Monday 20/2/17
Catererlicensee.com – 1,800 UK Hotel Companies At Risk Of Going Bust: Staff shortages and increased food and beverage costs amongst threats to the hotel sector. 1,800 UK hotel companies have at least a 30% chance of going insolvent within the next three years, says Moore Stephens, the Top Ten accountancy firm. Moore Stephens says that the advantages of the fall in the value of sterling post-Brexit may not be able to overcome the other strong headwinds the sector faces. It explains that while a weaker pound may encourage more tourists to visit the UK, and tempt more Britons to take ‘staycations’, visitors are likely to focus on key tourist hotspots, leaving hotels in other less popular locations struggling. At the same time, food and beverage costs are set to increase as unfavourable exchange rates push up import prices, adding to already-rising overheads tightening profit margins. Read More
Tuesday 21/2/17
Boutiquehotelier.com – Wetherspoon steps up £2.35m investment plans with Norwich hotel refurbishment: The Bell Hotel in Norwich is the next property to go under the knife as part of owner, the pub chain Wetherspoon’s, £2.35m investment plans. The popular pub with rooms will expand above the Santander bank next door and will close for 16 weeks from this Sunday to undergo the development. The refurbishment will result in an additional 1,500 square foot of space, with a new garden extension, toilets and a new bar also being installed. The Bell Hotel was the first Wetherspoon pub to open in Norwich, but parts of the building are believed to date back to the 15th century. It has been known as the Bell Hotel or the Blue Bell since at least 1696 and at one point in the 18th century was renowned for hosting cockfighting. It reopened as a JD Wetherspoon pub in 1993.
Morningadvertiser.co.uk – Trio of rates experts to advise Ei licensees
By Liam Coleman, 21-Feb-2017
Ei Group plc, the pubco formally known as Enterprise Inns, has teamed up with business rates experts to offer its licensees no-win-no-fee rates advice. Read More
Wednesday 22/2/17
Catererlicensee.com – Foodservice Inflation Now At 2.9%: Low supply and rising costs of key items including vegetables, sugar, oils and fats and hot drinks has led to a 2.9% increase in foodservice prices in January 2017 compared to the start of 2016. That is the headline finding from the latest edition of the Foodservice Price Index from Prestige Purchasing and CGA Strategy. It continues an upward trend in wholesale foodservice prices, and widens the gap between inflation in the sector and consumer-side inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index. Rising oil costs and the weak pound have added to the pressure on prices throughout the supply chain in the last year. Foodservice price inflation was driven in January by a dramatic hike in the price of vegetables, which was up by 10.4% compared to January 2016. The increase is a consequence of poor weather conditions across Europe that have cut into supplies of many common items including salad leaves and courgettes. That has prompted widespread media coverage of a crisis in the supply of many vegetables, prompting even supermarkets to ration or withdraw items where stocks are limited. Read More
Propelinfo.com – BII boss – ‘government needs to rethink business rates valuation system to give high streets chance of survival’, Wetherspoon pub faces 321% rise: British Institute of Innkeeping chief executive Mike Clist has said the government needs to rethink the business rates valuation system to give high streets a chance of survival. Clist highlighted his home town of Aldershot in Hampshire as just one example where business rates were crippling licensed premises. He cited the example of JD Wetherspoon, which recently opened a pub in the town centre but is set to see its business rates jump 321% under the new valuation – from £30,000 to £126,500. The Restaurant Group has also opened a Frankie & Benny’s in the town’s new Westgate Centre and faces an 18% rise in rates from £76,000 to £89,500. Meanwhile, online businesses such as Amazon are set to see their rates fall. Clist said: “Pubs pay nearly £500m more than they would if they were rated on a level commensurate with Amazon. You will hear ministers say 75% of business rates will not change but many are already higher than they should be, with the remaining 25% financing the £1bn in extra rates expected from this 2017 revaluation – especially in cities and the south. The rating system of this country is close to being broken. As local shopping centres across the country continue to fail, the government needs to realise you cannot make up for those losses by constantly upping the amount remaining businesses pay. It is time to look at ratings again and adjust them so the online retailers, which turn over millions of pounds, pay the rates they should and local businesses are given a chance to survive. The momentum for change is growing – newspapers, MPs and ministers are speaking out on this issue. Please join the campaign now by writing to your MP today and become someone like me, just a local lad who wants to save his town, his shops and, most of all, his pubs.
Thursday 23/2/17
Propelinfo.com – East Midlands hotel owner slips into administration: The owner of two historic East Midlands hotels has slipped into administration. Abbot Grange, which owns 15-bedroom Bridge Hotel in Thrapston and the grade II-listed Dovecliff Hall in Stretton, near Burton on Trent, has called in administrators from Duff & Phelps to run the pair of hotels. The hotels are owned by a family business headed by Tony Sachdev and Gogi Singh. Dovecliff Hall in particular has an illustrious past. In the 19th century it was owned by Lord Bass, who made many contributions to Burton including the Ferry Bridge. He was a good friend of King Edward VII, who visited the Bass brewery and the family on their estate at Rangemore in 1902, beginning the brewing of the now famous King’s Ale. The Bridge Hotel is a hotel, restaurant and wedding venue in the market town of Thrapston in north west Northamptonshire. In its latest accounts to 31 December 2015, Abbot Grange owed creditors £684,167.
Morningadvertiser.co.uk – Greg Mulholland tables early day motion on business rates
By Daniel Woolfson, 23-Feb-2017
Liberal Democrat MP and pub campaigner Greg Mulholland has tabled an early day motion (EDM) calling for the Government to take action to cap controversial business rates rises for pubs and restaurants. Read More
Morningadvertiser.co.uk – Tim Martin: pubs ‘destined for further decline’ without tax relief
By Daniel Woolfson, 23-Feb-2017
JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin has hit out at the Government’s upcoming business rates rises and tax inequality, which will see his pubco hit with a bill of millions. Read More
Friday 24/2/17
Morningadvertiser.co.uk – Pub beer sales down 2.9%
By Liam Coleman, 24-Feb-2017
More than 100,000 fewer barrels of beer were sold in pubs in the final months of 2016 compared to the year before, while off-trade beer sales continued to rise, according to figures from the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA). Read More
Propelinfo.com – Half of Britain’s curry houses to ‘close within ten years’: Yawar Khan, chairman of the Asian Catering Federation (ACF), has warned that half of Britain’s 17,000 Indian restaurants will disappear from high streets inside a decade unless they “up their game”. He told the Telegraph that alongside the widely publicised chef shortage and rising costs, a new threat came from the failure of many restaurateurs to respond to changing customer demands and ignoring modern technology. The ACF represents more than 35,000 ethnic restaurants and takeaways in Britain, including those in the Indian, Chinese, Thai and Malaysian community, although about nine in ten curry restaurants in the UK are Bangladeshi-owned. Khan said: “British Bangladeshis can be very insular and inward looking. We fail to regard other cuisines as competition and we are slow to adopt new marketing opportunities, such as social media platforms. For years we have been telling restaurants they need to up their game with shorter menus, offering lighter, healthier options with more fish and vegetable dishes and genuinely authentic regional food. Many rarely see a customer at lunchtime, while pubs and chains like Nando’s are serving thousands of spicy dishes throughout the day. Restaurateurs feel there’s no demand for spicy dishes when the temperature rises – as if it never gets hot on the subcontinent. Looking at drinks menus, you would never know they grow tea in India – where are the green, oolong and white teas? Where’s the darjeeling, assam, dooar and travancore?” However Teddy Chen, of the Malaysian Restaurant Association, added: “It will be sad to lose some old favourites but there are some exciting and dynamic restaurateurs waiting in the wings to take their place.”
Thecaterer.com – Restaurants encouraged to turn off the lights: Restaurants are being encouraged to turn off the lights for a night next month to show their support for Earth Hour 2017. This year will be the tenth anniversary of Earth Hour, which will see landmarks such as Big Ben, the London Eye, and the Palace of Holyrood join the switch off. The Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) is encouraging UK restaurants to follow suit and switch off lights at 8:30pm on 25 March and let diners eat by candlelight. Organised by WWF, Earth Hour was introduced to highlight the need for action on climate change. The SRA is backing the initiative again as part of its month-long campaign to encourage the hospitality industry to reduce energy use. SRA chief executive Andrew Stephen said: “As a whole, the hospitality and foodservice sector uses energy like there is no tomorrow. Even those with the best intentions often don’t know how to change their wasteful behaviour. By hosting a month-long conversation the SRA aims to give the best in the business the chance to shine a light on their gold standard practice, inspiring those who are still in the dark to make positive change. “Earth Hour will then provide restaurants with the perfect opportunity to extend the conversation to their customers, and demonstrate that a Good restaurant doesn’t waste natural resources.” Red Carnation hotels will be taking part in the awareness campaign for a fifth time, serving guests candlelit dinners having left invitations on their pillows. Meanwhile, diners at the Gladwin Brothers’ three London restaurants, The Shed, Rabbit and Nutbourne will be asked to guess the ingredients of their candlelight dinner. According to energy company E.ON, restaurants in the UK are responsible for higher carbon emissions than the whole of Costa Rica. The SRA said that a 20% cut in energy costs can represent the same bottom line benefit as a 5% increase in sales.
Saturday 25/2/17
Propelinfo.com – City Pub Company opens fifth and acquires sixth site in Cambridge: Independent pub operator City Pub Company has opened its fifth site in Cambridge and acquired its sixth. The Petersfield has opened in Sturton Street at a site formerly occupied by Backstreet Bistro, which closed after the owners retired in May 2016. Following a £500,000 investment, the site has been turned into a 40-cover restaurant and 110-seat gastro-pub. City Pub Company chief executive Rupert Clark told the Cambridge News: “Our aim with the Petersfield was to create a relaxed neighbourhood pub that would bring together the residents of the surrounding area. The staff have done a great job creating an environment that is perfect for get-togethers. Families will love going for a cheeky bite to eat, while the bar is perfect for friends who need a relaxing pint at the end of a stressful week. It’s early days, but we believe the goal of creating a perfect location to bring the community together has been achieved”. Meanwhile, the company has acquired Cambridge pub The Waterman in Chesterton Road, which closed without warning two weeks ago. It is thought the company may have also acquired a vacant unit next door. Last month, chairman Clive Watson told Propel the company, which has just acquired its 30th pub, had identified three further sites as it looks to build a 35-strong estate ahead of its planned AIM float later this year. City Pub Company’s other Cambridge sites are The Punt Yard, The Mill, The Old Bicycle Shop and Cambridge Brew House.