NICK Lander, food doyen and author of The Art of the Restaurateur was clear about this in the National Restaurant and Bar show this year in Manchester.
Restaurant and food outlet numbers are now 258% higher than in 1998
“Restaurants and bars are now far more important to developers and planners than shops,” he said. “Unlike with retail, food and drink has been enhanced by the internet not demolished by it. It’s a physical business, you can’t eat a virtual meal nor drink a virtual wine or beer. You have to sit down with food and drink. This in turn usually demands a social occasion, not a virtual one and that's where restaurants come in.”
Now CBRE, the commercial property and real estate services advisor, has proved the case.
The organisation says restaurant and food outlet numbers are now 258% higher than in 1998 (8% annual average growth rate) with a total of 17,450 chain branches in operation across the country.
This growth far outweighs other leisure outlets (such as bingo halls, cinemas and gyms) - which have grown by 90% since 1998, equivalent to a 4% annual average growth rate. And it is far above the increase in number of other retailers and shops which are now 50% higher than in 1998 (3% annual average growth).
In contrast, the number of outlets in the services sector (estate agents, banks, building societies, etc) has fallen 36% since 1998 (-3% annual average growth) as operators have moved their business activities online.
Iberica ousted All Saints in SpinningfieldsSeb Howard, Head of Central London Leisure at CBRE said: "This study shows that the recession in tandem with the growth of online retailing hit parts of the UK high street hard, but the restaurant sector proved extremely resilient. In recent years, there has been extraordinary diversification in the restaurant sector driven by the demand for new types of cuisine and the changing eating patterns fuelled by the rise of street food vendors. These trends have injected vibrancy into the market and seen restaurateurs capitalise on the increased availability of premises and floor-space left by other shop operators closing their doors. This is why the sector is so important to the health of the UK high street, encouraging consumers back and increasing the time they spend close to other local retailers."
CBRE also say, the growth of restaurants specialising in relatively new types of food to the UK market has been particularly strong in recent years. The number of burrito bars and restaurants such as Barburrito and Chilango has grown at the fastest rate of any food type over the last few years with a 71% rise in branch numbers over the last twelve months and an average annual growth rate of 57% since 2009. Similarly, outlets specialising in mixed world cuisine, such as Giraffe, have seen growth of 41% over the last year and 40% annual average over the last five years. While new entrants in natural healthy food, like Leon, have seen rapid growth of 38% over the last year and 15% annual average growth since 2010.
More traditional restaurant offerings have seen far slower growth. For example, while Italian chain restaurants, such as Carluccio's and Jamie's Italian, are the largest in terms of the number of branches (817 across the UK), the average growth in numbers has been limited over the last five years at just 5%. Steak restaurants have also seen slow average annual growth over the last five years at just 1% while specialist fish restaurants have seen falls in branch numbers with average annual growth of -3% over the same period.
The rise in the popularity of street food and the quality of the catering that is on offer from street vendors has had a significant influence on the wider restaurant market. In separate figures from the National Caterers Association, the number of registered street food vendors operating in the UK has increased from 10 to over 1,000 in the last five years.
In Manchester, the way The Avenue in Spinningfields, and now King Street, have started to transform in recent years had already underlined this transformation in what constitutes a high street. Clearly there must be a level where saturation is reached. Just where that level might lies is the big question in food and drinks’ giddy expansion.
Of course society has changed with the majority of people now thinking nothing of eating out at least once a week. But why? Maybe there's more money around or, perhaps people don't save for a rainy day so much despite the 2008 recession.
Could it be simpler than that?
Eating out is fun. On holiday people eat out regularly - maybe Brits now just don't want to let go of that holiday feeling. When they have free time they want to enjoy it. If there are more restaurants to enjoy it within then everybody wins.
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