All MCA Insight articles in April 2024
View all stories from this issue.
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LongreadsMass market meets speciality: the rise of the challenger coffee shop brands
In the latest in a series of immersive, innovation-focused long reads, MCA explores how an emerging generation of upscale coffee shop operators are looking to reshape the mainstream market
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NewsWhitbread: Hotel extensions ‘much more profitable’
CEO Dominic Paul discusses the strategic rationale behind the group’s plan to exit 126 branded restaurants and convert a further 112 into hotel rooms for its Premier Inn brand
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NewsJust Eat: Delivery becoming ‘entrenched’ among younger consumers
The delivery company has seen a boost during the breakfast and lunch day parts, and now has 1 million people using the platform for groceries, according to UK MD Claire Pointon
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NewsRevolution Bars Group raises £12.5m in open offer
The pub and bar group has postponed a general meeting originally scheduled for tomorrow to give it more time to explore all strategic options, which also include exploring a formal sales process
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NewsGreene King to invest £40m in new brewery
The development will see brewing of cask ale and craft beer move to a new, more sustainable facility in Bury St Edmunds from its 200-year-old Westgate site
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NewsIn pictures: Comptoir Libanais partners with Harrison for Southbank venue
The Lebanese-inspired restaurant group will open its 20th site in London this spring
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Analysis & InsightConsumers lean towards days out over nights out
Hospitality venues have seen an increase of £134m in spend during the afternoon compared to night time, according to payment technology provider Dojo
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NewsInquiry launched into hospitality staffing challenges
An All-Party Parliamentary Group inquiry into recruitment and retention has been launched to explore the reasons behind high vacancy rates, ask what more the sector can do, and make recommendations to government
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NewsApplebee’s sees ‘lots of cross-cultural overlap’ with UK
Dine Brands is looking to launch a dual-branded restaurant concept, combining bar and grill concept Applebee’s and pancake house chain IHOP
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NewsPunch acquires former Wear Inns portfolio
Punch Pubs & Co has added 24 former Wear Inns sites, located in the Northeast and Yorkshire, to its 1,300-strong estate
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InterviewsLoungers: ‘The intention is to carry on opening 35 sites a year’
The all-day concept has seen sales growth across day parts and categories as it looks to maintain its current rate of expansion, CEO Nick Collins tells MCA
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NewsHeart with Smart extends senior debt until 2027
The operator of Pizza Hut Restaurants and itsu franchises has also appointed Steve Packer, an existing member of the management team, as CFO, as Andy Platt steps into semi-retirement
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NewsFuller’s launches neurodiversity guide
Monique Samra, Fuller’s people experience manager, will discuss the new guide at MCA’s Pub Conference in June
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NewsWhitbread to exit 126 restaurants and convert 112 into hotel rooms
The Premier Inn operator will invest £500m in the plan, which will incur up to £100m in impairment charges and £25m in cash costs, and involve the loss of 1,500 job roles
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NewsLiberum: Loungers outperforming on multiple measures
Like-for-like sales growth, new openings, and cost control all exceeded expectations in FY24, while the scope for rollout “remains vast,” according to the analyst
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Analysis & InsightLeap in number of companies facing financial distress
The bars & restaurants sector has 1,479 businesses in critical financial distress, up from 1,073 last year, according to Begbies Traynor
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NewsMaven Leisure seeks to raise £2m via Growthdeck
The Ed Martin-led group is launching flagship Blackwood in Piccadilly Circus; a rooftop bar overlooking Trafalgar Square; a 14,000 sq ft site in Victoria; and has a further bar planned before the end of 2026
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Analysis & InsightFoodservice inflation falls below 10%
After two years of relentlessly high inflation, a fall into single digits in March brings some welcome respite, according to the CGA Prestige Foodservice Price Index (FPI)
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Analysis & InsightCost of living weighs on spending
British consumers are spending less money in pubs and bars than at any time since lockdown ended, according to research by Deloitte
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InterviewsRod McKie: ‘People are paramount’
The chairman of New World Trading Company and Megan’s discusses his career in hospitality and why ’people dynamics’ are key in determining the health of a business