Britain’s economy is hot but not overheating
Consumers bought a lot of goods last year. Now it’s the turn of services
THE GRAND reopening of Nando’s, a chicken-oriented restaurant, in Stevenage’s Leisure Park on May 17th was a sedate affair. There was no ribbon-cutting and no long queue. But the youngish crowd was happy to be eating indoors for the first time since December, when the government ordered restaurants to close. Around a third of the indoor tables were occupied, more than would normally be expected on a Monday lunchtime. The staff do not think the restaurant will be full again until the multiplex cinema and bowling alley reopen later in the summer. But a busier than normal chain restaurant in a leisure park which currently has no leisure activities suggests that Britons are willing to go out and spend.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Hot but not overheating”
Britain May 22nd 2021
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- Why the best farmland in Britain has become cheap
- Britain’s civil service remains upper-middle class
- A covid-19 inquiry will scrutinise the British state
- How to do foreign policy in a multi-ethnic society
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