People are undoubtedly beginning to tighten the purse strings as the UK economy moves ever nearer to recession.
High street retailers have been feeling the pinch for a number of months now as consumers cut their spending on all manner of purchases, from eating out to electrical goods. The rising cost of food and household bills means there isn't much choice to do otherwise.
A report by PricewaterhouseCoopers out today predicted it would be "a survival of the fittest" among retailers and leisure operators as consumer confidence plummets and fears over job security rise.
If that indeed is the case, then the fast food retailers, ironically, seem to be shaping up as the fittest of them all.
McDonald's has revealed plans to hire an extra 4,000 staff over the next three months - its biggest recruitment drive since the turn of the century. And sales of Dominos pizza have rocketed as more people choose to eat at home rather than dine out.
So at a time when many employers - particularly in financial services - are cutting jobs as the recession begins to bite and demand for staff has fallen at its fastest rate for nearly seven years, fast food retailing seems to be a growth sector.
Does this mean we are about to see hoardes of ex-City workers serving up Big Macs and fries or pootling about on pizza delivery scooters? Probably not.
Perhaps that the answer for hard-up Brits struggling with rising shopping bills. Get a job at McDonald's and you've got lunch and dinner sorted.
