All MCA Insight articles in December 2020

View all stories from this issue.

  • Pizza Hut
    News

    Pizza Hut criticised over wage error

    2021-01-04T08:43:00Z

    Pizza Hut was among 140 companies criticised by the UK government for failing to pay their workers the minimum wage.

  • GettyImages-1041784922_WEB
    News

    Hospitality bears brunt of consumer spending decline

    2021-01-04T08:41:00Z

    Consumer spending declined 7.1% year-on-year in 2020, as coronavirus restrictions impacted many sectors, with hospitality and high-street retailers hardest hit.

  • Kate Nicholls 055
    News

    Kate Nicholls awarded OBE

    2021-01-04T08:38:00Z

    UKHospitality CEO Kate Nicholls has been awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours list for services to the hospitality sector.

  • caffe nero coffee
    News

    Lord Sugar challenges Caffe Nero CVA

    2021-01-04T08:36:00Z

    Lord Sugar’s private commercial property group, Amsprop Investments, has lodged a legal challenge against Caffe Nero’s company voluntary arrangement (CVA), Sky News reports. 

  • BrewDog Newcastle
    News

    BrewDog in talks over vaccine hubs

    2021-01-04T08:32:00Z

    BrewDog is in talks with the British and Scottish governments over offering its bars to help roll out the coronavirus vaccine.

  • Aldi Christmas TV ad 2014
    News

    Happy Christmas from MCA

    2020-12-24T08:38:00Z

    2020 will go down as a memorable year for all the wrong reasons. No words can express the devastation felt across hospitality, particularly the recent developments which introduced a de facto lockdown in the shape of Tier 4 across swathes of the country. Bookings were eviscerated, supplies were wasted, businesses ...

  • Five Guys burger
    News

    Some 2020 Highlights

    2020-12-23T07:58:00Z

    Brandwatch: Five Guys https://www.mca-insight.com/food-to-go/brandwatch-five-guys/649753.article Shaftesbury takes its time https://www.mca-insight.com/property/shaftesburys-julia-wilkinson-weve-always-taken-a-long-term-view/651449.article Pret - ”we’ve amazed ourselves…” https://www.mca-insight.com/food-to-go/pret-director-briony-raven-weve-amazed-ourselves-with-the-speed-weve-done-things/650824.article How is Sessions Market changing? https://www.mca-insight.com/people/sessions-market-covid-allows-us-to-shape-the-concept-over-time/646959.article What’s the deal with Wahaca and Nando’s? https://www.mca-insight.com/analysis-and-insight/wahacas-journey-to-nandos-stablemate/650439.article The rise and fall of Coffeesmiths https://www.mca-insight.com/analysis-and-insight/the-rise-and-fall-of-coffeesmiths-collective/646702.article Is the ...

  • Marstons
    News

    Marston’s strikes deal with Brains

    2020-12-23T07:49:00Z

    Marston’s has announced a deal that will see it operate 156 Brains pubs in Wales. The combination of leased and management contract arrangements consists of a freehold estate of 86 managed and 55 tenanted pubs, together with a leasehold estate of 15 managed pubs and bars. It employs around 1,300 people. Marston’s already has 106 pubs in Wales but plans to continue to operate the existing 156 Brains pubs under the Brains brand. Marston’s will operate the 141 freehold pubs on a leasehold basis from February 2021, with rent chargeable from April 2021. The majority of these will be on long lease agreements of 25 years. The deal is set to complete in February 2021.

  • Miller & Carter exterior
    News

    M&B fined by Trading Standards

    2020-12-22T08:44:00Z

    Mitchells & Butlers has been fined by Trading Standards after serving a cheaper white fish mix instead of advertised lobster. 

  • Applegreen Lisburn
    News

    Applegreen to go private in £653m deal

    2020-12-22T08:44:00Z

    Forecourt operator Applegreen is set to go private after reaching an agreement to be acquired by B&J Holdings and Blackstone Infrastructure Partners in a deal worth 718.1 million euros (£653m).

  • deliveroo asian food
    News

    Deliveroo lost £317m in 2019

    2020-12-22T08:44:00Z

    Deliveroo’s losses grew to £317.7m in 2019, up by a third from on the previous year, before the pandemic helped boost it to profitability.

  • Des Gunewardena, co-founder, D&D Restaurants, London
    News

    Des Gunewardena: Tax supermarkets to bail out bars and restaurants

    2020-12-22T08:43:00Z

    D&D London CEO Des Gunewardena has called on the government to withdraw relief or introduce a covid-tax on industries that have benefited from the pandemic in 2020, such as supermarkets, online retailers and delivery companies.

  • GettyImages-955988522
    News

    UKH to PM: Give the sector hope for recovery

    2020-12-21T08:42:00Z

    UKHospitality has urged the prime minister to provide more generous compensation for businesses affected by stricter coronavirus restrictions.

  • GettyImages-1165040271
    Opinion

    Dominic Walsh: Is closure more costly then tier 2?

    2020-12-21T08:25:00Z

    The massive impact of Covid-19 on the pub industry was brought home to me a couple of weeks ago when I took my two lads to the Wetherspoon pub next to Oxted station. Once every few weeks on a Sunday morning - lockdowns permitting - I take them for a haircut and a breakfast at the Wetherspoon. There aren’t too many places you can feed two teenagers and their dad a big fry up (plus add-ons) and drinks for £17.

  • GettyImages-1225719349
    Analysis & Insight

    Top of Mind: What does 2021 hold?

    2020-12-21T08:24:00Z

    The year is almost over and most of us couldn’t be keener to put this one behind us. Lumina Intelligence Top of Mind Business Leaders Survey confirmed the inevitable, that universally leaders in the hospitality industry consider 2020 to have been the worst year on record. Even during the financial crisis of 2008, only two-thirds of leaders considered trading conditions to be challenging, compared to 97% in November 2020.

  • GettyImages-1165040271
    News

    Annus horribilis: sector loses £53bn in 2020

    2020-12-21T08:18:00Z

    The UK hospitality sector lost sales of more than £53bn in 2020, with more losses to come from a collapse of Christmas trading.

  • Lawson Mountstevens, managing director of Star Pubs & Bars
    News

    Star to appeal £2m PCA fine

    2020-12-21T08:15:00Z

    Star Pubs & Bars will appeal the fine imposed by pubs code adjudicator (PCA) Fiona Dickie for what she described as “seriously and repeatedly” breaching the code over nearly a three-year period.

  • Creams
    News

    Creams acquired by Pistachio Holdings

    2020-12-21T08:11:00Z

    Dessert parlour brand Creams has been acquired by Pistachio Holdings, controlled by Ankush Shah of the East Africa-based Sumaria Group.

  • LEON 2
    News

    Leon CVA approved

    2020-12-18T17:40:00Z

    Leon has approved a plan to restructure the business through a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), preserving 670 jobs.

  • German Doner Kebab - Hero Kebab.
    News

    GDK hits 50 milestone

    2020-12-18T14:16:00Z

    German Doner Kebab has this week opened its 50th restaurant in the UK.