All MCA Insight articles in November 2020 – Page 3
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NewsNo drinking after meal
Customers visiting pubs in tier 2 regions will have to leave when they finish eating, a government source has confirmed.
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NewsPizza Hut to hire 2,500 new staff
Pizza Hut Delivery is to hire 2,500 staff in a recruitment spree amid surging demand for takeaways during the pandemic.
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NewsMPs urged to intervene in ‘reckless’ decision-making
Wetherspoon’s chairman Tim Martin has written to MPs, accusing the government of poor decision-making in its coronavirus policies.
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Analysis & InsightFalling footfall, household budgets and Brexit top industry concerns for 2021
Almost half of hospitality leaders expect trading conditions across the industry to deteriorate further next year, with lack of footfall and a squeeze on household budgets as some of the biggest concerns, Lumina Intelligence has found.
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NewsNew rescue package for hospitality sector
Pubs and restaurants hit by new coronavirus restrictions will be given extra cash to help get them through Christmas, the Telegraph reports.
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Analysis & InsightTier reshuffle is ‘lockdown by stealth’
England will be left with just a fraction of its pubs being able to trade in conditions resembling normal, the country set to go back into “lockdown in all but name”.
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InterviewsHawthorn CEO Mark Davies: ‘We want to be the number one community pub company’
Hawthorn is an ambitious company, that’s something chief executive Mark Davies is very clear on. Speaking to MCA following the group’s half-year financial results, which reported its 700-strong estate had outperformed the market for the six months to 30 September 2020, Davies is in the enviable position of being able to look ahead, and he isn’t holding back in his plans for the business going forward. “We want to be the number one community pub company,” he says. “If anything, the pandemic has endorsed our strategy of focusing on community pubs, and our intention is to keep at it. We have the team to do it and the desire, so watch this space.”
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InterviewsM&B CEO Phil Urban on the ‘cruel irony’ of tier 3 restrictions
It’s an oft-told observation that coronavirus and the work from home directive has led to empty city centres but thriving suburban neighbourhoods.
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Analysis & InsightMajority ‘cannot operate under tier 2’
A majority of operators (56%) said they would not be able to operate under the revised tier 2 restrictions.
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NewsM Restaurants to use champagne-serving robots through December
M Restaurants, the Rare Restaurants-owned brand, has announced it plans to use robot waiters alongside staff at its two London sites upon reopening. Through December, M Threadneedle Street and M Victoria Street will make use of the robots – named Bailey and Sage – to serve champagne to customers, travelling between the bar and tables delivering flutes and bottles. The bots will also offer seasonal greetings, and have the option to display personalised messages to guests.
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NewsTaco Bell to launch digital-only store in Wembley
Taco Bell will open its first digital-only restaurant in the UK next week in Wembley.
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NewsSoho House appoints new CFO
Soho House has appointed Humera Afzal as its new chief financial officer. Succeeding former CFO Peter McPhee, Afzal will take up the role from 1 December, where she will help steer the private members’ club in its post-coronavirus expansion plans. She joins the group from London-based venture capital fund Backed, and previously held roles financing roles across PwC’s global markets.
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NewsM&B axe 1,300 jobs
Mitchells & Butlers has announced 1,300 of its staff have been made redundant as it deals with the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The 1,700-strong group, which operates brands including Harvester, All Bar One and Toby Carvery, began redundancy consultations with a number of staff last month, and has since started working with advisors CBRE to close up to 20 leasehold pubs and restaurants. The job cuts came as M&B revealed its financial results for the year to 26 September, which saw pre-tax losses of £123m, compared to a profit of £177m in 2019.
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NewsEngland’s regional tiers announced
Just three areas will exit the second national lockdown into the lowest level of restrictions next week, with the majority of the country facing tier 2 and tier 3, the Government has announced. From 3 December, most regions will enter tier 2, with cities including London and Liverpool - which was previously in tier 3 - subject to tightened alcohol and mixed household rules. Three regions – the Isle of White, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly – will be in the lowest tier, whilst around 21 local authority areas will be in the quasi-lockdown tier 3 level.
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NewsIndividual Restaurants acquired in £40m rescue deal
Individual Restaurants, including the Piccolino, Restaurant Bar & Grill, Opera Grill and Bank brands, has been acquired by the directors of Iceland supermarket, in a transaction worth more than £40m.
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NewsNewRiver: Remaining resilient
NewRiver CEO Allan Lockhart has said the business has proved to be “resilient” during a period of “unprecedented disruption”. Announcing its half year results, he said the business had seen a “significant increase in leasing activity, with over half a million square feet of transactions completed, which has led to occupancy in our retail portfolio increasing to more than 96% during the period. This reflects both our affordable rents and focus on essential and convenience retail.
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NewsFuller’s CEO Simon Emeny: Staying positive
Fuller’s has said sales for the first half of the year (for the 26 weeks to 26 September 2020) hit £45.6m, down from £167.1m it made last year. It also reported an adjusted loss before tax of £22.2m compared to a profit of £17.9m last year. “The tightening of the tier system will present further challenges over the winter months, but we welcome the Prime Minister’s comments that we will see the need for restrictions fall away in the spring,” said CEO Simon Emeny. “When the current lockdown was announced, we acted swiftly to implement the lessons learned last time round and this latest closure has been made with minimal stock losses.
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NewsM&B: Staying optimistic about recovery
Mitchells and Butlers has reported a 34.1% sales fall compared to last year, coming in at £1,475m. It made a pre-tax loss of £123m compared to a profit of £177m last year. “Throughout a very uncertain and challenging year our businesses and teams have adapted quickly, creating a safe environment for guests and putting us in a strong position to benefit when consumers are able to eat out again,” said CEO Phil Urban.
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InterviewsBao co-founder Shing Tat Chung: ‘Diversify, prepare, and avoid being too optimistic’
Should there ever be demand for a hospitality ‘how to’ guide on responding to a global pandemic, the Bao team could write a pretty strong one. Since those initial virus rumours began to circulate at the beginning of this year, the London-based Taiwanese restaurant group didn’t waste any time in mobilising a response. In March, the then four-strong brand – with restaurants in Soho, Borough and Fitzrovia, plus a ‘Bao Bar’ in Hackney’s Netil Market – announced it was due to open its first all-day dining concept, Café Bao, in Kings Cross. Not ideal timing, but as co-founder Shing Tat Chung tells MCA, undeterred by the Kings Cross set back and estate-wide closure, the business set about pursuing a different avenue of opportunity.
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NewsNational Living Wage to rise with inflation
The Government has announced the National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates which will come into force from April 2021.