Restaurants and pubs face tough year ahead
Restaurants and pubs have been urged to ‘stay on top of their game’ after new data revealed just how tight trading within the UK eating out market remains.
The latest Coffer Peach Business Tracker survey, which pools data from 15 major pub and restaurant groups, recorded like-for-like sales growth in April of just 0.7 per cent compared with the same month a year ago.
Total sales for the month were up 2 per cent on April 2009.
While the latest figures are an improvement on March’s performance, when like-for-like sales fell back 0.4 per cent and total sales were up just 1.0 per cent, Peach Factory’s Peter Martin warned against complacency.
”Although positive, the results are a reminder that groups will have to stay on the top of their game, particularly with continued uncertainty about the economy ahead of the public-sector spending cuts promised by the new Government. It is going to be a long haul and there is no consumer cushion,” he said.
Uncertain outlook
Richard Hathaway, head of Travel, Leisure and Tourism at KPMG, which co-produces the tracker, said: "While sales stayed fairly flat in April, month on month they held up well, particularly given the negative impact on trading the ash cloud no doubt brought with it, certainly in London.
“Longer term, the outlook for the sector is unpredictable - consumer confidence will be affected by a number of variables in the coming months.”
Hathaway said the forthcoming budget from the new coalition government would likely be a watershed moment for the eating out and drinking market.
Italian restaurant chainCarluccio's warned this week about public uncertainty around the UK's new coalition government.
