All MCA Insight articles in October 2020 – Page 9
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NewsLate-night operators “shocked and dismayed” at Cultural Recovery Fund refusals
Late-night sector leaders have questioned the criteria on which grants under the Cultural Recovery Fund (CRF) have been determined as some of London’s leading independent operators were refused support.
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NewsMegan’s secures Surbiton site
London-based all-day dining concept Megan’s has secured its ninth site, in Surbiton.
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NewsGreater Manchester to receive “tens of millions” in tier 3 government support
The Prime Minister could offer up to £100m to Manchester’s leaders to accept the government’s proposed tier 3 restrictions.
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NewsPM: Government will intervene if Manchester leaders don’t “reconsider and engage constructively”
Boris Johnson has urged Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to “reconsider and engage constructively” in talks to up the region’s alert level to tier 3.
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NewsPret announces next wave of job cuts
Pret has announced it is to close a further six stores and place up to 400 jobs at risk of redundancy in response to the expected challenges of the coming months.
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NewsLancashire moves to tier 3
Bars and pubs across Lancashire will close as it is set to move into tier 3 of England’s lockdown system.
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OpinionWilliam Lees-Jones: government policy is a disgrace
Our breweries and pubs have been an integral part of Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire and the North West’s communities for hundreds of years – we are on the ground - we are not running our pubs in a theoretical intellectual and political bubble 200 miles away in Westminster. The current government policy to single out pubs for closure in Tier 3 with inadequate support is a national disgrace. It is clear, and the statistics show, that transmission of the coronavirus is happening in education, care homes, hospitals and the home. Already we have been trading with severe restrictions since July 31 in Greater Manchester but we feel that the government is now going too far and we stand by the stance that Andy Burnham, Mayor of Manchester, is taking
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NewsSeptember sales go in reverse post-curfew
Sales slumped in September after the combination of the withdrawal of EOHO and the introduction of the 10pm curfew, according to the Coffer Peach Business Tracker. Wet-led pubs were hit hardest, with sales down 22.7% and like-for-likes down 21.1%. Restaurant groups suffered a sales slump of 19.6%, but like-for-likes were down just 6.7% below September 2019, thanks to 72% of group-owned restaurant sites trading during the month. Bar groups, which had 79% of their sites trading, had the worst of the month, with like-for-like sales down 37.1% and total sales down 42.7%. Delivery accounted for 10.4% of sales, up from 8.8% in August and the pre-lockdown level of 5.9% in February.
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NewsFarquhar departs Wagamama
Wagamama chief marketing officer Ross Farquhar has left the TRG-owned restaurant group.
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NewsHospitality Leaders Poll: Confidence remains low as curfew continues
Some 64% of operators would rather shut down for a ‘circuit-breaker’ now if it meant they could open as usual over Christmas, according to the latest Hospitality Leaders Poll carried out by Lumina Intelligence for MCA, the MA, Big H and Restaurant. However, even those that would prefer that option said it wouldn’t be possible without government support, while others said there was no guarantee it would be effective and Christmas trading may be impacted anyway. “It is unlikely to be temporary,” said one operator. “The last lockdown had to last months to have the desired effect, what is the case for a two-week circuit-breaker being a miracle solution?”
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NewsJD Wetherspoon Tim Martin: Regulations are capricious and damaging
JD Wetherspoon has released its full year results which lay bare the impact of the coronavirus on sales and profits. Sales were down 30.6% to £1,262m while it made a £34.1m pre-tax loss, down 133% on the previous year. Chairman Tim Martin slammed the government’s handling of the situation and the effect it’s having on the hospitality industry. “For the two months following reopening, it appeared that the hospitality industry, in difficult circumstances, was adapting to the new regime and was getting ‘back on its feet’, albeit in survival mode,” he said.
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NewsLoungers trading well post-reopening
Loungers has released a trading update saying since reopening on 4 July the Group delivered like for like sales growth of 25.1%. All of its 168 sites are trading and it plans to open three more before the end of the year. “I am delighted with our continued excellent trading which reflects the resilience of our brands and fantastic performance of our team working in very difficult circumstances,” said CEO Nick Collins. ”Loungers, and the sector more broadly, have gone to considerable efforts to ensure the safety of our teams and customers.
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NewsDowney liquidates street food businesses
Street Feast founder Jonathan Downey has instructed restructuring advisor Resolve to liquidate his four street food businesses.
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NewsNorthern leaders resist tier 3 restrictions
Political leaders in Manchester and the North East has resisted the imposition of tier 3 coronavirus restrictions by the government.
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NewsLondon to move into tier 2 from Saturday
London will move into tier 2 coronavirus restrictions measures from Saturday, with a ban on households mixing indoors, MPs have been told.
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NewsStar Pubs fined £2m over repeated pub code breaches
Pubs Code Adjudicator Fiona Dickie has fined Star Pubs and Bars £2m for “repeated offences” in breaching the code.
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OpinionDominic Walsh: eating out, Marston’s and the rule of six…
Working from home is all very well in these Covid times, but it’s important to make sure the house and the school run don’t become the extent of your pared-back existence – a particular danger in this era of home delivery. Hence the decision to vary life a bit by taking the family out to a local restaurant. I was intrigued to see how the establishment in question – known for serving decent enough food and having excellent service – would go about making our visit Covid-safe. It started well enough, with a big sign at the entrance enjoining us to wear face masks to the table and wash our hands with hand gel. The only problem was a complete lack of hand gel dispenser.
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NewsOnline sales soar at Domino’s
Online sales now account for 95% of sales in the UK, Dominos has said in its Q3 trading update.
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NewsFulham Shore predicts a promising future
Fulham Shore has said sales were up 7% to £68.6m before the full impact of the coronavirus as it revealed its results for the year to March 2020. It opened seven Franco Manca pizzerias and two Real Greek restaurants. It currently has 68 of its 70 restaurants open, including one new Franco Manca site, taking the total to 52. It said the business has “emerged in robust shape from this critical period” and without the coronavirus sales would have “exceeded market expectations”. “Franco Manca and The Real Greek are popular with the public,” it said. “Fulham Shore is well capitalised and we have ample headroom in our borrowing facilities.
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NewsTop of Mind survey - let us know what you think?
The Lumina Intelligence Top of Mind business leaders survey 2020 is now underway and MCA, along with sister titles from the William Reed group, is keen to gauge sentiment from across the industry – directly from you. We’re looking for business leaders from across the hospitality and grocery retail sectors ...