Restaurants are booming north of the Border, with the leading Edinburgh and Glasgow guide noting a record 112 new entries in the past 12 months, compared to 103 last year. About one third of the operations are believed to be on sites which did not previously trade as restaurants.

The guide is published by The List, the Edinburgh and Glasgow listings guide. Editor Donald Reid told the Scotsman that: "The number of new openings over the last year is proof Edinburgh and Glasgow have two of the most dynamic dining scenes outside London”.

Indeed, Harden’s most recent London guide listed 158 new openings over a 12-month period. Making an – admittedly very crude – comparison on the basis of the List/Harden’s numbers, it would seem that the two Scottish cities are currently seeing more new openings per head of population than the English capital.