Greene King toasts Christmas Day opening

The company, which operates 2,400 pubs, restaurants and hotels, sold 365,000 Christmas meals in December – its highest ever number – after many outlets put on special menus for the festive period. Its sites, which include the Hungry Horse, Old English Inns and Loch Fyne Restaurant brands, took £1.7m in food sales on Christmas Day as more people ate out on the big day, which was also a record.

The figure was boosted after it opened 800 pubs on Christmas Day.

Loch Fyne has restaurants in Leeds, York and Sheffield. Like-for-like food sales at Greene King’s 950-strong retail division were up 17 per cent in the week before Christmas, driving another improvement in its performance.

Chief executive Rooney Anand said yesterday: “It is clear that even in these difficult times customers still look for enjoyment and some respite from the financial pressures they are facing. Across the UK, the pub becomes the heart of the community during Christmas.”

The strong food sales helped retail like-for-like sales increase 8.2 per cent in the seven weeks to January 15, up from 4.4 per cent in the previous six weeks.

However, the figures were flattered by weaker comparisons from the previous year when the snow kept customers at home.

Food now accounts for about 40 per cent of retail sales, reflecting a nationwide trend that has seen pubs serve more meals to compensate for falling demand for beer in the wake of the smoking ban.

Richard Taylor, an analyst at Barclays Capital, said: “This may seem a resilient performance in the context of some mixed trading statements from consumer facing companies, but Greene King has now consistently reported good like-for-like sales growth in its retail business for almost three years.”