What is contract furniture? Furniture designed and manufactured for Commercial installation, specifically in the supply of restaurant furniture, hotel furniture, bar furniture and cafe furniture. Cruise Liners and Ferry's, offices, waiting rooms, lobbies. Etc.
The Contract Furniture and Furnishings market in the United Kingdom is estimated to total around EUR 2.3 billion, at retail prices. Hotels and Hospitality (including bars, restaurants and other leisure) alone account for almost 50% of total contract demand.
The Contract segment is expected to have significant prospects for future growth. It is a transversal business in the world of furniture, because it involves all types of products, from upholstered furniture to bedrooms, from seating to lamps, and from office to bathroom, kitchen and outdoor furniture. In the UK there are approximately 500 companies, mainly dealing with furniture and lighting, that operate in this market segment. About 90,000 people among Architects and Designers are main vehicles for the UK Contract sector's business. A relevant number of contractors, wholesalers and retailers are also active in this segment.
Areas are Hotels and Hospitality - including Restaurants, Bar and Leisure, property market,
The recession has proved to be a considerable force for the UK eating out market: there was a 32% rise in Restaurant businesses going to the wall in 2008 whilst consumer research for this report has found that a quarter of consumers (mostly families) state that the recession has had a major impact on their eating out habits, forcing them to reduce both frequency of visit and expenditure. It is this reduction in cash flow which has been so deadly for businesses with heavy debt structures.
However, it is not all doom and gloom for the market as some players have been well positioned to even benefit from the current economic climate: e.g. Domino's continues to meet demands for convenience as well as tapping into those consumers who are trading down, whilst the low-cost pub operator, JD Wetherspoon's has also posted positive sales. Indeed, consumer research shows that only around one in ten consumers are picking up more in-home meal deals (e.g. M&S Dine in for £10) instead of eating out. Furthermore, around one in five adults state that they have been unaffected by the economic downturn, whilst a further one in five state that they have felt the effects but that they're pretty manageable and have therefore not really altered their eating out habits.
There is no getting away from the fact that the recession has forced the eating out market to contract, and with operators increasing reliance on the discount culture there is expected to be further damage to the market going forward. However, eating out is now such an established part of the consumers lifestyles that going out (e.g. cinema, pub) and dining out remain consumers top two spending priorities after bill payments, bringing emphasis to the point that 'cutting back does not mean cutting out.'
UK and U.S. manufacturers and supermarkets have recognized that consumers are being lured by value products as cooking meals at home becomes the new eating out.
In the UK, the Office for National Statistics revealed that the nation's shopping basket contains ingredients like Parmesan cheese, double cream and free range eggs. However, the rise in popularity of the rotisserie chicken indicates that while shoppers are willing to cook, they want convenience foods from big name supermarkets. The Restaurant Industry has faced five consecutive quarters of traffic declines through to September 2009. Now reports are suggesting the industry will remain weak at least through the first half of 2010, only starting to turn positive in the second half of 2010.
"Historically, the restaurant industry neither leads the economy into or out of periods of economic downturns," said Bonnie Riggs, NPD's Restaurant Industry Analyst and author of the report 'Restaurant Industry...What to Expect When Economic Recovery Begins'. "This recession is generally believed to be more severe than those in recent history, and this time the industry not only realized traffic losses, consumer spending declined as well. This is first time since NPD began tracking that the industry realized a fall off in dollars spent at Restaurants." The report blames high unemployment, low consumer confidence, tightened credit, lower grocery store prices, and other factors which have taken their toll on customer spending. In the quarter ending September 2009, Restaurant traffic declined by -4 percent compared to the same time a year ago.
According to a recent NPD foodservice survey, consumers believe the economy is beginning to improve or, at the very least, is not going to get any worse' "Consumers have been hurt worse financially in this recession," says Riggs. "It's just going to take a while before they feel comfortable spending again."
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