Pubs and restaurants toast sales growth

Managed pub and restaurant groups in Britain have recorded a sixth consecutive month of sales growth, new data has found. Sales have risen by 1.4% on the same month last year, according to findings from the latest Coffer CGA Business Tracker, which collates figures from operators including Whitbread and Liberation Group. Like-for-like sales in London increased last month, with outlets in the M25 improving by 3.1%. Outside of the M25, sales were up by 1.2%. Both pubs and restaurants outperformed bars, which suffered a 13% decline in sales, marking a third successive month of negative figures. The Times (£)