Tough September trading hits restaurants, pubs and bars

16 October 2017 by
Tough September trading hits restaurants, pubs and bars

Pubs, bars and restaurants in the UK saw like-for-like sales fall 0.9% in September as the consumers pull back on spending, the Coffer Peach Business Tracker reports.

London was the worst hit, suffering a 3.2% fall in collective like-for-like sales compared with September last year.

Across the sector, trading was generally better outside the M25, down just 0.7%, compared to a fall of 1.6% in the capital. Pubs and bars in London traded relatively better, down just 0.5%, while restaurants away from the capital saw like-for-likes grow marginally last month (0.2%).

Total sales growth in September among the 38 companies in the Tracker cohort was 2.6%, compared to last year. Underlying like-for-like growth for the sector, for the 12 months to the end of September, was running at 1.2%, with total sales up 4.1%.

These results follow on from flat trading through the summer, which may be credited to supermarkets recently hiking their food prices "which may have helped dampened out-of-home eating."

Earlier this month it was announced that 66% of bosses in the sector were optimistic about prospects for their own company, however only 34% were upbeat about prospects for the market as a whole, down from 43% in May.

Martin added: "Rising costs around property, tax, people and raw materials have increased pressure on margins already this year in what is an ever competitive market. Faltering sales will only add to sector concerns.

Paul Newman, head of leisure and hospitality at RSM, added: "There's no getting away from the fact that September has been a fairly dismal month for casual dining operators, especially in the capital. These sales numbers continue to be underpinned by the growing influence of food delivery and fierce discounting between brands. Operators will hope that a focus on premiumisation over the festive period will help to claw back some of this lost margin."
Videos from The Caterer archives

Are you looking for a new role? See all the current hospitality vacancies available with The Caterer Jobs

The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking