Mon 9th Dec 2019 - Pubs and restaurants feel pressure on eating-out spend as sector like-for-likes edge up 0.5% Pubs and restaurants feel pressure on eating-out spend as sector like-for-likes edge up 0.5%: Britain’s managed pub and restaurant groups saw like-for-like sales edge up 0.5% in November compared with last year, according to the latest Coffer Peach Business Tracker. Restaurant groups saw like-for-likes slip 0.1% year-on-year and, while managed pubs recorded overall like-for-like growth of 0.7%, that included an increase in drink sales of 1.1%. Like-for-like food sales in pubs were down 0.2% in November compared with last year. “School half-term holidays at the start of the month produced a healthy first week of trading and, without that, we would have been looking at negative sales across the board for the month,” said Karl Chessell, director of CGA, the business insight consultancy that produces the Coffer Peach Tracker in partnership with Coffer Group and RSM. Trevor Watson, executive director, valuations, at Davis Coffer Lyons, added: “The data suggests a lacklustre market in the run-up to the general election and Christmas. In London, operators are hoping and expecting there to be no significant impact on leisure spend as a result of the latest terror incident in the capital. Operators everywhere are hoping the general election will revive consumer confidence generally in the final run-up to Christmas the New Year festivities. This could lead to much-needed favourable December figures.” Total sales across the 58 companies in the Tracker, which include the effect of net new openings since this time last year, were ahead 3.0% compared with November 2018. Underlying like-for-like growth for the Tracker cohort, which represents both large and small operators, was running at 1.6% for the 12 months to the end of November, which is just below the 1.7% registered at the end of October.