Restaurants 'doing better than expected'

Date: 17th July 2009

Britain's restaurant sector is defying the downturn and registering a stronger-than-expected financial performance, an industry group said today.

New analysis from the Restaurant Association, which lobbies on behalf of smaller eateries nationwide, suggests that dire forecasts of a "savage" decline in profits were overstated.

Instead, the sector could be "back on track" following the downturn by as early as the end of 2009, a spokesman said.

The comments follow the release of a report from Allegra Strategies earlier this week, which showed that 7.7 billion "informal meals" are eaten out each year in the UK.

This equates to 128 meals per person per year - with the typical consumer spending £12.75 a week.

UK GDP as a whole is expected to endure a decline in excess of four per cent in 2009, the worst annual result for decades.

By contrast, year-on-year restaurant sector sales are predicted to drop by just 0.5 per cent.

Miles Quest at the Restaurant Association said: "Certainly in any recession of this kind there is bound to be a decline in consumer spending and one of the big items in consumer spending is eating out. But people are still eating out.

"I would have thought next year we would be back, or getting back on track. That's the feeling of most restaurant companies. I think they are all confident certainly of 2010, if not the remainder of 2009."