The modern high street: pubs and curry houses are out; coffee shops and vegan restaurants are on the up
The origins of the public house can be traced back to Roman times, when the road system was being built in the UK. To satisfy weary travellers, inns popped up alongside these new roads offering refreshments so that they could continue their journey a little more merrily than before.
However, a new report by The Local Data Company shows that we have lost 254 pubs over the last year. Figures from the Office for National Statistics two years ago revealed the number of under-25s opting for total abstinence from alcohol had leapt by 40 per cent in eight years, while a survey by Eventbrite last week revealed that the average millennial consumes just five units of alcohol each week. It's not looking good for the British boozer.
Stepping into the breach are independent cafes and tearooms, with 409 more in the last year along with 225 more coffee shops. And, while 254 more takeaway food shops have popped up, aided by the increasing popularity of delivery food apps like Deliveroo and UberEats and eating on the go, there are 141 less Indian and Chinese restaurants than there were this time last year.
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Overall, the report shows that the number of new food and beverage (F&B) outlets opening across the UK has reached a new peak in the last 12 months. In the last five years the average annual growth rate of F&B outlets was 743 new units per year, but in the last 12 months the number of new units nearly doubled to 1,333.
However the decline of the pub and the nightclub (down 74 year on year) signals a culture shift in our eating and drinking habits, as more and more of us eschew boozy nights out, preferring to spend our money on a takeaway or a nice meal.
There is also a growing trend for healthy eating out, with vegan restaurants experiencing growth - more than doubling in number from 8 to 17 in the past 12 months. Jamaican, Middle Eastern, Carribean, Turkish and American cuisine have also all seen increases across the country.
Commenting on the new findings, Matthew Hopkinson of LDC said: “The growth of food and beverage outlets across Great Britain has been consistent and strong. For many high streets, shopping centres and retail parks, it is now an essential part of their offer where one in ten units would have been typical to see, to now one in four or even three being the norm across all locations.
However, Hopkinson doesn't think these expansion trends will last too much longer, pointing to the booming food delivery market as a serious challenge to eating out. He says: "The current uncertainty across the country around inflation, interest rates and Brexit means that many more operators’ margins will be squeezed so hard that they will have to close."
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