Sector study · FHRS data
Restaurant & café density across England: where the market is concentrated
118,217 restaurant & café establishments across England — county share rankings and where the FHRS market concentrates (all 48 ceremonial counties of England).
118,217
Restaurants & cafés
23.5%
Share of England total
48
Counties
Greater London
Leader by volume
26,362
Where out-of-home dining concentrates in England
Restaurants and cafés remain the core FHRS sector for B2B sales in food & hospitality. Across 48 counties, 118,217 establishments map to the restaurants & cafés sector — 23.5% of all tracked FHRS premises on FoodProspect (503,426 in total).
Absolute volume and local share tell different stories. Greater London has the most restaurants and cafés (26,362 establishments), while City of London shows the highest concentration (49.0% of county FHRS premises). Teams covering several counties should prioritise those where both volume and share match their target customers.
Restaurant & café establishments by county
- Restaurants & cafés
Leaders vs under-represented counties
High-share counties (City of London, 49.0%) tend to be dense urban and commuter areas where dining out-of-home is structurally larger. Lower-share counties such as Rutland (16.2%) may still offer large absolute volumes — check the volume chart before ruling out a county.
For indexed sector×county pages (top sectors per county), open e.g. restaurants in Kent or Greater Manchester. Subscribe to Live Watch by sector to track restaurants & cafés across England — from £19/month.
Restaurant share of county FHRS premises (%)
- Share of county (%)
| County | Restaurants | County total | Share % | Vol. rank | Share rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater London | 26,362 | 79,736 | 33.1% | #1 | #3 |
| Greater Manchester | 6,251 | 25,208 | 24.8% | #2 | #9 |
| West Midlands | 5,204 | 24,391 | 21.3% | #3 | #24 |
| West Yorkshire | 4,525 | 20,930 | 21.6% | #4 | #22 |
| Essex | 3,543 | 15,292 | 23.2% | #5 | #14 |
| Kent | 3,436 | 16,785 | 20.5% | #6 | #27 |
| Hampshire | 3,005 | 14,533 | 20.7% | #7 | #26 |
| South Yorkshire | 2,939 | 11,753 | 25.0% | #8 | #8 |
| Lancashire | 2,738 | 14,289 | 19.2% | #9 | #36 |
| Devon | 2,676 | 12,029 | 22.2% | #10 | #17 |
| Merseyside | 2,540 | 11,521 | 22.0% | #11 | #18 |
| North Yorkshire | 2,386 | 9,294 | 25.7% | #12 | #7 |
| Surrey | 2,302 | 9,424 | 24.4% | #13 | #11 |
| East Sussex | 2,290 | 8,319 | 27.5% | #14 | #5 |
| Tyne and Wear | 2,114 | 9,211 | 23.0% | #15 | #15 |
| Hertfordshire | 2,107 | 9,864 | 21.4% | #16 | #23 |
| Lincolnshire | 2,025 | 11,160 | 18.1% | #17 | #42 |
| Leicestershire | 2,010 | 9,215 | 21.8% | #18 | #20 |
| Nottinghamshire | 1,943 | 9,758 | 19.9% | #19 | #35 |
| Dorset | 1,906 | 8,727 | 21.8% | #20 | #21 |
| Gloucestershire | 1,893 | 8,059 | 23.5% | #21 | #13 |
| Somerset | 1,845 | 9,685 | 19.1% | #22 | #38 |
| County Durham | 1,838 | 10,303 | 17.8% | #23 | #43 |
| Norfolk | 1,817 | 9,038 | 20.1% | #24 | #32 |
| Cornwall | 1,708 | 5,515 | 31.0% | #25 | #4 |
| Staffordshire | 1,661 | 9,477 | 17.5% | #26 | #45 |
| Berkshire | 1,642 | 7,351 | 22.3% | #27 | #16 |
| Derbyshire | 1,607 | 9,535 | 16.9% | #28 | #46 |
| Cambridgeshire | 1,573 | 7,879 | 20.0% | #29 | #34 |
| Cheshire | 1,546 | 8,721 | 17.7% | #30 | #44 |
| West Sussex | 1,523 | 7,962 | 19.1% | #31 | #39 |
| Bristol | 1,509 | 4,472 | 33.7% | #32 | #2 |
| Oxfordshire | 1,501 | 6,326 | 23.7% | #33 | #12 |
| Buckinghamshire | 1,445 | 7,143 | 20.2% | #34 | #29 |
| Northamptonshire | 1,441 | 7,121 | 20.2% | #35 | #30 |
| Suffolk | 1,416 | 6,998 | 20.2% | #36 | #31 |
| Cumbria | 1,306 | 5,929 | 22.0% | #37 | #19 |
| Shropshire | 1,207 | 4,634 | 26.0% | #38 | #6 |
| Warwickshire | 1,130 | 5,333 | 21.2% | #39 | #25 |
| East Riding of Yorkshire | 1,021 | 5,502 | 18.6% | #40 | #40 |
| Wiltshire | 995 | 5,931 | 16.8% | #41 | #47 |
| Bedfordshire | 980 | 5,116 | 19.2% | #42 | #37 |
| City of London | 905 | 1,847 | 49.0% | #43 | #1 |
| Worcestershire | 848 | 4,648 | 18.2% | #44 | #41 |
| Northumberland | 705 | 3,515 | 20.1% | #45 | #33 |
| Isle of Wight | 416 | 1,700 | 24.5% | #46 | #10 |
| Herefordshire | 362 | 1,784 | 20.3% | #47 | #28 |
| Rutland | 75 | 463 | 16.2% | #48 | #48 |
Export this data for your area
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Live Watch — Sector plan from £19/month →Frequently asked questions
- How is restaurant & café density measured?
- We count FHRS establishments mapped to the restaurants-cafes sector (FSA BusinessType: Restaurant/Café/Canteen) and divide by all FHRS establishments in each county. Percentages reflect local FHRS premises, not the general population.
- Which county has the most restaurants and cafés?
- Greater London has 26,362 restaurant & café establishments — the largest absolute volume on FoodProspect.
- Which county has the highest restaurant share?
- City of London has the highest concentration: 49.0% of local FHRS establishments are restaurants & cafés.
- Does this include Companies House data?
- No — this study uses FHRS hygiene ratings only. Company registrations are covered in a separate article on using FHRS and Companies House together.