All articles by James Halliwell – Page 2
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NewsShepherd Neame: “profitable and cash generative” since reopening
Shepherd Neame has said since July, “nearly all” its pubs have reopened and are trading “successfully”. In a trading update it said in the 13 weeks since 4 July the business has been “profitable and cash generative”. Net debt at the year-end was £84.4m with an additional £11m of tax liabilities that had been deferred in agreement with HMRC. As at 26 September net debt was £82.4m with the tax liabilities that had been deferred reduced to £5.7m with a further £1.2m of general deferrals. It said liquidity is “sufficient for the foreseeable future”. Like-for-like sales in the 64 managed pubs and hotels that were open for this period were down 7.9%.
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NewsNew River feeling positive post-lockdown
New River has said “almost all” of its pubs in England, Scotland and Wales are now open and trading. In a trading update it said its Hawthorne Leisure pub portfolio has “outperformed the wider market since the easing of lockdown restrictions. “For the 12 week period since 5 July 2020, the day pubs were allowed to open in England, like-for-like volumes in our Leased & Tenanted pubs were down only 8% compared to the same period in 2019, and like-for-like sales in our Operator Managed pubs were down 16% compared to the same period in 2019. “Our trading performance compares favourably to the wider market over the same period, with data from the Coffer Peach Business Tracker reporting that pub like-for-like sales are down 18% compared to the same period last year.
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OpinionThe PM can’t produce the science because it doesn’t exist
Monday is looking like a big day. Make that another big day. Or maybe they are all big days at the moment, it certainly feels that way. News of CVAs and redundancies blur with curfews and localised lockdowns, or in the case of Scotland a near-total lockdown. The outlook is bleak. It all feels like bad news right now, the only hope is that the government sees sense and has a rethink over the 10pm curfew, or is forced into scrapping it following the curfew vote, which has been delayed from Tuesday to Monday so the PM can get his whip out. It will take a big party rebellion to overturn the curfew because every non-conservative MP would have to vote against it and be joined by 79 Tory rebels. Certainly not impossible, but not especially likely.
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Analysis & InsightHospitality Leaders Poll: 63% of operators will fail inside six months without government support
Unless the government steps in with more financial support, 63% of operators don’t believe they will make it through the next six months of the 10pm curfew, according to the latest weekly Hospitality Leaders Poll. As it moves into its second week, the sense among operators that the curfew will threaten their survival has increased, not least because another 87% believe that customer confidence in returning to eating and drinking out has taken a hit after the curfew was introduced. “The 10pm curfew is a knee jerk reaction that was ill-informed, not validated by evidence or empirical data and is actually making the R number worse in the capital by tipping thousands of customers into the streets and public transport system en masse,” said one operator. “It’s so silly and they should just admit they got it wrong and reverse it.”
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NewsPeach Pubs: A second national lockdown would be hugely costly
Peach has released its 2019 results and offered an update on current trading. Founder Hamish Stoddart said in 2019, the business was “flat like-for-like at £27m, whilst operating profit before exceptional items was £423k for 2019, down from £671k in 2018. The decrease is a disappointment reflecting the growing cost pressure on hospitality businesses in general between 2017 and 2019.” In 2020, Peach refinanced the business, selling four freeholds for ground rent leases and removing most of its debt. It opened a new pub in Maidenhead with a £750,000 refurbishment which closed after one day alongside all UK pubs on 20 March.
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InterviewsRestaurant Group CEO Andy Hornby: TRG is emerging stronger and leaner
Under normal circumstances, any CEO of a restaurant group posting a half-year loss of over £200m would be gone. But these are not normal circumstances. So despite that huge fall in pre-tax profits, over half of which was down to restructuring costs, The Restaurant Group CEO Andy Hornby believes the 400-site business is in “good shape, all things considered. You have to judge your performance in the context of what’s going on around you.” Has there ever been context as chaotic as this? “It’s such a strange period,” says Hornby, and it’s fair to say that sales and profits have been so wildly skewed by the events of the last few months that judging any operation by the numbers over the last six months feels pointless.
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Analysis & InsightHospitality Leaders Poll: 35% of operators won’t survive 10pm curfew
A third of hospitality operators have had over a third of their bookings wiped out by the 10pm curfew, according to the latest Hospitality Leaders Poll carried out by Lumina Intelligence for MCA, the MA, Restaurant and Big Hospitality. Some 13% said over 40% of their bookings had been hit and 18% said between 30% and 40% had been cancelled. Another third (29%) said between 10% and 20% of their bookings had been scrapped. One multi-site pub operator said trade down 20% as a result of the curfew, which was “more than expected”.
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NewsEi Publican Partnerships gives away 100,000 drinks
Ei Publican Partnerships is giving away 100,000 drinks after teaming up with Budweiser, Britvic, Diageo, Heineken, Molson Coors and Sharp’s Brewery. The offer will be available in 1,250 pubs in October. Drinkers can claim one free drink a week by downloading a voucher via the Great British Pubs website. “We are delighted to be running our free drinks campaign again,” said MD Nick Light. “This time, as a thank you, we’ve extended the offer so that our customers can have up to one drink a week throughout October on a wide range of products, including from the low and no category.
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OpinionA six month sentence
“Nuts.” “No logic.” “A crushing blow.” The industry wasn’t impressed by the idea of a curfew. And that was the reaction before Boris Johnson handed down a punitive six month sentence. Frustration at the prospect was palpable and understandable, primarily because hospitality is being treated like a leading cause of infection rates rising when it isn’t.
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NewsFullers trading at 80% compared to last year
Fullers has released a trading statement for the 23 weeks to 5 September 2020 ahead of its AGM later this morning (10 September). After lockdown closed its estate, Fuller’s began reopening sites on 4 July and now has over 90% of its pubs and hotels open. Like for like sales are currently 80% and the business said sales in August were boosted by the EOHO scheme. It said Cotswold Inns & Hotels, which Fuller’s acquired in October 2019, also benefitted from the staycation trend.
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NewsVarious Eateries prepares £25m float
Various Eateries, which operates brands including Coppa Club and Tavolino, is seeking admission to AIM at the end of the month in order to raise £25m to fund expansion and provide working capital. It currently has ten sites, with five in London. “I believe that Covid-19 is the biggest event to hit the UK economy outside of war-time,” said Various Eateries founder Hugh Osmond. “Whilst I deplore the terrible effect it has had on our industry, we are confident that there will be major opportunities for a well funded group with strong management to build a fantastic business in the aftermath of Covid.
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OpinionAin’t nothing going on but the rent
Okay, that’s not strictly true. The industry has only partially reopened, social distancing remains in place delivering a widespread reduction in covers, the industry is under close government scrutiny to ensure it’s compliant with the safety guidelines, EOHO has stimulated the industry (and debate!) and the invaluable furlough scheme continues ...
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NewsRevolution trading ahead of expectations
Revolution has reopened 39 bars which are trading “ahead of the Board’s expectations, in part as a result of the Eat Out To Help Out scheme” it has said in a trading update. It said like for likes for the 8 weeks to 29 August 2020 were 72.5% of last year, but the launch of EOHO had seen like for likes across Monday to Wednesday hit 188.4% compared to last year. Revolution plans to continue to run EOHO at least through September. It also plans to open 13 more bars on 7 September but 11 bars are unlikely to reopen until social distancing restrictions are further relaxed.
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NewsYo! CVA approved
The CVA proposed by Yo! on 14 August has been approved by its creditors. It will now close 19 of its 69 sites. ”These are exceptionally challenging times for our sector and we are pleased that our creditors have supported us in today’s vote,” said Yo! CEO Richard Hodgson. “This will ensure Yo! has a solid foundation to continue to adapt to the changes brought about by Covid-19, and allows us to focus on reopening remaining sites and rolling out our new restaurant model.”
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NewsLees-Jones new president of Forever Manchester
JW Lees MD William Lees-Jones has been announced as the new President of charity Forever Manchester. He succeeds Trevor Mather, who is stepping down after three years. Forever Manchester raises money to fund and support community activity across Greater Manchester. It has delivered over £39 million of community funding across the ten boroughs in the last 30 years benefitting 1.1 million people. Over £1.5 million has been delivered during the last four months alone, to support 441 grassroot community groups responding to the impact of Covid-19 in their local communities helping those most affected.
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NewsHospitality Leaders Poll: Majority not planning to extend EOHO
The majority of operators have no plans to extend the EOHO scheme past August, according to the latest Hospitality Leaders Poll carried out by Lumina Intelligence for MCA, Big Hospitality and the MA. Despite several operators planning to do so, of the 234 questioned by the poll, just 26% said ...
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OpinionEat Out to Help Out a billion pound bonanza
Eat Out to Help Out has worked better than expected. With four days left of the scheme, 64 million meals have been ‘sold’ with 84,000 restaurants taking part, many of whom are yet to claim their money back meaning the final number of discounted meals will be far higher. Particularly as the scheme has become more popular as the weeks have gone on. Week one hit 10 million meals, in week two the total tripled to over 30 million. So it’s on a trajectory to hit, or even exceed, 100 million meals. If all of those claim back the maximum £10, Rishi could be looking at settling up a billion-pound bill, a bit like when you order lots of sides in Wagamama.
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NewsPret forced to axe 2,800 jobs
Pret has been forced to make 2,800 staff redundant as a result of the coronavirus. It said though sales and footfall have begun to recover, the impact of the coronavirus had set sales back ten years, when the business was “considerably smaller” than it is now (it had around 200 sites compared to 367 today). Weekly sales are averaging around £5m – the level they were at in August 2010. It also said trade across the UK estate was down 60% down year on year. As a result, the business said it has had to permanently close 30 shops and let 2,800 employees go, thanks to a combination of “shorter opening hours, lower transaction levels, and the losses faced by the business in 2020”.
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NewsKate Nicholls: don’t hold out hope for furlough extension
Kate Nicholls has warned operators against falling foul of government by not complying with coronavirus safety guidelines - and said the prospect of the furlough scheme being extended looks bleak. Speaking to MCA as part of its virtual event The Conversation, the UK Hospitality CEO said as the prime minister’s five point roadmap looks set to move from three to two, which would enable more relaxation of social distancing restrictions, her “big plea is to make sure that we are all rigorous in terms of test and trace, all vigilant about the two household rule, and we stay on top of social distancing. The enforcement measures have been toughened up to fine people if they are not abiding by the rules, and it’s in all our vested interests to help those businesses in the night time economy reopen more quickly.
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NewsMajority of UK diners want the EOHO extended says YouGov poll
YouGov has released the results of research it has carried out into the impact of the government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme. It found that of those who dined out using the scheme, more than a third will dine out less than they did before once the scheme ends (36%). It also found that 46% will dine out about the same, but just 4% will dine out more than they did. It said 7% will not dine out at all. Of those who used the scheme, over 77% would support the government extending the scheme across the whole of September as well, with only 14% opposing the suggestion.