EU Referendum result fails to stop Londoners eating and drinking out
Londoners are not giving up on eating and drinking out in the wake of the Brexit vote, according to the latest Coffer Peach Business Tracker.
Pub and restaurant groups saw collective like-for-like sales grow 0.3% in July compared to the same month last year but the capital outperformed the rest of the country.
Operators in London saw a 2.9% uplift in life-for-like sales against July 2015, while those outside the M25 saw like-for-like sales fall 0.5%.
Peter Martin, vice president of CGA Peach, the business insight consultancy that produces the Tracker, in partnership with Coffer Group and RSM, said: "Pub groups also did better than restaurant chains, but that was probably more to do with the good weather than anything else.
"The market will be relieved however that trade has more than held up post referendum, as confidence among the bosses of pub and restaurant chains took a tumble after the vote, as our own exclusive CGA Peach research showed."
He said London emerged as slightly more upbeat about business prospects following the EU Referendum, which in part was down to the anticipation of increased tourism due to the weaker pound.
He added: "The London market is looking more robust."
Managed pub groups collectively saw like-for-likes up 0.9% over the month, compared to a 0.6% like-for-like decline among casual dining chains against July last year.
Total sales for the month among the 33 companies in the Tracker cohort were up 4% on July 2015, reflecting the new site openings over the past 12 months, especially outside of London.
"The eating and drinking out sector remained fairly resilient during the uncertainty of the recession and it may not be too optimistic to expect that people will continue to go out to eat and drink during the current uncertain times. Where they choose to go is another matter and in an underlying flat market that means competition will remain fierce."
Mark Sheehan, managing director at Coffer Corporate Leisure said the numbers show some resilience post-referendum.
He added: "From a transactional perspective, following the referendum we experienced an initial hesitancy from the market to make big property commitments, but now that the initial shock has passed we continue to see similar activity as we did prior to the vote. A weaker pound is again attracting certain overseas buyers to target the UK where they see value."
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