Subscriber login Close [x]
remember me
You are not logged in.

Post-Brexit casual dining figures show mixed results across the UK

Published:  22 August, 2016

According to the most recent figures from Coffer Peach Business Tracker the resilience of consumer spending in causal on-trade outlets seems to be mixed across the UK.

Overall sales figures are up 0.3% compared to July 2015. However, in taking a closer look at the figures, London operators saw a 2.9% jump in like-for-like sales, while those outside the M25 saw figures drop 0.5%.

"Interestingly, operators in London emerged as slightly more upbeat about business prospects in the wake of the vote than their colleagues outside the M25, in part down to an anticipation of increased UK tourism - and that seems to have been reflected in sales on the ground. The London market is looking more robust," said Peter Martin, vice president of CGA Peach.

Managed pubs out performed the casual dealing chains, which primarily came down to the better weather throughout the month. "Sunny weather always favours pubs over restaurants, and that is particularly true during holiday periods," said Martin.

Like-for-like sales for pubs jumped 0.9% compared to a decline of 0.6% among casual dining chains compared to last year.

Mark Sheehan, managing director at Coffer Corporate Leisure, believes that with a weaker currency there is an opportunity for more tourism in the UK, which can help boost figures.

"A weaker pound should be particularly helpful for attracting tourists to London and other mainstream tourist centres. The pub sector continues to outperform restaurants, where we do expect to see further pressure on sales outside London," said Sheehan.

However, this counterbalanced by the increase in costs on-trade outlet operators will most likely face in the future.  "We expect to see costs continue to increase and margins erode over the coming months, putting pressure on profitability for the hospitality sector," he said.

Keywords: