All MCA Insight articles in August 2021 – Page 2
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NewsLeon achieves ‘pleasing performance’ in Q2
EG Group has said strong progress has been made on the integration of Leon into the group, with “a pleasing performance” seen in the second quarter of 2021.
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NewsMCA’s digital edition for September is out now
The September issue is packed full of analysis, exclusive interviews, features and comment on the eating and drinking out market.
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NewsPrezzo announces series of new appointments
Prezzo has announced a number of new senior appointments, with Matt Prior named as its new chief financial officer, and Dean Challenger promoted to chief operating officer.
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NewsAccess Group acquires Omnifi
Access Group has acquired Omnifi and its Orderbee mobile order and pay technology. This will be incorporated into Access Group’s hospitality division. Access Group said adding Orderbee to its hospitality software suite would enable customers “to order in seconds after they arrive, maximising operators’ profits, helping to drive efficiencies and reduce administration time as they re-establish their business at this critical time of trading”.
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NewsGreggs affected by supply issues
Greggs is the latest operator to be affected by supply issues, with the availability of certain products being impacted. A spokesperson for Greggs told MCA that the operator was suffering some short-term disruption to “a small number of product lines”, and the products affected may change from day to day, with the spokesperson denying media reports of a specific availability issue around its chicken bake product.
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OpinionIn support of an industry legend
With West Berkshire Brewery facing allegations by employees past and present of propagating a toxic culture, Dominic Walsh reflects on the many positive achievements of its chairman, David Bruce.
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NewsHawthorn launches Proper Pubs platform
Hawthorn has announced the creation of a new operator managed platform called Proper Pubs. Proper Pubs will represent about 20% of the Hawthorn estate. Proper Pubs is run by director of managed operations, Mark Brooke, who joined Hawthorn last year. Admiral Taverns completed the acquisition of Hawthorn for £222.3m last week.
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NewsSupply shortages impacting drinks and construction
Pubs are the latest hospitality operators to raise concerns over shortages of certain drinks, with Greene King suffering supply issues in Scotland and City Pub Group running dry of Prosecco, it has been reported.
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NewsHospitality trade bodies call for business rates reform
UKHospitality and the British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) have welcomed government proposals to increase the frequency of business revaluations to three-yearly but has warned this cannot come at the cost of extra reporting, restrictions on appeals and penalties.
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OpinionDavid Read: Agility is essential for survival
Successful growth will be delivered not just by what we do right, but how we set up our organisations to limit the impacts of the things that go wrong along the way, believes David Read, founder and chairman of Prestige Purchasing
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NewsJust Eat to create 1,500 UK customer service jobs
Just Eat will create more than 1,500 customer service jobs in the North East of England over the next 12 months. The jobs will be based at a new facility in Sunderland as part of a £100m investment in the region by the firm over the next five years. Previously, the firm had outsourced the majority of its customer service roles to Bulgaria and the Philippines.
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NewsAlistair Macrow to become new chief executive of McDonald’s UK&I
Alistair Macrow will become the new chief executive of McDonald’s UK and Ireland from November 1 2021, transitioning from his current role as global chief marketing officer. Macrow joined McDonald’s in 2007 and has previously been chief marketing officer for the UK. Paul Pomroy, the current chief executive of McDonalds UK&I will move into the role of corporate senior vice president, international operated markets and will oversee 12 markets.
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NewsMcDonald’s milkshakes impacted by supply issues
Milkshakes are temporarily off the menu at McDonald’s 1,250 outlets in England, Scotland and Wales due to supply chain issues. Bottled drinks are also affected, making McDonald’s the latest chain to see trading impacted by a lack of availability of key menu items.
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NewsTortilla to use Deliveroo Editions to extend delivery coverage
Tortilla has extended its exclusive delivery partnership agreement with Deliveroo across the UK. It will use several new Deliveroo Editions kitchens to reach new regions that were previously outside of its coverage area.
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Analysis & InsightGrowth in delivery and takeaway sales begins to stabilise
Growth in delivery and takeaway sales began to stabilise in July as hospitality fully reopened and consumers returned to eating out, with July’s delivery and takeaway sales 206% higher than the 2019 equivalent. But data from CGA’s Hospitality at Home Tracker indicates that delivery and takeaways accounted for over a third of restaurant and pub groups’ sales in July, with delivery representing one in five sales.
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NewsTrio of new Tim Hortons drive thru sites announced
Tim Hortons has announced plans for three more drive thru locations in retail and leisure parks as it continues to build its pipeline of new sites. MCA recently spoke with Kevin Hydes, chief commercial officer, who stated that the drive thru trading model is “really, really important to us.” Currently half of Tim Hortons’ UK sites have a drive thru facility, with all announced pipeline sites also including a drive thru.
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OpinionPeter Martin: Survival is not a level playing field
Just under 9,000 licensed premises have permanently closed in Britain since the start of the pandemic, with another 7,400 teetering on the brink of survival. With everything that the last 18 months has thrown at hospitality, it’s not entirely clear whether that’s a good or bad result.
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NewsMinister Scully to speak at MCA Pub Conference
Minister Paul Scully will discuss his new hospitality strategy, and invite questions from the floor, at MCA’s Pub Conference 2021, on 15 September.
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NewsBPF proposes reforms to business rates revaluations
The British Property Federation (BPF) has proposed the government introduce annual business rates revaluations, describing the current system as “broken”.
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NewsShaftesbury sees strong recovery for hospitality outlets
Shaftesbury has said its hospitality and leisure occupiers have continued to enjoy a strong recovery in trading levels, as the West End makes a comeback.