Pubs, restaurants score less sales during Rugby season: report

Businesses outside London performed better compared to those within the capital.

Pub and restaurant like-for-like sales took a dip by an average of 0.6% in October compared to the same month last year, a latest report from CGA’s Coffer Peach Business Tracker revealed.

Monitoring 58 companies, the report noted that restaurant chains saw like-for-like sales fall by an average 0.7%, whilst pub and bar groups were collectively down 0.6%.

“October is usually a quiet month in the eating and drinking out world – the lull before the Christmas rush – and so it has proved. Essentially, we are continuing to see a flat market. People are still going out, but there is no real growth,” CGA director Karl Chessell explained.

Businesses outside London were down 0.5%, which is relatively better than the capital, the report highlighted.

“The figures show that businesses outside the M25 did better than those in the capital. However, it is worth noting that although it looks like London is underperforming, the strength of the London market is being driven by independents not captured by the stats, rather than branded concepts,” Coffer Corporation Leisure managing director Mark Sheehan said.

“The eating and drinking-out market is relatively stable despite dampened consumer confidence. This is reflecting the combined political and economic uncertainty not seen since the middle of the last century.”