All articles by James Halliwell – Page 3
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OpinionKFC stunt leaves a bitter taste
I love Kentucky Fried Chicken. KFC is one of the tastiest things in the world. But it’s tasteless to deploy the coronavirus as a marketing stunt. There is no reason the coronavirus should have caused it to drop its famous finger lickin’ good catchphrase, but it knew it would spark debate and get people talking about KFC, and in that respect it’s a marketing job as juicy as a delicious drumstick. But it’s an ill-judged move for KFC to exploit the coronavirus to get people eating more fried chicken.
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NewsGreene King offers another £6m in rent concessions
Greene King has announced an additional £6m of financial support for its tied tenants. MD Wayne Shurvinton has written to all Greene King’s tied pub tenants to confirm a 40% rent concession will be in place for all tied pubs for a further four weeks after the current support comes to an end. That will be followed by a 30% rent concession for the four weeks after that, taking support through until October. Tied tenants buying barrels of beer or cider from Greene King will also continue receiving a trade credit of £35 per barrel through to 2021.
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NewsThe “phenomenal” effect of Eat Out to Help Out - but will it be extended?
Gusto MD Matt Snell has described the effect of Eat Out to Help Out as “phenomenal” although he has no plans to continue with his own version of the discount scheme once it ends this week. “I’ve never really seen anything like it in my career,” he told MCA’s virtual event The Conversation. “The shape of the working week has changed, so Wednesdays are your Saturday night, Tuesday’s your Friday night and on Monday there’s kind of a second Friday. So it has been a runaway success, there’s no doubt about it. “There’s been quite a lot of negativity in the press around what it’s done to weekends, and restaurant groups pulling out, but we’ve had nothing but positive experiences and we’ve not seen a huge drop off in sales, if any, over the weekend.
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NewsHalf of consumers fear for the future of their coffee shops
Going for a coffee was the second most popular thing to do after visiting family and friends once the lockdown was lifted, according to research from Allegra World Coffee Portal. It said 55% of respondents had visited a café or coffee shop since the restrictions were eased, behind 69% who ...
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NewsBidding goes live for once-in-a-lifetime food and drink experiences
A unique charitable auction of once-in-a-lifetime food and drink experiences featuring some of the country’s top chefs and restaurants is now live. Online bidding for The Estrella Damm National Restaurant Awards Top 100 Auction will run for two weeks, with bidding closing at 6pm on Sunday 6 September. Lots include a meal, masterclass and stay at last year’s winner Moor Hall in Lancashire, a tour of Chinatown with celebrated chef Andrew Wong, a foraging experience followed by a meal with The Black Swan at Oldstead’s Tommy Banks, MasterChef star Monica Galetti cooking a dinner party in someone’s home and chef Clare Smyth leading a culinary masterclass at her two Michelin-starred Notting Hill restaurant Core by Clare Smyth.
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NewsGreggs reveals “ambitious” plans but warns of job losses
Greggs plans to have returned to full service by September, and plans to launch a “very ambitious national rollout plan” for click and collect and delivery by the end of September - but has also warned of job losses. In a message to staff, CEO Roger Whiteside said its manufacturing capabilities were also returning to normal. It will also be featured in the Just Eat ad campaign at the end of this week, with coverage increasing throughout September. Whiteside also addressed the issue of job security and warned of potential job losses once the furlough scheme comes to an end.
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NewsHai Di Lao Hot Pot launches first UK site
China’s biggest hot pot restaurant brand, Hai Di Lao Hot Pot, which has over 700 restaurants in 115 cities around the world, has opened its first UK site in London at the O2. The 8,200 sq ft restaurant, which has a 2,800 sq ft mezzanine floor, has room for 212 covers. It’s the brand’s second restaurant in Europe. “It is exciting to be opening our doors at such an iconic London location which shares our ambition for rapid and ambitious growth,” said a spokesman for Hai Di Lao Hot Pot.
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NewsKate Nicholls calls for EOHO extension and further support
Kate Nicholls has called on the government to extend the Eat Out to Help Out scheme. Speaking on BBC Breakfast this morning, the UK Hospitality CEO said “boosting confidence and boosting footfall” were the most significant things the scheme had done, but also pointed to the number of “first time users” saying 70% had said it was the launch of the scheme which had tempted them back out. “They needed it to boost their confidence and now they feel that they can return, not just to restaurants, pubs and bars, but also the high street,” she said. “And they’re more comfortable about returning to public transport which is critical for getting the economy moving.”
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NewsKaren Jones calls on industry to support track and trace
Karen Jones has called on the hospitality industry to “wholeheartedly support” the NHS Test and Trace initiative. Jones said hospitality has a “real responsibility to keep our customers, our teams and our communities safe and well. NHS Test and Trace is a powerful way to do just that, collecting and providing the information to help break the chain of transmission and control the virus. “It takes minutes. It helps to save lives and stop further lockdowns. It shows our people and our customers that we are professional, proactive and caring.” She also told MCA it was vital the government could see hospitality supporting it, saying: “Government will see us as an industry worth supporting because we in turn wholeheartedly support government initiatives.”
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NewsWetherspoons releases trading update
JD Wetherspoon has said like for like sales are down 16.9% for the 44 days to 16 August 2020 in a trading update. It said it had now reopened 844 of its 873 pubs, with some airport and station sites remaining shuttered. It has opened two new sites since July. The update said the businesses remains in a “sound financial position” with net debt at the end of the last financial year around £825m. It also agreed a £48.3m loan under the CLBILS scheme. Chairman Tim Martin also questioned the validity of lockdowns and took aim at the suggestion pubs were hives of infections when it comes to the coronavirus.
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NewsPatty & Bun “cautiously optimistic” for the future
Patty & Bun has reported a pre-tax loss of £264k for the year ending November 2019, an improvement on the £318k it lost in 2018. Sales were £10.9m, down from £11.6m the previous year. In its report to Companies House, the business said it remained “cautiously optimistic” as a result of the coronavirus, and though it said the “current climate will remain difficult” for hospitality it was “well placed to tackle future challenges”. It said those would include the potential impact of travel bans, a second wave of the virus, the availability (or lack of) government support and absence of commuters as consumers work from home.
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NewsTapas back on the menu at Spanish Revolution
Spanish Restaurant Group, which operates Tapas Revolution, has now opened half of its 12-strong estate. It will continue to open sites and plans to be fully operational in October. Since the lockdown the group has restructured its management system and introduced a profit-related pay scheme. “We’re in a great position to get our fleet of Spanish restaurants back in operation and have a team who are committed and eager to start welcoming guests through our doors again, with our initial performance ahead of expectation,” said MD James Picton.
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NewsKate Nicholls: Industry needs to be squeaky clean to move forward
UK Hospitality CEO Kate Nicholls has warned the industry to be “squeaky clean” over the issue of multiple households meeting in hospitality venues so it doesn’t get the blame for future spikes. Speaking to MCA she said while there had been a “lot of focus on track and trace” the issue of multiple households coming together had been behind the “vectors of infection” in Greater Manchester, Leicester and parts of Scotland.
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NewsHospitality Leaders Poll: Confidence falls as lockdown fears grow - and it’s a no to calorie counts
Hospitality is strongly opposed to introducing calorie counts on menus and alcohol, according to the latest Hospitality Leaders Poll carried out by Lumina Intelligence. Of the 191 questioned, all of whom are board level positions or founders of restaurants, pubs and food to go operations, 83% condemned plans to introduce calorie counts to menus, while 76% were against the proposals to add calorie counts to alcohol. “People go to pubs for a relaxed experience and know that their choices are not necessarily healthy ones,” said one multi-site operator, while another said: “It’s the wrong time to be doing this.”
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OpinionWill Eat Out Help Out?
Eat Out to Help Out went live on Monday, and so far the signs are looking every bit as good as rare steak for dinner after you were forced to skip lunch. Of course it’s too early to see total sales for the traditionally quiet early week trading period, but anecdotal and empirical evidence suggests the word ‘unprecedented’ could be due a comeback. I tried to book a table on Tuesday night at Bill’s and the earliest they could offer was 9pm. It was the same at Giggling Squid. Carmona Tapas, a small three strong chain, was empty the last time I went on 5 July. Now it was fully booked.
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NewsHammerson: initial reopening footfall has been subdued
Hammerson has said as of the end of July is had collected 72% of rent due for the first half of the year and 34% of rent due for the third quarter. It said the average rent waiver was just over a month, and deferral of just under a month during the coronavirus. Though group occupancy remained strong, at 94% compared to 97% in 2019, it said 36 tenants had entered administration or undertaken a CVA. It said 88 our of 2,886 units were affected. It said footfall in June was down 73% on last year.
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NewsFulham Shore - sales around 72% on previous year
Fulham Shore has released a trading update and announced a fundraise as it looks to fight its way though the coronavirus crisis. It said it has 49 out of 51 Franco Manca sites open, and 14 out of 18 Real Greek restaurants open, and though social distancing means they are only operating at between 60-70% of their previous capacity, this has “to some extent” been compensated by an increase in delivery and takeaway sales. It said in the four weeks since 6 July, like-for-like restaurant sales at reopened sites were around 72% year on year.
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NewsYo! appoints Deloitte to explore CVA
Yo! has appointed Deloitte to advise on the possibility of a CVA, according to a report on Sky News. It said although discussions are still ongoing, unless Yo! was able to strike reductions in rent with landlords it was likely a CVA would be the likely option. Yo! had been in the process of reopening a number of sites which had been remodelled to deliver food to customers via its trademark conveyor belt.
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NewsKate Nicholls: “The UK needs to get used to sudden lockdowns”
The sudden introduction of restrictive measures in Greater Manchester at the weekend was chaotic, but could turn out to be a good thing if the result of the Leicester-lockdown is anything to go by, UK Hospitality CEO Kate Nicholls has told MCA. Speaking at MCA’s virtual event The Conversation, Nicholls said the rushed announcement meant initially there was “great confusion about what the rules meant, great uncertainty for a lot of customers, and it took quite a long time to get the details of what people were allowed to do in pubs and bars and what they were allowed to do outdoors.”
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NewsCACI warns of lasting impacts on consumer behaviour
CACI has released a report into what it describes as the “new consumer reality” and the impact the coronavirus will have on destinations, landlords, brands and operators throughout 2020 and beyond. It identifies four key consumer trends seen throughout July. It says mobility is well below pre-lockdown levels, currently at an average of 62%, which is up from low of 32%. In terms of how that is split between city centres and more rural areas, city centres are pegged well down at 30% due to a combination of a lack of workers, tourists and shoppers.