Some of the UK's leading restaurant chains and pub groups have seen like-for-like sales increase by 1.5 per cent in August, compared with the same period last year.

Figures for August, which have been revealed in the latest Coffer Peach Business Tracker, follow a 1.9 per cent and 1.4 per cent increase in July and June respectively. Total sales - including those from new openings - grew by 2.9 per cent compared with August 2009. However, like-for-like sales during August 2010 declined by 16.1 per cent, compared with July.

The monthly tracker figures - produced by Peach Factory in partnership with KPMG, UBS and Coffer Group - monitor the performance of 17 UK groups, including Whitbread, Tragus and Mitchells and Butlers. Peach Factory's Peter Martin said: "These latest figures suggest some stability as well as growth in the market, which is particularly benefiting the bigger and branded players."

Jonathan Leinster, head of European leisure and tobacco research at UBS, added: "We expect that when new menus are introduced this and next month, operators will engineer their food offering to incorporate price rises. This will be done to anticipate the January VAT rise, at least in the food mix of the businesses."