Consumer Confidence
We report on consumer confidence trends and how they influence spending habits across the UK foodservice and hospitality sector. This features our coverage of economic sentiment, household budgets, discretionary spend patterns, and the wider behavioural shifts affecting restaurant, pub, café, and catering trade. Whether you’re planning pricing strategies, forecasting sales, or adjusting marketing efforts, our reporting links consumer psychology to trading outcomes, helping foodservice operators make informed commercial decisions in a changing economic environment.
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Jan- 2019 -8 JanuaryBusiness
Greene King Christmas day sales hit £7.7m record despite cost cutting
Greene King has announced it hit a record sales figure of £7.7m for Christmas day despite cost cutting amid food price inflation, rising rates and wage increases. The pub chain also confirmed that it had seen like-for-like sales for the the last two weeks of 2018 rise by 10.9%. Greene…
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Dec- 2018 -20 DecemberBusiness
Confidence ‘under pressure’ across eating and drinking-out market
Business confidence among leaders of Britain’s eating and drinking-out market remains strained, the latest edition of the CGA Business Confidence Survey, produced in partnership with Fourth has revealed. While 63% – slightly down from the last poll in July – are optimistic about their own businesses’ prospects for next 12…
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Nov- 2018 -6 NovemberRestaurants
Restaurant insolvencies reach highest level in eight years
The number of restaurant businesses going bust has reached its highest level since 2010, jumping sharply in the first three quarters of 2018, according to data by accountancy firm Price Bailey. According to the firm, 1,123 British restaurant businesses became insolvent in the first three quarters of 2018, a 35%…
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Oct- 2018 -17 OctoberPubs and Bars
Hospitality sector ‘faces £113m business rates hike next April’
UKHospitality (UKH) is warning that a large part of the UK economy, including hotels, pubs, restaurants, nightclubs and cafes, face a £113m business rates bombshell. The inflation figures are used to set the annual increase in business rates, and analysis by UKH shows that “thousands of businesses” will be hit…
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Sep- 2018 -5 SeptemberAdvice
Taking a proposition from ‘meh’ to ‘yeah’
During the reign of casual dining brands, reliability, know-what-you’re-getting and crowd-pleasing cuisine kept the average consumer happy. Branded Italian concepts were as ubiquitous as they were successful. Being ‘okay’ was genuinely good enough; Pragma worked with F&B clients achieving mostly seven or eight out of 10 as an advocacy score,…
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Aug- 2018 -13 AugustBusiness
Hospitality consumer spending increases 2.5% in July
Consumer spending in the hospitality sector increased by 2.5% in July, according to Visas’ UK Consumer Spending Index. The group said the warmer weather supported solid increases in spend across food and drink and hotels, restaurants and bars categories. However, overall household spending dropped 0.9% in July due to “disappointing…
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Jun- 2018 -7 JunePeople
One-third of Brits spent less on eating out in 2017
A third of Britons prepared themselves for a potential increase in the cost of living post-Brexit by spending less on eating out in 2017, a report has shown. The British Lifestyles UK 2018 report, which was published by the market intelligence agency Mintel, revealed 33% of Britons saved money last…
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May- 2018 -9 MayBusiness
Restaurants left to starve as door-to-door service bites
The UK restaurant industry is under grave threat from the growing trend of customers wanting food delivered to their door according to new research. A study by consultants Duff & Phelps found demand for food delivered to customers’ homes has grown 10 times faster than takeaway. Examples include food delivery…
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8 MayBusiness
Cote Restaurants ‘outperforms market’ with 15.8% sales growth
Cote Restaurants has seen a 15.8% rise in sales for the 52-week period to 30 July 2017. Revenue was at £140.7m, up from £121.5m the previous year, with operating profit remaining flat at £10m. Its like-for-like growth stood at 4.1% while it had EBITDA growth of 8.9% versus the 52-week…
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4 MayAdvice
Brewing up a storm to beat the competition
Despite the well-publicised increase in UK consumers’ spending on coffee, coffee shops are by no means immune to the economic pressures affecting all catering and hospitality operators. Staffing issues, increasing rent and rates, ailing consumer confidence and an uncertain economy affect coffee shop owners just as keenly as other food…
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