All Opinion articles – Page 13
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OpinionPeter Martin: Licensed to disrupt
I should have been in Nottingham last week to raise a pint or two to celebrate 50 years of the Campaign for Real Ale.
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OpinionRent debt leaves a bitter taste
As firms up and down the country are starting to count the days until they are finally able to reopen, businesses are also starting to count the true cost of the pandemic as they stare at a mountain of debt. While there is hope and elation, there is also a very bitter taste in the mouth as the unfairness of it all becomes increasingly apparent.
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OpinionDominic Walsh: Time at the bar
When Ralph Findlay announced he would be stepping down as chief executive of Marston’s at the end of September, after 20 years in the role, I experienced a number of emotions.
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OpinionPeter Martin: Happy face, or serious face?
It’s one of those bittersweet moments for hospitality, and business leaders could be forgiven for feeling just a little nervous about how to react for fear of being misread.
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OpinionFrom roadmaps to tightropes: UK hospitality’s rally to revival relies on relationships
The light at the end of the tunnel is finally getting brighter for some in the hospitality sector. A roadmap is now in place, and while there may be some traffic delays, it is at least looking like the worst of the pandemic is in the rear-view mirror.
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OpinionNick Mackenzie: We are burning through £7m a week
Lockdown is costing Greene King every pub on average of £4,500 every week, which equates to £7m a week for its managed pub estate, CEO Nick Mackenzie has said.
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OpinionDominic Walsh: Getting M&B across the line
It seems pertinent to ask how it is that three of the biggest shareholders in Mitchells & Butlers could get their three-card trick past the Takeover Panel.
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OpinionPeter Martin: Garden party politics
Pub and restaurant leaders might be unhappy, if not in downright despair, about Boris Johnson’s roadmap out of lockdown, but the signs are he is not in the mood to change gear or direction.
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OpinionPeter Martin: It’s déjà vu all over again
What hospitality most wants from Government now is to be allowed to open, to start trading and be able to play a part in the country’s economic recovery – and as soon as possible.
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OpinionPeel Hunt: JDW may be hit by post pandemic trends
JD Wetherspoon (JDW), and other low-ticket operators, are more likely to be hit post-Covid working patterns, as well as any further downturn in the economy, according to analysts Peel Hunt.
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OpinionPeter Martin: Testing, testing
Regular workplace Covid testing now looks certain to be a key feature in getting Britain back to work when lockdown eventually ends.
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OpinionDavid Read: Is globalisation unravelling?
A few days ago, I was in a hospitality sector zoom conference, when the keynote speaker said: “I genuinely believe we may be witnessing the beginning of the end of globalisation”.
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OpinionDominic Walsh: ‘A tale of two leaders’
Having himself been struck down by coronavirus, Dominic Walsh compares and contrasts the approach to support being demonstrated by two very different hospitality leaders.
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OpinionPeter Martin: ‘No way back from the digital world’
You don’t need to be clairvoyant to spot the major trends that are going to reshape our business landscape. Most are already out there in clear sight.
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OpinionShelley Sandzer: The phoenixes are rising
Our sector is full of creative people, innovators and entrepreneurs. We already knew that pre-pandemic, but the successive lockdowns have brought out the best in a sector hit the hardest of all in the UK.
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OpinionPeter Martin: Saving private enterprise
Did health secretary Matt Hancock really suggest in cabinet the idea of a moratorium on all international travel for a month to stop new Covid variants coming into the country?
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OpinionPeter Martin: Breathing life back into London
London’s economy received a small vote of confidence this month with the news that ExCel, the giant exhibition complex in Docklands, not only wants to reopen for business but to grow in size with new space and facilities.
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OpinionAlex Reilley: Give job-creators of the future one last shot of support
If the pandemic had hit 12 years ago when we were a business with nine sites I very much doubt we’d have survived. In the last 12 years we’ve opened a further 161 sites and in the process created over 4,500 jobs.
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OpinionPeter Martin: The case for positive pragmatism
Bill Gates is worth listening to. You don’t have to agree with the Microsoft and Gates Foundation co-founder, but he is often right – whether it’s about business or politics.
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OpinionA new year should mean new support for hospitality
The new year has brought with it the same old problems for a hospitality sector battling with the pandemic. More support is needed before time runs out.