Restaurants and pubs in the capital city enjoyed increased bookings and sales in July, according to the latest Coffer Peach Business Tracker.
The report highlights that restaurant groups in London saw their sales rise by 2.6 per cent over the month. Pubs were the sector that benefited most from the hot weather, with drink-led venues and managed pub groups both boasting an increase in sales of 9.5 per cent and 7.6 per cent respectively. This suggests that the market may be on it's way to recovery after a post-Olympic slump was recorded in the first quarter of 2013.
These figures correlate with a separate survey by BigHospitality, which revealed that 65 per cent of restaurant and pub owners had seen increased bookings and sales as a result of the heatwave in July.
Peter Martin of CGA Peach said: “We had two forces at work last month – fantastic hot weather, which was good for pubs, and a rebound in the London market in general after the lull last July caused by the run up to the Olympics. The weather always has an effect on trading, with good weather generally favouring pubs and poor conditions better for restaurants, as we’ve just seen. In addition, the impact of the Olympics will continue with August’s trading comparisons."
However, it was not all good news as even though pubs outside of the M25 marked a 5.7 per cent rise in their sales, restaurants suffered a 5.4 per cent drop in sales when compared to July 2012. Trading has generally been flat regionally, and if you remove London from the overall UK average, pubs that rely on drink sales have seen a 1.1 per cent year-on-year decline. This all suggests that the market is still tricky and investors need to be cautious.