The report, by AlixPartners and CGA Peach, says this segment has grown by 47.5% in the last five years.
The monitor also showed continued growth in the number of managed restaurants – up by 4.9% in the 12 months to September.
Peter Martin, vice president of CGA Peach, said: “The fortunes of pubs and bars that are led by drink, down by 18.1% in five years, make for a stark contrast. The collapse of suburban and rural drinking pubs is a thread that the media likes to follow, but the success of pub restaurants is a hugely positive one that tends to be overlooked.”
The headline figure of the report is that the country’s stock of licensed premises reduced by 1.2% over the year, to a little under 123,000.
While the total number of drink-led licensed premises fell 2.1%, the total of food-led venues was down just 0.4%.
The Brexit vote is cited as one reason for some operators taking a more cautious approach to expansion, while the rapid rise of delivery is highlighted as a driver of closures in the independent restaurant sector, particularly Indian and Chinese formats.
On the up
Looking at openings by regions, Manchester is highlighted as a hot spot with the number of licensed premises up 4.7% on the situation in September 2015, far outstripping the rise in London (+1.4%). Second on the list of fastest growing city centres is Worcester, which has grown 3.9%, although from a low base. Cardiff (+3.2%), Southampton (2.6%) and Oxford (2.4%) completed the top five.
Looking at the UK over a five-year period, Cardiff is top with a 25.9% rise, while the number of sites in Liverpool is up 21.6%.
Portsmouth takes reluctant top billing in the worst performing cities over the past five years, with an 18.4% drop, while Wolverhampton fell 16.7%.
AlixPartners managing director, Paul Hemming, said: “There is little doubt that the headwinds facing the UK eating and drinking out sector are going to make life more difficult in 2017.
“The issues are well documented and even the leading players are planning how to navigate through a number of years of consumer uncertainty and increasing costs.
"Despite these pressures, there remains cause for Christmas cheer."
The changing face of the British pub
He added: "For example, the changing face of the British pub, which has experienced a decade-long decline in wet-led numbers, has helped create an opportunity for pub operators across the value spectrum.
"CGA Peach data shows that larger pubcos have led when it comes to the sector’s “move to food”, with many successfully converting suboptimal wet-led units to food, typically in the value to mainstream end of the sector.
"Furthermore, a new wave of premium concepts, such as White Brasserie Company, Hippo and Seafood Pub Co, have capitalised on this supply of underperforming wet-led pubs to grow high quality food-led estates.
"The early success of such concepts suggests that pubs are an increasingly attractive home for restaurant operators, often engendering markedly higher customer satisfaction ratings relative to pure-play restaurant concepts.
“Whilst it is clear that eating out visits have plateaued and consumer confidence is expected to reduce, history has taught us that in more challenging economic times there is a flight to quality by consumers.
“For those operators which have continually invested in a high quality customer experience, the next 12 months will represent an opportunity to stand-out from the crowd in a growing segment of the UK leisure market.”