Northern restaurant and bar scene dominates London

New analysis by Northern Restaurant and Bar, trade show for the Northern hospitality industry and hospitality data and insight specialists, CGA has shown that the “M62 corridor” spanning Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds has become a hotspot for new restaurants and bars.

The number of city centre outlets within those locations has increased by over 20% over the last five years, a percentage double that of London, which had a 10.4% increase during the same period.

The data, from CGA’s Outlet Index, covered the central business districts of every major city which contained over 100 licensed premises. Liverpool came on top with 25.2% growth over a five year period, while Manchester had a growth of 24.9%. Leeds was in third place on 20.5%. Southampton was fourth with a rate of 20.5%, York was on 19.5%, Cardiff 17%, Newcastle 15.7%, and Bradford was in eighth place on 15.1%.

Overall Northern cities occupied six of the places in the top eight, whereas London was in 14th place on 10.4%.

Thom Hetherington, CEO of Northern Restaurant and Bar said “We’re delighted but not surprised by the data, we have seen the changes first hand – new restaurants and bars are opening almost every day. Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds are building top class food and drink scenes, and that’s great news for diners. Despite this being a challenging period for hospitality businesses, the growth is being largely driven by ambitious regional independents, and we’re proud that NRB can help to inspire and inform them.”

City centre restaurant and bar growth