Effects of the recession have turned us into a cafe society

On average, a new one has opened every month in the city centre this year. Experts say redundancy in other industries is leading people to open up new businesses with their pay-off packages -- with cafes a popular choice even among those with no experience in the business.

The figures are no surprise for Burak Soyusinmez. It’s been another hot and hectic lunchtime at his new Cafe Mediterraneo in Glasgow’s West End.

Since it opened six weeks ago, business at the cafe and sandwich bar has been growing fast. He also runs the Alla Turca restaurant in Pitt Street and over the last few months has seen the restaurant business in the city suffer with more and more premises shutting down.

Mr Soyusinmez realised the trend was towards takeaway and decided to open Mediterraneo to take advantage even though he has never run a cafe before. The restaurant business is falling down,” he said. “But the cafe business is increasing. Takeaway is going up and up.

“People are going to cafes and takeaways because it’s cheaper. They are eating more takeaway than sitting in and I believe it’s because of the recession. It was not like this a year ago.”

The recession has had another positive effect: Mr Soyusinmez got a great deal on his premises on Byres Road -- two years ago, it would have cost double what he paid.

In a recession, any industry showing nearly 8% growth is remarkable. But the research from the Local Data Company

shows the number of cafes and takeaways increasing at that rate.

And it is the small independents such as Cafe Mediterraneo, those with fewer than five outlets, which are increasing their share to nearly half the market.

Big takeaway chains have also grown. Across the UK, Domino’s, Subway and Pret a Manger have all seen huge increases, with in the number of outlets they have increasing by almost a quarter. Many of these are being run as small businesses themselves.

James Moss, from investment specialist Curzon Investment Property, said that the recession had meant customers opting for cheaper choices.

“Domino’s and Subway’s franchise model has allowed them to be pretty recession proof, and many individual businessmen have found them to be sturdy investments, as these figures show. Clearly Britons are also shunning posh business lunches and choosing instead to head to Pret for a sandwich.”

Mr Soyusinmez says that even though the takeaway business is doing well, it is still a tough market.

“Even in the takeaway we have to offer special deals because around us there are far too many other premises and we have to compete. It’s still tough.”

But as Mr Soyusinmez has experienced, as the takeaways have flourished, restaurants have suffered. Figures this year showed the amount we spend eating out fell in 2008/9 for the first time in 40 years.

Miles Quest, spokesman for the Restaurant Association, says most restaurants have seen a drop in customers this year of about 10%.

Mr Soyusinmez said: “We have had to provide value-added offers at the restaurant rather than a la carte. We are having to lower prices.”

In the takeaway market, he believes independents are doing well because of their small size.

“We can control all the buying, but the big chains have a high level of staff. We have four people here: a chef and three staff.”

Mr Soyusinmez believes the restaurant market will recover, but that it will take a couple of years. Until then, he and his staff at Cafe Mediterraneo will have to rely on our growing taste for takeaway.

Appetites for success

The number of fast-food and takeaway outlets in Britain’s biggest 10 cities increased by 8.2% to 1456 over the last 12 months.

Glasgow showed the third biggest gain after London and Manchester: the number of outlets increased by 13 to 94.

Across all 705 town centres surveyed, the biggest mover was Subway, which increased by 25.9% to 734 units.

Burger King has closed more than a tenth of its outlets in the 10 cities.