Planning activity for new food and beverage outlets in the capital continued to outstrip the rest of the UK, as London’s resilience to the dining crunch again proves we are a hungry bunch.
Some 23% of all planning applications for new restaurant and bar space over the past decade have been lodged in London – 7m sq ft, according to Radius Data Exchange figures, with 3.5 m sq ft of that coming in single unit eateries.
Applications for restaurants and bars increased by 43% year-on-year compared with 37% in the rest of the country. The sector has not been immune to the slowdown felt by cautious developers, however, with planning activity down by 24% from H1 2017 to H2 2017 and then down by a further 18% in the opening six months of this year.
Figures from Radius Data Exchange also show that almost 620,000 sq ft of prime restaurant space has been vacated due to the spate of administrations and CVAs in 2018 to date. In London the closures of Prezzo, Carluccios, Byron and Cau have seen some 110,000 sq ft vacated.
So where does the market go from here? Comparing the food and beverage deals share over the past five year’s we do see that the intense expansion boom is over. Developers should think carefully about proposed extensions to shopping centres and several ave already halted regeneration projects.
But,while we should expect more restaurants and bars to close this year, new and innovative concepts will emerge. After all, we all need to eat.
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