The Atrium of the new NoMad venue in London Thirty thousand jobs gone. Lost sales of £53 billion. Up to 70% of restaurants forecast to close. Hospitality looks like an infinitely less appetising investment than pharmaceuticals right now. “The pandemic has been absolutely catastrophic for the hospitality sector,” admits Josh Leon, a commercial property advisor specialising in central London restaurants at global real estate experts Colliers International. “But there is optimism. Fundamentally, behind all the doom and gloom, there is an underlying confidence in London and its cultural and business standing in the world.” Despite the double whammy of Brexit and coronavirus, the big money on the international restaurant scene continues to pour into prime London postcodes. Leon cites New York import Buvette, a Notting Hill bistro for which Colliers handled the letting, as an example of an international restaurant group that struck a deal during the first lockdown last spring.