All northern England cities saw a growth in sales in managed pubs, bars and restaurants, with businesses in Newcastle reporting the highest average sales growth at 12.7%, followed by York (9.2%), Sheffield (7.1%), Liverpool (6.8%), Chester (5.6%), Manchester (4.8%), and Leeds (4.4%), according to research conducted by Northern Restaurant & Bar in partnership with CGA by NielsenIQ.
Despite a 2.5% decline in total venue numbers across the British pub, bar, and restaurant sector in the latest year to October, the industry averaged 48 new openings per week, signalling a significant level of renewal, says CGA.
Business leaders are also generally optimistic about the prospects of their own business in the next 12 months. This sentiment is stronger in the north, where 59% of leaders expressed confidence in the sector, compared to 51% in the south.
Northern cities such as Liverpool, Newcastle, and Chester, have proven more resilient than London and the national average, in terms of the number of sites, with over a quarter (26%) of new openings in the north.
The research also says that experience-led concepts are well positioned to thrive in the next 12 months, citing northern businesses such as Mission Mars, Roxy Leisure and GSG Hospitality.
Restaurant has chosen the north for the location of its R200 Conference, which is being held in Manchester on 19 March.
Speakers at the morning conference include Matt Snell, the CEO of Gusto Italian, Marcello di Stefano, managing director at San Carlo, Thom Hetherington, founder of Landing Light, Neal Bates, managing director of Rudy's Pizza, Ted Schama, partner at property expert Shelley Sandzer, Matt Farrell, co-founder at GSG Hospitality, and James Bates and Thomas White, co-founders of Maray.
The event is completely free to attend. If you'd like to come along to our conference and network lunch, book your place now