08/11/2022
Elite Bistro Group, the north west restaurant business run by Gary Usher, has raised £200,000 for its first pub project, following the company's seventh Kickstarter campaign. Pub & Bar reports that Usher originally launched an equity crowdfunding campaign to raise £750,000 for The White Horse in Churton, Cheshire, plus other projects. However, after proving unsuccessful, the chef took to social media to announce the campaign was cancelled and apologised to investors. Instead the group launched its most recent Kickstarter efforts on Monday 1 November, passing £100,000 in an hour and completing the full target of £200,000 in 24 hours.
Sales in the hospitality sector were down for the second consecutive month compared to the same period in 2021, figures from S4labour have revealed. Morning Advertiser reports that the data from S4labour showed sales were down 7.1% last month, up from 6.9% in September, despite a better trading week over half term of -1.5%. S4labour chief innovation officer Richard Hartley said: "It is worrying to see two months of serious change in hospitality spending which feels like a combination of cost pressures felt through the current crisis."
Restaurant group Loungers is creating a new roadside dining brand designed to fill the void left by the demise of brands such as Little Chef and Happy Eater. Called Brightside, the first restaurant will open on the A38, south of Exeter, in February 2023, with two additional locations to follow quickly in spring. Big Hospitality report that the roadside restaurants will have a nostalgic feel to them and have been designed to appeal to a broad range of customers including families, locals and UK holidaymakers.
The rise in interest rates could see customers further reign in their spending over the winter and put extra pressure on hospitality operators, business groups have warned. Last Thursday (3 November) the Bank of England raised the base rate of interest by 0.75% to 3%, the single biggest increase in more than 30 years, advises The Caterer. Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA), said: "The last thing pubs and brewers want to do is put prices up for loyal customers but are stuck between a rock and hard place." She called on the government to reinstate the freeze in beer duty and tackle the overall cost of doing businesses to "keep a trip to the pub affordable this Christmas".
Nightclub closures have accelerated from one in five during the pandemic to one in three now facing closure by the end of 2022, figures clarified by CGA Vanilla reveal. The data, provided by the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), shows that more than 255 nightclubs were lost between December 2019 and December 2021. If nightclubs were to close in line with the current trajectory for the remainder of 2022, the NTIA says one in three nightclubs would be lost between the end of 2019 and 2022, advises Big Hospitality.
New research on home workers has revealed that over half (55%) would be open to working from a pub, reports Pub & Bar. The Consumer Sentiment Survey was carried out on behalf of Star Pubs & Bars.