INSIGHTS - OCTOBER 2024

UK Food and Drink Industry

UK Food and Drink Industry Information

The food and drink service industry includes serving or event catering activities to provide meals or drinks in restaurants, fast-food takeaways, pubs, bars, nightclubs, social clubs, cafeterias, ice cream vans, mobile food vans and market stalls.

Active Businesses

134,146

Annual Sales

£97bn +

Employees

1,766,267

Economic Contribution 

£35bn

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Location of Food and Drink Companies

Food and Drink Companies by Size

80% Micro

18% Small

1% Mid

0% Large

0% Mega

Food and Drink Companies by Age
Fastest Growing Food and Drink Companies

35% Declining

20% Healthy

20% Rapid

16% High

9% Low

Food and Drink Industry Competitive Environment - New Entrants vs Leavers

Food and Drink Industry Valuation

EBITDA Multiple

Data only available to Pomanda Pro subscribers.

Food and Drink Industry Valuation

Turnover Multiple

Data only available to Pomanda Pro subscribers.

Food and Drink Industry Valuation

Net Asset Multiple

Data only available to Pomanda Pro subscribers.

Note - from March 2020 multiples are calculated monthly, prior to this they were calculated on an annual basis.
UK Food and beverage service activities Industry Insights

There are 134,146 active Businesses in the UK with combined annual sales of £97 billion .

The Industry employs around 1,766,266 people and contributes £35 billion to the economy.

The most popular location for Food and Drink companies is London with 32,742 and the fewest are located in Northern Ireland with 2,523.

The largest Food and Drink company is Whitbread Group Plc with a turnover of £3bn. 80% of the industry is comprised of Micro companies with only 1% Mid companies.

6% of the Food and Drink Industry is made up of 6% Mature but the majority are Startup businesses (40%) the oldest company is The Festiniog Railway Company founded in 1832.

Food and Drink industry has a number of high growth companies (16%), the fastest growing company is Oval Events Holdings Limited with a 3 year growth rate of 212%. Other fast growing companies include Piccolino Restaurants Limited (169%), Dnata Catering Uk Limited (158%) and Cgc Events Limited (157%).

The UK Food and Drink Industry’s valuation has been improving over the past 3 years with a current EBITDA multiple of 10.71x, Turnover multiple of 1.50x and a Net Asset multiple of 2.93x.