All MCA Insight articles in November 2020 – Page 6
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NewsTim Martin sells £5m of shares
JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin has sold £5m worth of shares in the company.
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NewsSector confidence plummets as tiers take toll
The coronavirus pandemic has severely impacted sector confidence, with less than a fifth of hospitality business leaders optimistic about the market’s prospects over the next 12 months, according to CGA and Fourth. Its latest Business Confidence Survey has revealed that just 18% of leaders are optimistic about the year ahead, 42% down on pre-pandemic levels (60%). Extended restrictions over the autumn have led to more than a quarter (27%) of multi-site business leaders predicting they will be unviable within the first six months of 2021, if current levels of support continue.
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NewsHospitality sees immediate footfall surge in tier 2
Hospitality footfall in tier 2 areas picked up immediately on the first day post-lockdown, Wireless Social has found. Data from the Wi-Fi solutions provider has revealed that as soon as pubs and restaurants were allowed to reopen on 2 December, footfall increased to October pre-lockdown levels across venues. London footfall rose considerably, from 65% below pre-pandemic levels just before the second lockdown, to 54% below pre-pandemic levels on 2 December.
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NewsBirmingham operator to launch judicial review against government tier 3 closure
Birmingham restaurant owner Sam Morgan is set to launch a judicial review against the government, claiming it has failed to provide adequate evidence to support the closure of hospitality in tier 3 areas. Morgan, who owns restaurant concept Craft and Eight, is representing 256 businesses, mostly from the Birmingham region, under the new lobbying group ‘Birmingham Hospitality Group.’
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NewsKFC to roll out electric vehicle charging points at 450 sites
KFC UK & Ireland is to roll out rapid electric vehicle charging points at up to 450 of its restaurants across the country.
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NewsIncipio strengthens board
Incipio Group has appointed corporate lawyer David Roberts as a non-executive director.
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NewsHunter swaps Kerb for Tipjar
Kerb head of development Ollie Hunter has joined Tipjar as head of operations.
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NewsScottish tiering shift “bitter sweet” for hospitality
Nicola Sturgeon’s latest tiering review has been described as “bitter sweet”, and “not […] enough to help an industry in crisis,” with thousands of Scottish businesses still unable to open for the Christmas period.
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NewsStonegate offers 90% rent credit for tier 3 tenants
Stonegate Pub Company has announced additional support for businesses in its leased and tenanted division, Ei Publican Partnerships, in response to the government’s tier system.
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NewsNew hospitality restrictions hit footfall in Wales
New rules restricting the sale of alcohol in Welsh hospitality businesses has had an immediate and significant impact on footfall, according to the latest data from Wireless Social.
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Analysis & InsightHospitality jobs job losses hit 650,000
Jobs in the hospitality sector have dropped by 26% year-on-year, with November seeing another huge wave of job losses, according to Fourth.
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InterviewsSwingers co-founder Matt Grech-Smith: ‘Our long-term plans remain the same’
Swingers, the London-based competitive socialising concept, will continue to push on with its international expansion plans despite the ongoing uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, Matt Grech-Smith, co-founder of parent operator the Institute of Competitive Socialising has said.
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InterviewsShepherd Neame CEO Jonathan Neame: ‘Hancock is a latter-day Champagne Charlie’
The government should expect a “huge political backlash” on the other side of the pandemic for its “disproportionate” and “arbitrary” restrictions on the pub sector, Shepherd Neame CEO Jonathan Neame has said.
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NewsEviction moratorium extended
The eviction moratorium on commercial property tenants has been extended until the end of March 2021.
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NewsJust Eat to create 1,000 jobs through new agency worker model
Just Eat has launched a new agency worker model for couriers, which will switch contracts to hourly pay and could create more than 1,000 jobs by March, the company has said.
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NewsRamsay rolls out ‘street’ restaurant concepts
Gordon Ramsay has announced plans to expand his ‘street concept’ restaurant portfolio across London, with three openings set before the end of the year.
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NewsParliamentary group formed to support late-night businesses
A group of cross-party MPs and peers have formed an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the night-time economy.
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NewsHospitality restrictions take toll on GDP growth
Hospitality restrictions have contributed significantly to the dip in the UK’s economic growth and will likely continue to do so unless measures are rethought, UK Hospitality has warned. New figures from the Office for National Statistics show that GDP grew by just 0.4% in October, down from 1.1% in September and the weakest its been since the economy started its recovery from the pandemic-induced recession earlier this year. The services sector – which represents four-fifths of economic output – grew by just 0.2% as a result of increased restrictions, declining by 0.37% month-on-month.
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NewsDeltic files for administration
Nightclub operator Deltic has filed a notice to appoint administrators. The group, which owns late-night brands including Pryzm and Bar and Beyond, announced its intention to sell in October, but has been as yet unable to secure a buyer. Over the last few weeks, private equity firms Greybull Capital and Aurelius emerged as interested parties in the group, but Scandinavia bar operator Rekom Group has since come to the fore as the preferred bidder to buy Deltic through a pre-pack administration. It’s understood that any deal could see the permanent closure of some of its 52 sites.
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Analysis & InsightWet-led sector sees 90% sales slump in lockdown
Pub and bar groups saw a staggering 90% drop in sales last month as lockdown in England and ongoing restrictions in Scotland and Wales took their toll, the Coffer Peach Business Tracker has revealed. According to the tracker, bar groups were the worst affected with sales down 90.2% on November last year, closely followed by drink-led managed pubs (down 88.8%). Food-led operations faired slightly better, with some still able to rely on delivery revenue, though total sales in group-owned restaurants still fell by 65.9% year-on-year, and food-led pubs were down 85%.