BusinessWeek:
The common perception is that Britain is a nation of fatties whose insatiable appetite for fast food is driving the rapid expansion of chains such as McDonald’s (MCD) and Burger King (BKC) on the high street. But in terms of outlet numbers, the real growth story is actually with chains perceived to have a healthy eating image.
Among the UK’s biggest fast-food chains, Subway grew its number of restaurants by 25.9 per cent to 734 in 2009, Domino’s (DPZ) ramped up its outlets by 19.8 per cent to 260, and Eat expanded its estate by 17.8 per cent to 86, according to the Local Data Company’s survey of 705 town centres. In the 10 biggest cities, fast-food outlets soared by 8.2 per cent to 1,456 premises, with London, Edinburgh and Glasgow leading the way.
Matthew Hopkinson, a director at the Local Data Company, said these chains had also been helped by the slump in commercial property prices and increased availability of sites during the recession.