EXCLUSIVE: Why London Matters for QSRs

Data from the NPD Group has revealed that London accounts for 17% of all visits and 20% of all spend to Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) in Great Britain. These figures of 17% and 20% are much higher than the 13% of the UK population living in London.

Furthermore, between YE March 2009 and YE March 2016, visits to QSR in London have grown 2.6 times faster than in the rest of Great Britain, respectively 19% vs 7%. In London, and this equates to 154 million more QSR visits.

The average ticket in QSR is 23% higher in London at £4.53 compared to £3.69. But the most striking point is that in 2009 there was only a 10p difference between London and the rest of GB. In seven years, the average ticket in London has grown by 25% compared to 5% in the rest of GB, and this rise is linked to both a higher price per item and a higher number of items consumed at each occasion.

As Cyril Lavenant, Foodservice Director at NPD Group commented: “Londoners are willing to follow the growing trend of higher quality QSR restaurants. Quality and variety of food are indeed more important to Londoners when choosing a QSR restaurant and operators have done a fantastic job to understand that and meet their needs. When you see that Londoners spend on average 30% more on visits driven by a food reason compared to their average visit, you realise why many operators are fighting hard at the higher end of the QSR market.”