09/04/2024 11:55:00
Bill's is trialling a new more bar-orientated sub brand that will offer a wider variety of sharing dishes alongside draft beers and more hot drinks options. Bill's Newbury relaunched as Bill's Café Bar on 1st April with Bill's St Albans set to be converted to the new, more relaxed format later this month, advises the Restaurant. The Richard Caring owned group says the move comes off the back of 'record sales' across its 45 restaurant estate of £92.6m, up 4.6% on like-for-like sales for 2022 and guest metrics being at 'an all-time high'. Bill's - which has shrunk significantly following the pandemic and wider challenges in the casual dining space - suggests that the new brand could eventually help them expand the business.
Pub operator J D Wetherspoon is to open a new pub at The Sidings Waterloo Station. The group will invest £2.5m in developing the venue, which is set to open this summer, says Pub & Bar. The Lion and the Unicorn pub will create 120 full- and part-time positions. It is named after a pavilion at the 1951 Festival of Britain, which took place nearby. Located on the upper ground floor of The Sidings development, the pub will offer views of the station concourse. Wetherspoon chairman and founder Tim Martin comments: "We are looking forward to opening our new pub. We are confident it will appeal to a wide range of people and be a great asset to the station itself."
Majestic Wine has bought Vagabond out of administration for an undisclosed sum, saving nine of its 11 wine bars from closure. Vagabond's "underperforming" bar in Canary Wharf, east London and its two sites at Gatwick Airport were not part of the acquisition. The rest of the group's outlets across London and Birmingham, along with an urban winery at Battersea Power Station, will remain open. The two parties began talks last month following Vagabond's appointment of administrator Quantuma to restructure its balance sheet, after building up debt during the Covid pandemic and losing its Heathrow Airport bar earlier this year. The Caterer reports that the strategic acquisition has saved 171 Vagabond jobs, as well as marking Majestic's first move into the hospitality space. The wine retailer believes the Vagabond partnership will further support its growth strategy by building on its existing customer base and allowing it to engage with a younger demographic of wine consumers.
A London and south east pub operator has acquired a prime freehold pub in Battersea from JD Wetherspoon for an undisclosed fee. Portobello Pub Company, led by managing director Richard Stringer, has now reopened The Asparagus pub and has a full capex refurbishment planned to take place in the coming months, advises Pub & Bar. The pub is named in homage to the vegetable that was historically grown and harvested in the Battersea area, and is a five-minute walk from Clapham Junction railway station.
Food price inflation in hospitality remains more than double the rate seen in the retail sector despite steady easing over the last 12 months, the new edition of the CGA Prestige Foodservice Price Index reveals. Caterer Licensee Hotelier News says that in March 2023, the level of food inflation in hospitality and retail briefly converged at 19%. However, while inflation in retail as measured by the Consumer Price Index has eased since then to 5%, wholesale price inflation for hospitality operators as measured by the Foodservice Price Index has only fallen to 12%. This means inflation in hospitality is currently 2.4 times higher than in retail.
Cost cutting helped The Breakfast Club improve its financial performance last year, the group's latest results have shown. In financial accounts for the year ending 31 March 2023, Catsteps Cafes, which operates the Breakfast Club brand, reported a small reduction in operating losses as well as a rise in turnover. The company lost £947,442 in the period compared to a loss of £1,053,234 the previous year with EBITDA falling to a loss of £75,887 compared to an EBITDA of £37,529 in 2022. Turnover across the group improved, increasing by 17% from £15.4m to £18m, reports the Restaurant.
RedCat Pub Company has posted a pre-tax loss of £31m for the year in its latest annual report, reports Morning Advertiser.