As the hospitality sector comes to the end of another year filled with unprecedented challenges, we ask sector leaders to share their highs and lows of 2022 and hopes for the New Year, in a special series of articles this week. Part 3 includes Nick Mackenzie of Greene King, Nick Collins of Loungers and Sarah Willingham of Nightcap
Nick Mackenzie, CEO, Greene King
“Pride, disbelief, optimism, frustration: all words I could use to sum up 2022.
“Ultimately, pride wins by a mile because despite another year where our pubs and breweries have been caught in a myriad of different challenges beyond our control, ranging from Omicron at the start the year, supply chain challenges, rail strikes, and unprecedented levels of inflation, I am proud of our teams who delivered for each other and our customers time and time again.
“We’ve raised £2.5m for Macmillan Cancer Support, committed to reaching net zero by 2040 and pledged 5,000 more apprenticeships by 2025.
“It’s vital next year sees the government listen more to hospitality businesses and help provide protection from our biggest current challenge - spiralling energy costs. This would give the consistency and stability for us to plan, invest in communities and create jobs to support the UK economy and drive growth.”
Nick Collins, CEO, Loungers
“This past year has undoubtedly been dominated by the challenging consumer backdrop but, against that, we’ve been really pleased with the continued strong trading and growth across our two complementary brands – Lounge and Cosy Club.
“It’s easy to forget that Omicron was still with us at the beginning of the year, but we came through the challenges of Covid and emerged a stronger, more resilient and indeed more ambitious business than ever before. Our all day, value-for-money offering has continued to resonate with customers and reflects both our unique positioning as well as the amazing hospitality and hard-work of our teams. Our suburban, market town locations also mean we are benefitting from changes in consumer behaviour, with more people staying local, working from home, and supporting their local community and local high street.
“Looking into 2023, the short-term outlook is somewhat uncertain, but we take confidence from the resilience of trading in both our brands with sales momentum improving as we head into the busy Christmas period. We are excited about the coming months and, of course, are looking forward to the opening of our first Brightside roadside dining location in the spring.”
Sarah Willingham, CEO, Nightcap
“It’s been a challenging year this year for all and we have had many things thrown at us in hospitality but we have managed to get through it due to the hard work, resilience and dedication of our amazing teams at Nightcap.
“One thing we do know is people do want to go out and party however, 2023 will be a very difficult environment for any consumer-focused business, particularly hospitality. This means we need to continue to wow our customers, there is no place for mediocrity.”
