Diners in the United Kingdom are on track to spend £54.7 billion on eating out by 2017, a new report by the NPD Group has claimed.

With the British restaurant and hospitality sector in good health, this news comes reinforces the notion that the industry is in rude health.

Last year, the total spent on eating out totalled £52.2 billion, much higher than many experts were predicting back in 2014.

“It is good to see that there was a bigger improvement in 2015 than anticipated, with the actual performance of 1.3 er cent visit growth against our prediction of 1.1 per cent,” said NPD’s Director of Foodservice for the UK, Cyril Lavenant

The NPD Group has also foretold that this year will be a strong year, with restaurants, pubs and takeaways primed to capitalise on a plethora of sporting events in the coming months.

In this calendar year, sports fans will be able to feast on the Rio Olympics, the UEFA European Championships, as well as the usual glut of football, rugby and cricket.

After gazing into their crystal ball, NPD expects that the total number of independent visits to eateries this year will top 11.4 billion, driving spending up to £53.3 billion.

With year-on-year growth projected for the lucrative and competitive dining industry, what areas should restaurant managers prioritise?

Coffee

In 2015, our addiction to coffee generated an impressive £2.17 billion and this is only going to rise.

Research by Allegra suggests that the value of the UK coffee shop market will be in excess of £15 billion by 2020, with around 30,000 capitalising on our love for lattes.

Stand out from the crowd with these British-made espresso machines.

Bigger and Better Burgers

The death of the burger? You must be joking.

Sales of burgers reached £4.2 billion last year and NPD believes that our long-standing love affair with the ultimate feel-good food will continue for another few years at least.

Flipping heck! Our range of freestanding and countertop griddles from Blue Seal starts at just £979.