Tonight:
5°c
A crash in lunchtime and after-work boozing in the Square Mile has been offset by a return to suburban eating and drinking in the local Toby Carvery or Harvester, pubs giant Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) reported today.
Evidence that Britons are continung to spend their way through the recession down the pub was revealed by M&B which reported a 2.6% rise in like-for-like sales in the 10 weeks up to mid-September.
That is double the rate of growth seen earlier in the year.
Food sales leapt 5.8% while drinks sales rose 1.2%, a slowing of the 2.4% improvement seen earlier in the year.
“We have seen strength in our residential and suburban pub businesses and we are particularly pleased with Toby Carvery and Harvester which are back at the top of their game,” said new M&B chief executive Adam Fowle.
“We have benefited from the staycation' of people — people staying at home this summer. Toby and Harvester represent very good value for the family customer, and while there is a hint of trading down by people dining out and we have seen people moving down the menu, what we are seeing is the return of the family Sunday lunch at the pub.”
However, Fowle admitted to a “sharp softening” in business at its City pubs, the branded All Bar One and Browns outlets, as well as its boozers like The Black Friar at Blackfriars, the The Crutched Friar at Fenchurch Street, and Woodins Shades, the Lord Aberconway and the White Hart, all close to Liverpool Street.
