Separate reports have shown that while 10 per cent of the restaurants in the UK capital closed down due to bankruptcy last year, a record 135 new restaurants opened their doors to diners in the same 12 months. Analysts believe that second best is no longer good enough and that the restaurants that are disappearing from the streets of London are being replaced by more professionally run, higher quality establishments.
Peter Harden, co-editor of the Harden's London Restaurants, said: "Fifteen years ago, it was a fact universally acknowledged that the food in London was rubbish. Since then, it has carved itself a niche at the very top of the gourmet capitals. The restaurant revolution is set to run and run. In practically every respect, London today is an incomparably more interesting city to eat out in than it was 10 years ago. For quality and range, New York is now the only serious competitor."
For the catering supplier to the capital, the unprecedented number of closures represents a challenge, but the 12 per cent rise in new openings an opportunity. The evidence suggests that the London restaurant scene is permanently in revolution, requiring a proactive approach from the leading suppliers.
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