All interviews – Page 57
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InterviewsTokyo Industries CEO Aaron Mellor: Night-time sector ‘totally ignored’
Tokyo Industries CEO Aaron Mellor has dismissed Rishi Sunak’s Winter Economic Plan for leaving the night-time sector with little choice but to hibernate.
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InterviewsOakman Inns’ Peter Borg-Neal: Curfew policy ’chaotic and appalling’
Oakman Inns founder Peter Borg-Neal has called the 10pm curfew a “disgrace” and a “public health disaster”.
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InterviewsDeltic CEO Peter Marks: ‘We’re innocent until proven guilty’
There has been no evidence to support government suggestions that hospitality is to blame for the rise in coronavirus cases, and therefore the industry should be considered “innocent until proven guilty,” Deltic CEO Peter Marks has told MCA.
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InterviewsRoadchef CEO Mark Fox: ‘Soul destroying’ to be blamed for rising infection rates
The government’s suggestion that hospitality is to blame for the uptick in coronavirus cases is “soul destroying” and unfounded, MCA’s The Conversation has heard. Speaking at the event, Roadchef CEO Mark Fox said that ministers’ “sideways” accusations that hospitality businesses have had a part to play in disease transmission has “been pretty soul destroying”, given the extent to which many operators have gone to ensure their sites are safe. Also on the panel, Anglian Country Inns MD James Nye said the shift in government messaging suggests there is ”a storm on the horizon,” whilst UK Hospitality CEO Kate Nicholls argued that without a clear reason for the implementation of a curfew, it’s unlikely to produce the desired results.
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InterviewsUK Hospitality CEO Kate Nicholls: ‘We’re heading for some very choppy waters’
The government will need to put additional, extended, mechanisms in place to support hospitality in the coming months, whatever the outcome of tomorrow’s announcement, UK Hospitality CEO Kate Nicholls has said.
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InterviewsGrind CEO David Abrahamovitch: ‘Lockdown was the best and worst thing for our business’
When it comes to location, Grind’s situation couldn’t be worse, admits founder and CEO David Abrahamovitch. With sites directly outside some of London’s used-to-be busiest stations – Liverpool Street, London Bridge and Bank – the coffee brand is one of many attempting to navigate its recovery in the now deserted capital, and Abrahamovitch is under no illusion that trade will return to normal anytime soon.
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InterviewsPizza Pilgrims co-founder Thom Elliot: ‘We still believe in central London’
Through a nationwide lockdown, complete drop-off in London footfall, and slow and ongoing recovery, Pizza Pilgrims, true to name, hasn’t stopped moving. Having reopened its London City site on Tuesday (15 September), the brand’s entire 13-strong estate is now back up and running, but the reopening of dine-in is just one of many positive steps the business has been able to take in the past six months.
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InterviewsLoungers CEO Nick Collins: ‘Our customers missed us’
All-day café-bar-restaurant operator Loungers is back to its market beating trading, with net like for like sales growth of 29.9% over the past nine weeks.
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InterviewsInception Group co-founder Charlie Gilkes: ‘Consumers are hungry for experiential hospitality’
Experiential hospitality has never been more important for consumers, currently deprived as they are of large-scale events, Inception Group co-founder Charlie Gilkes has said. Speaking as part of MCA’s The Conversation panel, Gilkes said that the continued ban on mass live music events and ever-growing list of international travel restrictions has left consumers “very experience-starved,” and therefore open to a smaller-scale alternative.
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InterviewsRare Restaurants CEO Martin Williams: ‘Moratorium extension pointless without fiscal support for rent’
An extension of the lease forfeiture moratorium will do little to solve the industry’s rent crisis without a significant financial contribution from government, MCA’s The Conversation has heard.
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InterviewsRare Restaurants CEO Martin Williams: ‘Rule of six could boost bookings’
The government’s new ‘rule of six’ mandate could prompt consumers to dine out in larger mixed groups, Rare Restaurants CEO Martin Williams has said.
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InterviewsRockfish CEO Mitch Tonks: Lockdown made us realise our staff model was unsustainable
The co-founder of Rockfish restaurant group and fine dining restaurant The Seahorse on streamlining his business post lockdown, changing his approach to staff and weathering the coming winter.
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InterviewsMowgli CEO Nisha Katona: Recovery is a tale of two countries
For Nisha Katona, Mowgli is so much more than a business. A former lawyer turned CEO to the now 11-strong restaurant chain, her approach since its conception has been nothing short of maternal. And with the industry at crisis point, it is this familial sensibility that has epitomised Mowgli’s past six months.
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InterviewsGail’s CEO Tom Molnar: We’ll do more sites this year than two years ago
Tom Molnar strikes an almost Gordon Brown-esque note when he describes the artisan Gail’s Bakery a “prudent bakers”.
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InterviewsDeltic CEO Peter Marks: Young people claims ‘numbers of convenience’
Deltic CEO Peter Marks has dismissed claims that a third of all coronavirus cases in England last week were in young people as “numbers of convenience.”
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InterviewsBoxpark CEO Roger Wade: Rent is the ‘dinosaur in the room’
Without a workable solution to tackle outstanding rent liabilities, all other support packages and recovery measures will be a “total and utter waste of time,” Boxpark CEO Roger Wade has said.
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InterviewsJeremy King: ‘The pandemic will provide a platform for the next generation’
The co-founder of Corbin & King discusses reopening most of his estate, trying to launch a restaurant during the pandemic; the mixed bag of dealing with landlords and what he hopes the positive sides of the pandemic will be.
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InterviewsGaucho CEO Martin Williams: No brainer to replicate EOHO
Gaucho and M Restaurants CEO Martin Williams has said it was a “no brainer” for his group to continue the Eat Out to Help Out scheme at its own expense.
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InterviewsKerb founder Petra Barran: Food market survival a “human imperative”
Kerb founder Petra Barran is a doer. Since she first originated the Kerb concept from a single ice cream van in 2010, the business has grown exponentially. It currently works with approximately 120 partner traders – a pool of street food ideas that is constantly expanding - has five permanent street markets across London, one foodhall, and a substantial corporate catering arm. So, as a business so well adept at evolving at pace, it’s no real surprise that after five months of closure, Kerb is itching to kickstart its recovery.
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InterviewsSessions Market: ‘Covid allows us to shape the concept over time’
Launching a food hall business during a global pandemic might not seem like good fortune, but Dan Warne still counts himself lucky in the circumstances.