Restaurant, pub and bar groups 'surviving' the recession

22nd July 2009, 12:09pm

New figures from Coffer Peach Business Tracker show that restaurant, pub and bar groups are holding their own during the recession and out-performing their independent counterparts.

Like-for-like sales in June were ahead 0.4% on the same month last year, according to the data.

The Business Tracker collects and collates sales data from 13 major groups on a monthly basis to provide a picture of the UK eating and drinking out-of-home market.

June's 0.4% figure is similar to the 0.6% increase reported in May and also in line with recently reported like-for-likes from some of the sector's leading publicly-quoted players, said Peter Martin, founder of the Peach Factory consultancy.

"It confirms the sense that chains are outperforming the independent sector. There was also a 3.9% increase in total sales in June across the sample, pointing to a continuing gain in market share for established groups."

June did see a 6.7% fall in sales against the previous month of May, but May benefited from two Bank Holidays and a school half-term break.

"The pub sector, in particular, did well from that," said Martin. "Unsettled, not to say unpredictable weather in June was probably also a factor. The general view is that trading remains largely flat, which is no mean result in recessionary times." 

Richard Hathaway, head of travel, leisure and tourism at KPMG, added that despite these encouraging figures, there are still concerns facing the industry: "How the weather performs during July and August is likely to have a considerable bearing on whether this slowing in sales becomes a longer-term decline. 

"There is also the looming cloud on the horizon of Swine Flu. If a pandemic does take hold, restaurants and bars are bound to take a hit, as people steer clear of others, or are laid low."

Mark Sheehan, managing director of Coffer Corporate Leisure, said firms could boost their sales further with web based promotion: "Multiple operators are growing turnover at the expense of independents, in part through offering discounts with which independents simply cannot compete in terms of scale. 

"Web and email based marketing plays an increasingly important role in this process."

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
• 16 Aug 2011 - Sales continue to improve in pubs and restaurants
• 16 Aug 2010 - Pub and restaurant chains achieve sales growth in July
• 16 Nov 2009 - Leading restaurant groups see sales rise by 2.8% in October
• 27 Jul 2009 - Solving pub industry problems must be sustainable
• 24 Jul 2009 - Recession busting course for small hospitality businesses

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