Free GP Calculator for UK Restaurants & Pubs 2026 Guide

Key Takeaways

1. Manual spreadsheet GP calculations cause 3% margin losses due to 88% error rates and 28-minute dish costing times.
2. Use the GP formula: (Selling Price – Cost Price) / Selling Price × 100, including 5-10% waste for food and 10-15% for beverages.
3. 2026 UK benchmarks: Restaurants and pubs target 65% food GP and 75-80% drinks GP, hotels 62-75%.
4. Manual tools fail growing operations because they lack real-time updates, POS integration, and multi-ingredient recipe support.
5. Automate GP tracking with Jelly’s Flash reports and POS integration to boost margins by 2 points in 3 months.

Step-by-Step GP Formula for Manual Food and Drink Costing

The core GP margin formula is: GP% = (Selling Price – Cost Price) / Selling Price × 100.

Food cost percentage uses the inverse: Food Cost% = Cost Price / Selling Price × 100.

Use the steps below for accurate manual calculations.

Food Costing Breakdown: Include all ingredients, prep labour allocation, and a 5-10% waste factor. For the steak example, include seasoning, garnish, and cooking oils as well as the main protein cost.

Beverage Costing: Include pour waste, usually 10-15%, VAT implications, and garnish costs. Measure spirits carefully because over-pouring directly reduces margins.

Pro Tips:

1. Use the 30/30/30/10 rule as a benchmark: 30% food cost, 30% labour, 30% overhead, 10% profit.
2. Always calculate food and beverage GP separately, as drinks usually achieve higher margins.
3. Factor VAT correctly, as UK hospitality usually operates on 20% VAT for most items.
4. Update calculations weekly as supplier prices change.

2026 UK GP Targets for Restaurants, Pubs and Hotels

Target GP margins differ between food and beverage categories and across venue types. UK hotel food and beverage margins have dropped to 20% in London and 27.7% in provincial areas, which shows the pressure on hospitality profitability.

These benchmarks reflect 2026 market conditions, where UK hotel profit margins have fallen to 34.5%. Efficient GP management now plays a critical role in staying profitable.

Separate food and drink calculations give clearer insight because beverages usually achieve 10-15 percentage points higher GP than food items. This separation supports smarter menu engineering and pricing decisions.

Why Manual GP Calculators Hold Back Growing Kitchens

Basic calculators from suppliers such as Brakes and Total Foodservice provide one-off calculations but do not meet the dynamic needs of growing operations. These tools cannot track real-time price volatility, handle complex waste calculations, or connect with existing POS and accounting systems.

The main gaps include:

1. Static Data: No real-time updates when supplier prices change.
2. Limited Scope: No support for multi-ingredient recipes or batch calculations.
3. No Integration: Manual data entry required from multiple sources.
4. Time Intensive: Each calculation takes 28 minutes of manual work.

Growing restaurants, pubs, and hotels with £500k or more in revenue need systems that scale with their operations. Manual processes consume 10-20 hours each week on administrative tasks and reduce time for strategic growth and customer service.

Operators who want to cut spreadsheet errors and save hours each week can schedule a chat to explore automated GP tracking solutions.

Automated GP Tracking with Jelly for Live Margin Insights

Jelly turns manual GP calculations into automated insights for growing UK restaurants, pubs, and hotels. At £129 per month per location, Jelly offers enterprise-level functionality with simple onboarding and delivers value within the first week.

Core Features:

1. Automated Invoice Scanning: Capture every line item via email or photo.
2. 3-Minute Dish Costing: Build recipes by clicking ingredients from scanned invoices.
3. Price Alerts: Receive instant notifications when supplier prices change.
4. Flash GP Reports: View daily margin updates connected to POS systems.
5. POS Integration: Works with Square, ePOSnow, and major UK systems.
6. Xero Sync: Push invoices to accounting software with one click.

Proven Results:

1. Ruth Seggie (The Howard Arms): “Our accountant said we’d be lucky to hit 60% gross profit. After using Jelly, we reached 80%!”
2. Stuart Noble (Cairn Lodge Hotel): “We slashed food costs by 5% in a month, it’s a game changer!”
3. Amber Restaurant: Saves £3-4k each month through automated price tracking and supplier negotiations.

Competitive Advantages:

1. vs Excel: Removes the 88% error rate and 28-minute manual calculations.
2. vs MarketMan: Offers a simple setup, usually one week instead of months, with an intuitive interface.
3. vs Kitchen Cut: Provides modern pricing at £129 per month instead of £500 or more, designed for growing operations.

Teams can move GP tracking from reactive to proactive with Jelly. Book a demo with Jelly to see live margin improvements in action.

GP Margin Calculator FAQs

What is a good GP for a restaurant?

A strong gross profit margin for UK restaurants usually sits between 65% and 75%. Food items should target around 65%, while beverages often reach 75-80%. Gastropubs should aim for overall margins above 70%, and hotels typically operate at 65-70% because of different operational structures. These targets reflect 2026 market pressures such as inflation and higher labour costs.

How to calculate GP on food and drink separately?

Use the same GP formula for food and beverage, but apply different cost factors. Food calculations should include ingredient costs, prep labour allocation, and a 5-10% waste allowance. Beverage calculations should include pour costs, 10-15% waste from spillage and over-pouring, garnish expenses, and VAT implications. Keep these categories separate because drinks usually achieve 10-15 percentage points higher margins than food.

What is the average gross profit margin for restaurants in the UKin 2026?

UK restaurants target gross profit margins of 65-70% in 2026, although reaching these figures requires active management under inflationary pressure. The hospitality sector faces serious challenges, with hotel operations showing declining margins and higher operating costs. Successful operators focus on real-time margin tracking and firm supplier negotiation to protect profitability targets.

How to work out the GP percentage on food?

Work out the food GP percentage with this formula: (Selling Price – Total Food Cost) / Selling Price × 100. Total food cost should include all ingredients, allocated prep labour, and waste factors. For example, a £15 dish with £5 total costs achieves 66.7% GP. The inverse calculation, Total Food Cost / Selling Price × 100, gives the food cost percentage, which should usually sit between 30% and 35% for most restaurant operations.

Why do manual GP calculations fail for growing operations?

Manual calculations fail growing operations because they do not scale or react to real-time price changes. Restaurants with multiple suppliers and complex menus need systems that update costs automatically, track supplier price movements, and connect with POS data. Manual processes consume 10-20 hours each week and introduce errors that can cut margins by 3% through slow reactions to market changes.

Conclusion: Start Manual GP Today, Shift to Automation Next

Manual GP margin calculations give essential baseline knowledge, yet growing UK restaurants, pubs, and hotels now rely on automated solutions to protect margins in 2026. This free calculator and guide cover immediate costing needs, while platforms such as Jelly provide the real-time insight needed for long-term profitability.

The hospitality landscape now demands precision, as 88% of spreadsheets contain errors that can inflate costs by up to 200%. Successful operators move from reactive monthly reports to proactive daily insights and gain a 2 percentage point margin improvement through automated tracking and supplier negotiation tools.

Stop losing margins to manual errors and slow data. Book a demo with Jelly now and shift your GP tracking from spreadsheet struggle to automated success.