Only 15% of board-level directors in the industry were upbeat about market prospects compared with 75% who responded positively back in January, according to CGA Peach’s Business Leaders Survey.
Concerns around consumer confidence, rising product costs and staff availability were listed as the top worries for the sector’s senior executives.
Charlie Mitchell, senior consumer research manager at CGA Strategy, said: “Looking longer term, the picture is slightly brighter, but only slightly with 30% of operators optimistic about the market over the coming two years.”
However, 40% of leaders said they were pessimistic for the short and long term. When it came to their own businesses, 65% believed Brexit would negatively affect their operations.
Decreased business expectations
Mitchell added: “Not a single operator has increased their expectations after the referendum, either in the short or long term – 44% have decreased business expectations for the rest of 2016, with 3% lowering forecasts for the next two years.”
Roughly two thirds said they believed consumers would go out less frequently over the next half year, with 48% predicting that customers would spend less when they went out.
The vote had also affected hospitality businesses' willingness to invest and acquire further sites.
Rising costs
With rising raw material costs and falling customer confidence named as the leading short-term concerns, it was not surprising that staff training and engagement were the top areas in which operators were likely to concentrate investment, Mitchell added.
Just over a quarter, 27%, said they were now less likely to consider an acquisition and 21% were planning to reduce investment in their businesses. Fifty per cent said they did not intend to change their business plans.
Only 4% said they were more likely to invest and 5% said they planned to actively increase investment.