All articles by Georgia Cronin – Page 13
-
InterviewsDishoom co-founder Shamil Thakrar: ‘Delivery won’t be dine-in’s poor relation’
In usual times, an ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ approach to operating a business as successful and celebrated as Dishoom makes sense. But 2020 has been anything but usual, and despite its initial reluctance to drift from the carefully curated roll-out program that’s seen the Indian restaurant concept emerge as a well-established industry darling over the last ten years, in March the business announced it would be launching a collection and delivery option, for the very first time. It now boasts seven delivery-only kitchens, opening its latest in Brighton last week, and as co-founder Shamil Thakrar tells MCA, the business doesn’t intend to stop there.
-
Interviews
Punch Pubs CEO Clive Chesser: Pub restrictions ‘disproportionate and unfair’
The restrictions imposed on community wet led pubs in tier 2 are “disproportionate,” “unfair,” and “wrong,” MCA’s The Conversation has heard.
-
InterviewsGreene King CEO Nick Mackenzie: ‘People in government don’t understand pubs’
Greene King CEO Nick Mackenzie has described the uncertainty facing pub tenants face as “incredible,” saying “they do not deserve to be treated in the way that they have been by government.”
-
NewsSteak concept Tomahawk to make London debut
Tomahawk restaurant group will open its debt restaurant in London this week.
-
InterviewsUK Hospitality CEO Kate Nicholls: ‘We need compensation over support’
UK Hospitality CEO Kate Nicholls has urged operators to issue a “carpet bombing” of letters expressing industry concerns to MPs ahead of the vote on Johnson’s new tiering restrictions later today.
-
NewsBoxpark announces new traders for reopening
Boxpark will be debuting a selection of new traders as it reopens all three of its London vennues later this week.
-
NewsSimon George departs Budweiser Budvar UK
Simon George is to step down as managing director of Budweiser Budvar UK after six years in the role.
-
NewsPandemic takes toll on supply chain
The coronavirus pandemic has caused supply chain difficulties for more than nine in ten hospitality operators since they reopened in July, CGA and Prestige Purchasing has found.
-
NewsCaffè Nero rejects ‘disruptive’ EG Group bid
Caffè Nero will press ahead with its company voluntary arrangement after rejecting a last-minute takeover bid from petrol forecourt and fast food operator EG Group.
-
NewsPubs and restaurants in Wales face 6pm curfew and ban on selling alcohol
Pubs and restaurants in Wales will face a 6pm curfew and complete ban on selling alcohol from 4 December, first minister Mark Drakeford has announced.
-
Analysis & InsightFalling footfall, household budgets and Brexit top industry concerns for 2021
Almost half of hospitality leaders expect trading conditions across the industry to deteriorate further next year, with lack of footfall and a squeeze on household budgets as some of the biggest concerns, Lumina Intelligence has found.
-
InterviewsHawthorn CEO Mark Davies: ‘We want to be the number one community pub company’
Hawthorn is an ambitious company, that’s something chief executive Mark Davies is very clear on. Speaking to MCA following the group’s half-year financial results, which reported its 700-strong estate had outperformed the market for the six months to 30 September 2020, Davies is in the enviable position of being able to look ahead, and he isn’t holding back in his plans for the business going forward. “We want to be the number one community pub company,” he says. “If anything, the pandemic has endorsed our strategy of focusing on community pubs, and our intention is to keep at it. We have the team to do it and the desire, so watch this space.”
-
NewsM Restaurants to use champagne-serving robots through December
M Restaurants, the Rare Restaurants-owned brand, has announced it plans to use robot waiters alongside staff at its two London sites upon reopening. Through December, M Threadneedle Street and M Victoria Street will make use of the robots – named Bailey and Sage – to serve champagne to customers, travelling between the bar and tables delivering flutes and bottles. The bots will also offer seasonal greetings, and have the option to display personalised messages to guests.
-
NewsSoho House appoints new CFO
Soho House has appointed Humera Afzal as its new chief financial officer. Succeeding former CFO Peter McPhee, Afzal will take up the role from 1 December, where she will help steer the private members’ club in its post-coronavirus expansion plans. She joins the group from London-based venture capital fund Backed, and previously held roles financing roles across PwC’s global markets.
-
NewsM&B axe 1,300 jobs
Mitchells & Butlers has announced 1,300 of its staff have been made redundant as it deals with the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The 1,700-strong group, which operates brands including Harvester, All Bar One and Toby Carvery, began redundancy consultations with a number of staff last month, and has since started working with advisors CBRE to close up to 20 leasehold pubs and restaurants. The job cuts came as M&B revealed its financial results for the year to 26 September, which saw pre-tax losses of £123m, compared to a profit of £177m in 2019.
-
NewsEngland’s regional tiers announced
Just three areas will exit the second national lockdown into the lowest level of restrictions next week, with the majority of the country facing tier 2 and tier 3, the Government has announced. From 3 December, most regions will enter tier 2, with cities including London and Liverpool - which was previously in tier 3 - subject to tightened alcohol and mixed household rules. Three regions – the Isle of White, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly – will be in the lowest tier, whilst around 21 local authority areas will be in the quasi-lockdown tier 3 level.
-
InterviewsBao co-founder Shing Tat Chung: ‘Diversify, prepare, and avoid being too optimistic’
Should there ever be demand for a hospitality ‘how to’ guide on responding to a global pandemic, the Bao team could write a pretty strong one. Since those initial virus rumours began to circulate at the beginning of this year, the London-based Taiwanese restaurant group didn’t waste any time in mobilising a response. In March, the then four-strong brand – with restaurants in Soho, Borough and Fitzrovia, plus a ‘Bao Bar’ in Hackney’s Netil Market – announced it was due to open its first all-day dining concept, Café Bao, in Kings Cross. Not ideal timing, but as co-founder Shing Tat Chung tells MCA, undeterred by the Kings Cross set back and estate-wide closure, the business set about pursuing a different avenue of opportunity.
-
NewsSlim Chickens signs second franchise deal
Slim Chickens, the Boparan Restaurant Group-owned fast causal concept, has entered into its second franchise agreement. The new deal between Boparan and franchisee KK Restaurants SW will see the brand open five restaurants across the south west of England, with the first due to open in Exeter next month. The Exeter restaurant will be Slim Chickens’ tenth UK site, and second franchise-operated location following its Manchester Trafford Centre opening last month with partner JRK Restaurants.
-
NewsBusinesses claimed £849m through EOHO
Businesses claimed £849m through the chancellor’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme, discounting more than 160 million meals, according to new figures from HMRC. New figures have revealed that almost 50,000 hospitality operators made a claim through the scheme by 30 September, which offered government subsidies of up to £10 on meals Monday to Wednesday in August. About a third (34%) of discounted meals were claimed by businesses with more than 25 outlets, accounting for more than a quarter (27%) of the total amount claimed. The majority of claims were made by restaurants (55%), with pubs claiming 28% of meals.
-
InterviewsPeter Martin: ‘We must mobilise against the government health lobby’
The hospitality sector must mobilise against the government’s “health lobby” in using pubs and restaurants as a scapegoat for transmission “with very little evidence,” CGA vice president and MCA contributing editor Peter Martin has said.