Frankie & Benny's-owner boosted by higher consumer confidence The higher spend per head partly reflected price increases of 1.5pc, which were added to menus last year, but Britons are also "trading up" and are prepared to splash out a bit more, he added. The Restaurant Group's remarks echo a consumer survey published by researchers at GfK on Thursday, which showed consumer confidence rose to its highest level in August for almost four years. Analysts at JPMorgan Cazenove described the results as "reassuring" and slightly ahead of forecasts, although July's heatwave had an impact on sales at the start of the second half. The company also faces tough comparisons in the final three months of the year against the fourth quarter of 2012, when the release of James Bond film Skyfall resulted in bumper sales at restaurants close to cinemas. "We have to acknowledge that Skyfall was absolutely outstanding in terms of it broke all box office records and we had queues running out of the doors in the restaurants," said Mr Page. Cinema releases in the second half of this year are "unlikely to match" Skyfall, he admitted, although the company could receive a boost from the latest film in The Hobbit series and Wolverine. However, the Restaurant Group only has to achieve a 2pc increase in like-for-like sales for the rest of the year to meet City forecasts for the full year. Like-for-like sales grew by 5pc in the first half. The company, which will have created 800-1,000 jobs by the end of 2013 through opening a further 30-35 sites, has increased the interim dividend by 17pc to 5.25p a share.