Restaurant Fit-Out Cost in 2026: What a Restaurant, Bar or Pub Costs per m²

Restaurant fit-out cost per m² in 2026

Laxton's NRM Building Price Book 2026 publishes approximate rates per m² for each building type. We use them because they are dated and in print, not guessed. They are UK averages, ex VAT, fees and contingency.

Laxton's lists the refurbishment band under public houses. We apply it to restaurants and bars too, because the work is alike: strip-out, services, bar, finishes.

The kitchen rate is per m² of kitchen, not of the whole venue. London usually prices above a UK average. For hotels, see our breakdown of hotel refurbishment cost.

A worked example: 200 m² with a 40 m² kitchen

Take a 200 m² former restaurant with a new 40 m² kitchen. Refurbishing the whole floor at £1,350 to £1,900 per m² comes to £270,000 to £380,000. The kitchen adds £108,000 to £128,000.

That is £378,000 to £508,000 ex VAT, or about £1,890 to £2,540 per m² overall. With 20% VAT, the total is £453,600 to £609,600. This is our calculation. It adds the kitchen on top of the floor rate, the way our calculator does, so it errs on the safe side.

Our nearest figure is a spa, not a restaurant

The closest project we can show you in figures is Medusa, a spa and beauty clinic on Beauchamp Place, Knightsbridge. It covers 180 sq m over four floors, with design, strip-out and fit-out, built in 17 weeks for £460K.

That is about £2,560 per m², our calculation. A spa has no commercial kitchen and no extract to the roof, so it is not a restaurant benchmark. It does show what design, wet services and premium finishes cost on a prime London street.

What the price covers and what it leaves out

The rates price the build. Laxton's excludes contingency, external works, loose furniture and fittings, professional fees and VAT. The kitchen rate is the exception: it includes the catering equipment.

Usually inside the build rate:

• Strip-out and making good
• Power, lighting, ventilation, water and drainage
• Floors, walls, ceilings and decoration
• The bar, servery and fixed joinery
• Washrooms and back of house
• Fire alarm and emergency lighting

Usually outside it:

• VAT at 20%
• Loose furniture, crockery and smallwares
• Design and other fees, if appointed separately
• Licences, registration and the landlord's surveyor
• External ductwork and new structural openings
• Contingency for what the strip-out uncovers

Ask every contractor to show these as separate lines. Then you compare like with like. A landlord contribution can offset part of the build, so agree it before you sign.

As restaurant fit-out contractors, we price from your floor plan and equipment list. So the lines outside the build are visible before you commit, not after.

The kitchen and extraction drive the budget

The kitchen is the most expensive room per m² in any restaurant. The extract system decides most of that figure, and it is set by what you cook.

1. The extract route. A short duct to roof level costs far less than a long internal run or a low-level discharge.
2. The odour control level. EMAQ+ guidance sets it by cooking type and how close the neighbours are.
3. Make-up air. The air the extract removes must be replaced, and in winter it needs heating.
4. The gas interlock. HSE expects the gas to shut off if the mechanical ventilation fails, under BS 6173.
5. Fire protection. Fryers, grills and woks need protection over the cooking line, often set by your insurer.
6. Grease management. Fats, oils and grease must not reach the public sewer, so plan a trap or dosing unit.

Our restaurant kitchen fit-out guide covers extraction, gas and consents in detail. Here the point is cost: agree the menu before the kitchen is priced.

Starting unit and venue type change the figure

Two units of the same size can sit at opposite ends of the band. What you inherit matters as much as what you build.

1. Second-generation restaurant. Existing extract, gas and drainage cut the bill, if they suit your menu and pass a survey.
2. Cat A shell. You pay for every service from scratch: supply, drainage, extract route and washrooms.
3. Former shop or office. No change of use is needed within Class E, but the services rarely exist.
4. Basement unit. The extract has further to travel to the roof, and escape routes cost more to form.

Restaurants and cafés sit in Class E, under E(b). Pubs, wine bars and other drinking establishments are outside it, as are hot food takeaways. So a bar in a former shop needs planning permission for the use, and that cost comes before the build.

Café, restaurant, bar or pub

A café with light cooking sits at the low end of the band. A full restaurant kitchen moves the total most. A bar spends on the servery, cellar and back-bar joinery instead.

An older pub needs a bigger contingency, because defects hide in the fabric until it is opened up. Our pub refurbishment guide covers what to expect.

Refitting while you trade

Phased works cost more per day but can cost far less than weeks of lost takings. Drake's on Savile Row is a shop, not a restaurant. We refitted its 120 sq m flagship in 12 weeks for about £410K, and the store stayed open throughout.

Costs outside the build

These lines rarely appear in a fit-out quote. Budget for them anyway, because each one can hold up the opening.

The licence fee doubles in band D and triples in band E for premises mainly selling alcohol to drink on site. Hot food or drink between 11pm and 5am also needs a licence.

The landlord's consent is a licence for alterations. Ask early who pays the landlord's surveyor. Capital allowances on commercial property can return part of the spend through tax relief.

Budgeting a restaurant fit-out in five steps

A budget you can take to a lender or a landlord comes from five steps, in this order.

1. Split the floor into front of house, kitchen and back of house.
2. Price the whole floor at £1,350 to £1,900 per m², at the low end only for a sound second-generation unit.
3. Add the kitchen at £2,700 to £3,200 per m² of kitchen.
4. Add the lines outside the build: VAT, licences, utilities, furniture and fees.
5. Hold a contingency, larger for older buildings, until a survey fixes the figure.

A band is enough to decide whether a unit is worth pursuing. A fixed figure needs a survey of the extract route, the supplies and the landlord's terms. We take on projects from £100,000. Send the floor plan and the unit address, and discuss your project with us before you sign.

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