub’s hygiene rating in the previous 12 months. That is a separate measurement point from Wave 8, so the two figures describe different survey waves rather than a directly calculated trend. Food and You 2: Wave 8 Key Findings
For a bar or pub serving food, the available evidence points to three operational checks: keep the current rating accurate, place the sticker where it is clearly visible, and treat online information as a separate transparency issue. The 2024 audit data shows that physical display was substantially more common than online rating display, while consumer survey results show that pubs remain a setting where people encounter and check hygiene ratings.