All MCA Insight articles in October 2019 – Page 8
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News
PizzaExpress hires advisers for debt talks
PizzaExpress has hired financial adviser Houlihan Lokey to prepare for debt talks with its creditors amid continued tough trading conditions, Bloomberg reports.
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News
Whitbread appoints new non-executive director
Whitbread has appointed Horst Baier as a non-executive director, with effect from 1 November 2019.
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News
Borough Market to launch communal dining space
Borough Market is launching a communal dining space, The Borough Market Kitchen, in Jubilee Place.
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News
Beer tops table as most consumed alcoholic drink
Beer is the most popular alcoholic drink, by volume sold, according to the latest research from the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA).
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Interviews
Pizza Express: ‘We are starting to experiment with much more interesting flavours’
Pizza Express’ food and beverage director, Jane Treasure, talks to Sarah Sharples about trends coming out of Italy, the pace required in innovation and why meat indulgence isn’t going anywhere.
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News
Brewdog bars lose £235k amid expansion drive
Brewdog’s bar division made a pre-tax loss of £235,000 in 2018 - up from £45,00 in 2017.
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News
Administrators appointed at Bumpkin and Eclipse operator Ignite
Ignite, the premium West End operator which was once a favourite of Prince William and Prince Harry, has been taken into administration, MCA understands.
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News
Stonegate reveals sports fan plan to entice 87% who prefer to stay at home
Stonegate Pub Company has revealed an action plan to encourage sports fans into its venues, after research revealed 87% of consumers preferred to stay within the comfort of their own home to watch sport.
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News
Low 2 No Bev event launched
A new trade show designed to support the growth of the low and no beverage sector has been launched by William Reed, publisher of MCA.
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News
Gail’s looking to double estate in three years
Gail’s, the Luke Johnson-backed bakery chain, is looking to double the size of its business to around 100 sites over the next three years.
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Analysis & Insight
Food to go continues to buck the trend
The food to go sector has continued to outperform the wider eating out market, with total visits up 6.4% year-on-year to 4.4 billion, according to MCA’s Food to Go Tracker Q2 2019.
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News
Seafood Pub Company sees losses increase
Seafood Pub Company has reported a group loss after tax of £2.73m for the full-year to 31 December 2018, compared to a loss of £1.15m the previous year, after higher administrative expenses and cost of sales impacted profits.
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News
Pizza Hut: ‘A lot of people have tried to imitate us, but I think we do it best’
As a subsidiary of the five billion-dollar corporate behemoth Yum! Brands, misty-eyed sentimentality might not be an emotion readily associated with a Pizza Hut refurbishment.
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News
Prezzo made £29.7m loss in 2018 after CVA
Prezzo made an operating loss of £29.7m in 2018 following the CVA that saw it close nearly 100 restaurants.
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News
Has the chancellor got the balance right with the NLW?
There was bad news for hospitality at the Conservative party conference this week. The industry is under pressure from many angles, but on Tuesday chancellor Sajid Javid announced plans to take one of the more acute pressure points, the National Living Wage, and increase it from its current rate of £8.21 to £10.50 inside five years. That’s a potential 28% hike by 2024, or an average 5.6% hit on the bottom line every year.
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News
Sales soar at Deliveroo but profits fall again
Deliveroo’s profits have taken another hit following another year of heavy investment and expansion. After revealing pre-tax losses of £199m in 2017, the online delivery outfit said pre-tax losses had fallen further to £232m for the year to 31 December 2018. The business said it had “continued to invest heavily” in its service in order to fund further expansion in terms of restaurant numbers in existing markets, including the UK where it plans to launch in another 50 towns and cities in 2019.
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News
Continued focus on Revolution as improvements start to pay off
Revolution Bar Group is to focus its site investment programme on Revolution in a bid to “revitalise” the brand, with 12 of its 15 upcoming refurbishment projects to be carried out at these sites, chief executive Rob Pitcher told MCA.
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News
Burger King ‘milkshake’ tweet branded irresponsible
The ASA has said a tweet by Burger King was irresponsible and warned it must ensure its ”future marketing communications did not condone or encourage anti-social behaviour.” On 18 May 2019 Burger King sent a tweet which read: “Dear people of Scotland. We’re selling milkshakes all weekend. Have fun. Love BK. #justsaying”.
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Opinion
Generation Next: Berto Pasta
The team behind boundary-stretching pizza concept Zia Lucia have now set their sights on pasta with the launch of Berto. Founders Claudio Vescovo and Gianluca D’Angelo discuss how they are innovating with pasta just as they have with pizza.
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News
Ossett Brewery appoints new MD for brewing arm
Ossett Brewery has appointed Alex Minett as managing director of its brewing company, as it gears up for the next stage of growth.