London Restaurant Barometer figures for the three months to end-January 2010 paint an overall picture of business that is, at best, holding its own as compared to the same period in the previous year.
In the run-up to Christmas (Nov/Dec), restaurants reporting rises in takings (41%) and those reporting falls (43%) more or less balanced out: net -2%.
January snow, however, ensured a grimmer kick-off to 2010, with 31% reporting a rise in takings against 49% reporting a fall: net -18%.
The poor start to the year has not dimmed the optimism of restaurateurs, a net +44% of whom expect an increase in their takings in 2010 compared with last year. (57% predict an increase, and 13% a decrease.)
The survey, with some 300 respondents, was carried out by Business Link London.
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