According to Savills ‘Casual Dining in the UK’ report, London’s West End has seen the greatest growth in casual dining brands over the past three years, followed by the City of London, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Aberdeen and Glasgow. Edinburgh ranks in 23rd place in terms of growth.
The report ranks the top 50 towns based on the growth in brands since the end of 2012 and also the total supply of casual dining restaurants. The towns that rank first, second, third and fourth in terms of growth in the past three years are also the top four locations for total supply of brands, with Birmingham and Glasgow taking fifth and sixth place respectively in terms of overall supply (Aberdeen in 10th place and Edinburgh in 21st).
Tom Whittington, research director at Savills, comments: “It’s not a surprise to have London at the top of the rankings but the reality of today’s eating out market is that beyond the M25, there are more expansion opportunities for leading branded operators. This can clearly be seen in Aberdeen and Glasgow and whilst Edinburgh is further down the list of casual dining brand growth, we are seeing evermore of these brands look to Scotland’s capital city for opportunities too.”
The research shows that gradual change in food culture, particularly since the recession, means consumers are eating out more and this is creating new opportunities for further casual dining growth across the UK. In the report the five formats that are expected to be most successful over the next five years are premium fast food, all day and flexible formats, street food and pop ups, premium casual dining and third party delivery services.