All MCA Insight articles in April 2020
View all stories from this issue.
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News
Le Pain Quotidien enters administration
The Belgian coffee chain, suffering from reduced footfall in London, is understood to have closed seven sites across the capital
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News
TRG announces £340m debt package
The Restaurant Group has agreed a £220m Term Loan Facility and a £120m Revolving Credit Facility with its existing lenders
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Interviews
Uber Eats ‘as strong as ever’
UK general manager Matthew Price says moves by Honest Burgers, Joe & The Juice and PizzaExpress’ to join Uber Eats is a “vote of confidence” in the platform.
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Interviews
Alasdair Murdoch: High street ‘over’ without rent compromise
High street operators cannot be expected to pay pre-covid-19 rents when only open for delivery, Burger King UK CEO Alasdair Murdoch has told MCA.
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News
Wolstencroft: ‘Without certainty on rent and social distancing we can’t move forward’
The industry urgently needs some clarity from Government on rent and social distancing measures before it can consider moving forward, Martin Wolstencroft has told MCA.
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News
Pret to open another 20 shops in London on Friday
Pret will reopen 20 more shops in London on Friday, following a successful trial where it reopened ten shops in the capital. As before, all the outlets will be open for collection and delivery only. Pret said since reopening ten shops on 16 April it had “found a way to operate shops safely and in line with government guidance”.
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News
Rent payments biggest industry challenge with ‘no one route forward’
Rent payments are the biggest immediate challenge facing the industry, but operators are split in their view of the most viable solution, CGA’s latest Business Confidence Survey has suggested.
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Interviews
What it’s like to operate in lockdown part 3: Burger King
Burger King UK opened a further eight sites for delivery yesterday, with more to follow in the coming weeks. Discussing the move, CEO Alasdair Murdoch tells MCA how the company has developed a new safety-first operating system, and why being early puts the brand on the front foot against its competitive rivals.
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News
Seven Dials launches online initiative and delivery service
Seven Dials landlord, Shaftesbury, has launched an online initiative to keep consumers connected to the site through the lockdown period.
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News
Industry sees 21.3% sales drop in first quarter
The hospitality industry saw sales decline by 21.3% in the first quarter of 2020, new figures from the UK Hospitality Quarterly Tracker reveal.
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News
Deliveroo to make 367 redundancies, furloughs 50
Deliveroo is set to make 367 employees redundant as it struggles with demand during the coronavirus crisis.
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News
Wetherspoon raises £141m
JD Wetherspoon has raised funds of £141m through the placing of 15,668,430 new ordinary shares, which it will use to secure the business through the coronavirus crisis.
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News
UKH: Rent resolution cannot be left to the market
Government will have to intervene “to bring both sides together” if a long-term equitable agreement is to be reached between landlords and businesses on rent, Kate Nicholls, UK Hospitality CEO has said.
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News
TGI’s to trial ‘kerbside’ click-and-collect with delivery relaunch
TGI Friday’s will trial an all-new click-and-collect service next week as it explores “new revenue streams to help make the business viable” through the coronavirus crisis, chief executive Robert B Cook has told MCA.
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News
KFC to have 100 delivery sites open next week
KFC has announced plans to open a further 80 sites for delivery, which will bring its UK total to 100 by Monday next week.
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News
Stephens: ‘Adapt delivery to family demographic’
With the delivery demographic changing amid the coronavirus crisis, operators looking to adapt should develop a family offering, Brandon Stephens, Tortilla founder, told attendees at MCA’s online event, The Conversation.
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News
Pret: What it's like to operate in a lockdown
There are three main reasons for reopening. Firstly, we wanted to find a way to support the NHS and essential workers during this difficult period. Since we temporarily closed, we’ve received several requests from hospitals and healthcare workers wanting access to freshly prepared food. That’s why we’ve initially chosen Pret shops located near hospitals to reopen for takeaway and delivery only.
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News
Paul: What it’s like to operate in a lockdown
We re-opened because, fundamentally, we’ve been operating as a bakery for 130 years offering bread to the local community, and we felt we needed to try and maintain that heritage. We’ve added to that by offering essentials like milk, and we’ve recently started adding flour and yeast, because there are shortages of that. We’re really trying to make the essentials available for people struggling to access supermarket delivery slots.
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News
Government looks to extend JRS for hospitality
Government is “actively looking” at extending the Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme for hospitality but would like to take other areas of the economy off the scheme where possible, Kate Nicholls, UK Hospitality CEO has said.
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News
Bridgepoint sets up £3m covid-19 hardship fund
Bridgepoint, the backer of Burger King, Azzurri Group, Market Halls and Deliveroo, has set up a £3m hardship fund to support charities and communities affected by Covid-19.