For consumers caught in a new age of austerity we seem to be ordering in a great many pizzas – and burgers and buckets of fried chicken. In the early days of the downturn, some imagined Britons would return to the kitchen – or even to The Good Life, the self-sufficiency sitcom fantasy of a recession 30 years ago – as cash-strapped families saved money. But more striking than any revival in home cooking, has been the rise in home delivery.

Domino’s Pizza, the UK’s biggest pizza delivery service, said this week that pre-tax profit rose 25 per cent last year. KFC is proliferating thousands of extra jobs. Last month McDonald’s reported global comparable sales growth and an increase in operating income for 2008. Its comparable sales rose in January too. Fast food has staying power.