The rate of restaurants closing in London has rocketed by 70% over the past 12 months, reaching an all-time figure of 112.
The figure, in the new Harden's London Restaurants guide, reveals the severest year ever for London restaurants, worse than during the early 1990's recession and worse than the previous record of 66 closures in the 12 months to August 2002.
Co-editor Peter Harden said: "Even allowing for the fact that the London restaurant scene is much bigger now than it was in the early 1990's, the proportionate rate of closures is much higher than 10 years ago."
"Our figures make clear that this has been a tremendously tough year for the capital's restaurateurs."
David Harrold, southern director for the Restaurant Association, was unconcerned at the figures. He said: "There are always openings and closings in the restaurant business."
The Harden's guide also reports record numbers of restaurant openings for the past 12 months.
Some 135 new restaurants are listed in London, an increase of 10% over last year and evidence that the capital's restaurant scene is transforming faster than ever.
Harden said: "Life is tough currently for London's restaurateurs, but the combination of high-quality openings and more instant punishment for failure is creating one of the most dynamic restaurant markets in the world. For quality and range, New York is now the capital's only serious competitor.!
The 13th edition of Harden's London Restaurants is published on 16 September.
Capital closures
Some of the high-profile closures in London inthe past 12 months.
* La Chaumière
50 Cheyne Walk, SW3
Cuisine: French
Opened in Chelsea to unenthusiastic reviews and, as predicted by restaurant Fay Maschler, met an untimely end, closing within a year.
* The Marquee
16 Parkfield Street, N1
Cuisine: American
This high-profile restaurant was set up in August 2002 by chef Garry Hollihead, restaurateur Mark Fuller and Dave Stewart of 1980s pop group the Eurythmics. It went into receivership in less than five months.
* Vong
The Berkeley hotel, Wilton Place, SW1
Cuisine: Thai-French
In business since 1995, Vong was given the push after the proposed renewal of the arrangement between the Savoy Group and Jean-Georges Vongerichten broke down.
By Jessica Gunn
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 21 - 27 August 2003