Brexit has ‘killed off restaurants’ new year bounce’
LONDON’S restaurants have seen a slower pick-up in bookings after the traditional post-Christmas lull than in previous years, figures reveal today.
They were only six per cent higher last month than January, according to data from the online reservations website Quandoo. This compares with a February bounce of 24 per cent last year.
Analysts blamed Brexit for the depressed booking figures in a month when Valentine’s Day usually gives the dining sector a boost after the quiet days of January.
Pierpaolo Zollo, Quandoo’s vice president for business development, said: “We found that London experienced growth in February, probably due to Valentine’s Day and the traditional dining trends that mark this time of year. However, this growth was slower than in 2018 and markedly smaller than what we’ve seen in other EU capitals.
“It ’s likely that the slower rate of growth is a result of the prevailing uncertainty around Brexit, which has a knock-on effect on the economy and consumer behaviours.” Comparable figures for Berlin and Milan show increases of bookings last month of 20 per cent and 31 per cent respectively.
The data from Quandoo follows downbeat data from the Coffer Peach Business Tracker, which monitors sales in pub and restaurant groups. It found that CELEBRITY chef Melissa Hemsley has helped launch a “secret” hot chocolate cafe hidden at the back of a newsagent’s.
The West Africanthemed Rosine’s Hot Chocolate Salon is serving up cocoa using a new recipe designed by the chef. Created in aid of the Fairtrade Foundation, the popup’s secret location aims to highlight the “hidden story of chocolate”.
Each drink will cost £1.86, the equivalent of a day’s ideal “living income” for a West African cocoa farmer. Hemsley said:
“Everyone should be entitled to earn a fair living and thanks to Fairtrade, that’s becoming a reality.” overall trading in London was down 1.9 per cent in January compared with 2018.
The Quandoo figures came as separate data from the Heart of London group, which represents restaurants and other businesses in the West End, showed that the number of visitors to Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus was down 11.4 per cent in the third week of February compared with the same period last year.
Official visitor numbers published last month found that the overall number of overseas visits to the capital fell by almost one million, from 15.24 million to 14.22 million in the first nine months of 2018.
Last year saw a record number of restaurant closures in London with 117 — including big names such as Soho’s The Gay Hussar — shutting their doors forever, according to the Harden’s restaurant guide.