Pub and restaurant chains achieve sales growth in July

16th August 2010, 10:39am

New figures from the Coffer Peach Business Tracker have revealed that Britain's top pub and restaurant groups experienced a like-for-like sales increase of 1.9% in July on last year.

Meanwhile total sales, which include those from new openings, were ahead 3.3% on July 2009.

Peter Martin of Peach Factory said this is positive news: "This is good news for the market, particularly as the impact of discounting is now being ironed out. The bigger operators are showing a lot of resilience. These figures show strong demand from the public, and include the start of the school holidays. We may be experiencing a boost from holidaying at home this year."

And this July's result compares with a 1.0% increase in like-for-likes in the same month in 2009, and a 5.9% month-on-month increase.

David Coffer, chairman of the Coffer Group, explained: "The final stages of the World Cup will undoubtedly have had an impact on these figures, in terms of additional turnover for mainly pub operators against the decrease in turnover for restaurants. 

"Many restaurateurs suffered up to 30% reduction from normal turnover figures in the World Cup period.  Since the tournament has finished, there has been a marked improvement across the board."
 
Will Hawkley, director in KPMG's Travel, Leisure and Tourism practice, added: "The holiday season may have helped the sector maintain sales so far, but with Mervyn King's warning of a 'choppy recovery' to come, the outlook for the sector is unlikely to be plain sailing.

"Storm clouds are already gathering in the form of public sector spending cuts and the VAT hike.  The impact of these challenges on consumer confidence remains to be seen, but as a typical bellwether of consumer spending the eating out sector could feel the brunt of any future downturn."

The monthly Tracker figures are produced by Peach Factory in partnership with KPMG, UBS and the Coffer Group and monitor performance across 16 leading pub and restaurant operators. Companies taking part in the survey include Mitchells & Butlers, Whitbread, Pizza Hut, Punch Pub Co, Gondola and Tragus.

Related Articles:

• 13 Mar 2012 - Restaurants and pubs experience tough start to 2012
• 15 Sep 2011 - Eating out survives impact of August riots, finds research
• 14 Mar 2011 - The eating and drinking out market gives boost to UK economy, according to new figures
• 14 Feb 2011 - UK pub and restaurant chains see like-for-like sales rise 10.7% in January
• 16 Nov 2010 - Chain restaurants continue to grow in sales
• 20 Oct 2010 - Hotel and restaurant group Whitbread experiences 7.8% boost in total sales
• 07 Sep 2010 - Hotel and restaurant group Whitbread sees sales increase by 14%
• 20 Aug 2010 - Mitchells & Butlers to sell over 300 pubs for an estimated £373m
• 18 May 2010 - Restaurant and pub groups see sales rise in April
• 22 Jul 2009 - Restaurant, pub and bar groups 'surviving' the recession
• 23 Jun 2009 - Pub and restaurant sales remain resilient

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