Buoyant sales figures from Britain’s top restaurants have been met with confusion by hospitality recruiters.

Aggregated sales figures from 11 of the biggest pub and restaurant operators show that in January like-for-like figures were up 5.6% on January of last year, according to Peach Business Tracker, run in conjunction with KPMG and UBS.

Gary King, director at Collins King & Associates, told Recruiter:

“January is a quiet time for hospitality. The figures surprise me. It was probably the toughest January I have been involved in, in recruitment.”

Karen Richards, consultant at Anne Stewart Catering Recruitment, adds:

“It was similar to normal Januarys. It is normally a quieter month. In the next month, you will know how the market is going to go.”