All articles by James Halliwell – Page 10
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NewsGreggs: CEO Roger Whiteside predicts hundreds more stores
Greggs has no plans to slow its rapid expansion, despite opening a net total of 97 new stores last year. The business recently increased supply chain capacity to allow it to operate 2,500 outlets, but CEO Roger Whiteside told MCA he believes the total number of Greggs outlets could grow “well beyond” that figure in the future. “We know it’s well beyond 2,500,” he said. “Because we don’t know a final number we just release the next number when we come close to the last one we released. So at 1,500 we said 2,000, now we are at 2,000 we are saying 2,500. So pick a number, we just don’t know it.
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NewsWagamama CEO Emma Woods on expansion, delivery, Mamago and the coronavirus
Hard, disciplined and relentless. Not the first words you might imagine when thinking about Wagamama, but you don’t deliver 8.5% upticks in a market like this just because you have a big vegan menu and smiley staff. You also need to be as tough as Japanese steel.
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NewsAdmiral “pleased” with performance against “challenging backdrop”
Admiral Taverns has said underlying group EBITDA rose 6.2% on the previous year to £23.7m, after it released its results for the 52 Weeks ending 1 June 2019. It also said like for like sales at its 713-strong retained estate were up 4.3%. And it said it had invested £8.1m over the last 12 months and its estate was now valued at £259.8m despite disposing of 46 pubs during the period, which reflected that investment.
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NewsTim Martin warns of EU boycott
Tim Martin has again blasted the EU and said the UK will not be “fooled by a deal that fails to achieve a real restoration of democracy”. And he suggested the public will boycott EU products if any deal ties the UK to EU laws, or fails to regain fishing rights. “If the public is tricked or cajoled it will have the power to drive imports from France and Germany down to zero, irrespective of any agreement,” said Martin.
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NewsWagamama “has transformed” The Restaurant Group says Hornby
Buying Wagamama has had a transformational effect on the fortunes of The Restaurant Group, said the business as it released its results for the 52 weeks to 29 December 2019. It said total sales were up 56.4% from £686m to £1,073.1m, while adjusted pre-tax profits were £74.5m. It recorded an exceptional pre-tax charge of £111.8m due to “impairment” in its leisure arm, primarily made up of Frankie and Benny’s and Chiquito, leaving a statutory loss before tax of £37.3m.
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NewsA damaging development? Or just political posturing?
Whatever your thoughts on Priti Patel, and I imagine you currently have some thoughts, the new immigration plan is a damaging development in the ongoing battle for hospitality to recruit and retain talent. On Wednesday the home secretary revealed the government’s new points and salary based immigration system, which says unless you speak English and have the offer of a job that pays over £25,600, you aren’t coming in.
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NewsNew immigration legislation will add “fuel to the fire” over recruitment
Hospitality will be hammered by the government’s new immigration plan according to data released by Fourth. The new plan, revealed yesterday by home secretary Priti Patel, will see the salary threshold for skilled workers entering the UK lowered from £30,000 to £25,600. As 42% of employees in the hospitality industry come from the EU and are paid an average full-time salary of £18,400 (or average of £8.44 per hour) and 11% from the Rest of the World earn an average equivalent full-time salary of £19,500, the legislation will have a significant impact on the sector.
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NewsPressure, power and positivity
Not to be overly optimistic, and perhaps it’s just the inevitable emergence from a lengthy and brutal period of rationalisation and consolidation, but things appear to be looking up. Admittedly the upticks predicted for 2020 are tiny, like 1% growth for casual dining and a 0.3% acceleration for food to go. But after the carnage of the last couple of years, positive news, however slight, will come as welcome news for the operators that skilfully navigated their way through it.
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NewsManchester night economy set for hit after Man City ban
Manchester City’s ban from the European Champions League for breaching financial fair play rules could have a disastrous effect on eating and drinking out in Manchester, believes Sacha Lord, night time economy adviser for Greater Manchester. The club has said it will appeal the ban “at the earliest opportunity” with the Court of Arbitration for Sport. But should the ban be upheld, Lord said bars and restaurants would take a big hit.
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NewsSales soar at Takeaway.com but losses deepen
Takeaway.com made a loss of €115.5m in 2019, compared with €14.0 million in 2018. It said the cost of sales was €110.9m in 2019, 154% higher than in 2018, after it grew from 38 cities at the end of 2018 to 91 in 2019. Delivery expenses added up to €73.9m, representing 67% of its cost of sales. It said “excluding the impact of delivery expenses, cost of sales increased by 86% year-on-year, above order growth, driven by growth in the share of online payments, growing share of merchandise items and increased printer costs driven by the onboarding of new restaurants.”
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NewsHeineken toasts best sales for a decade
Heineken has reported volume sales were up 8.3% last year, its best performance in over ten years. It added net revenue was up 5.6%, with net profits up 4.3%. Chairman and CEO Jean-François van Boxmeer, who announced he would be leaving Heineken on 1 June yesterday, said in 2019 the business had delivered “another year of superior top-line growth, with continued strong performance in the second half.
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NewsGet smarter about sustainability
Education is the answer to a more sustainable future rather than blanket negative hyperbole about plastic, a panel hosted by the SRA told the Food to Go conference. Though the demonization of plastic has dominated the sustainable agenda over the past two years, Spencer Craig, co-founder of Pure, said he “rejected the premise of plastic reduction, which in itself is not the answer. It’s about the reduction of single use packaging, but it’s been all put on plastic. Reducing plastic and using a virgin material which can’t be recycled instead is not a solution.”
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NewsCasual Dining back in growth in 2020
The leading casual dining brands are set to return to growth of around 1% in 2020, according to MCA Insight. The growth was largely due to a combination of inflationary pressures easing, and the stablising political climate boosting consumer confidence, it said. The sample of 250 casual dining brands, from large operators like KFC down to smaller operators like Flat Iron, found growth would return in 2020 after declines of -3.5% and -2.8% across 2018 and 2019.
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NewsFullers hails “Year of Change”
Fullers has said sales were up 4.3% for the six weeks over Christmas and New Year, and 2.5% for the 42 weeks to 18 January 2020. Food, drink and accommodation all delivered like for like growth. However, tenanted like for like profits were down 3%.
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NewsYumpingo raises $10m
Yumpingo has raised $10m in a Series A investment with London-based VC Smedvig Capital. At the same time, Keith Taylor, CFO of Equinix, and Mike Ryan, CEO of Bullet Point Network, and previously partner and head of global equity products at Goldman Sachs, will join the Yumpingo board.
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NewsEverards sales up 3.5%
Everards has reported sales are up 3.5% on last year, for the year ending 30 September 2019. It also said group EBITDA of £5.9m was 1% ahead of the previous year reflecting “good trading performance and a reduction in overheads”. It also said pre-tax profits and non-recurring items of £2.1m was behind the prior year “primarily as a result of an increase in interest charges associated with the Group’s refinancing”.
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NewsMcDonald’s plans 60 new openings in 2020
McDonald’s UK CEO Paul Pomroy has committed to investing £1 billion in McDonald’s UK estate over the next three years, including opening 60 new restaurants in 2020. Speaking after global sales rose 5.9%, Pomroy said 2019 was a “successful year for the UK and Ireland business, and it is testament to our people and franchisees that we have delivered continued strong growth during a tough time for the retail sector. In 2020 we remain committed to continuing investment in the areas driving our growth - our supply chain, our people and our restaurant experience, so over the next three years £1 billion will be invested to ensure we can continue to focus on what matters most - customers, food, value, service and convenience.
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NewsPret to accelerate Eat conversions
Pret plans to have the Eat estate fully absorbed into the Pret brand by the Summer.
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NewsAsk fined £40,000 for lack of lobster
Ask has been fined £40,000 after selling a ‘misleading’ plate of pasta - although it got a discount off the bill for pleading guilty. The Italian chain, owned by parent company Azzurri, had been selling its £14.95 Aragosta e Gamberoni dish, described as lobster and king prawns in a tomato and chilli sauce, since 2014.