Johnson: Tough times for restaurant trade
Food and drink
10th December 2008
Businesses in the restaurant industry are having to navigate particularly turbulent financial waters at present, according to one high profile investor.
Luke Johnson, who chairs the Patisserie Valerie and Giraffe restaurant chains, believes there are "ominous signs" which owners would be advised not to ignore.
Increases in rent, rates, utility bills, wages and food will all have an effect, while the drop in oil prices will be offset by the weakness of sterling, he wrote in his column for the Financial Times.
However, Mr Johnson, who also chairs Channel 4, said that those who run a "tight ship" with a strong, differentiated concept will be best equipped to emerge from the financial downturn.
"Wait to see the strong become stronger and some of the weak fall by the wayside," he remarked.
Meanwhile, another leisure sector - the pub trade - is said by one firm to be in better shape than often reported.
In a financial report, Brulines said that many of the pubs that are expected to close in the next two years would, in normal conditions, have closed within five years anyway. 
