Britain’s managed pub and restaurant groups saw their collective like-for-like sales grow just 0.2 per cent in October with pubs and bars doing better than casual dining chains.
The research from the Coffer Peach Business Tracker shows that like for like sales fell by 0.5 per cent around the country.
Across the country managed pubs and bars were collectively ahead 0.6 per cent on a like-for-like basis, and up 3.6 per cent in London against last October. However, sales declined by 0.4 per cent outside London. Restaurant chains also did relatively better in London, with like-for-likes up 0.9 per cent compared to a 0.7 per cent fall in the rest of the country.
However, the national figure showed a 0.3 per cent decline, reflecting the continuing pressure on the casual dining sector.
Total sales, which include the effect of new openings since this time last year across the 49 companies in the Tracker, were up by 2.6 per cent on October 2017.
Underlying like-for-like growth for the Tracker, which represents both large and small groups, was running at 0.7 per cent for the 12 months to the end of October. The figure is virtually the same as at the end of the last three months, showing that the eating and drinking out market remains at best flat.
The Coffer Peach Tracker industry sales monitor for the pub, bar and restaurant sector collects and analyses performance data from 49 operating groups, with a combined turnover of over more than £9 billion.
