23/01/2024 11:48:00
New figures have revealed that London's hospitality industry revenue grew to £46bn last year, up from £43bn in 2019, hugely contributing to the economic recovery of the country, reports Pub & Bar. The data from UKHospitality and CGA shows that sales outpaced the rest of the UK, growing on average 7.7% a month, compared to 5.6% nationally. The mayor of London Sadiq Khan has welcomed the new data, showing London's pubs, bars, restaurants and music industries are leading the UK's growth.
North Brewing Co has reportedly filed a notice of intention (NOI) to appoint administrators in a bid to seek "additional investment" into the business. Morning Advertiser reports that the award-winning Leeds-based operator and brewer attributed the move to the "turbulence" caused by Covid, Brexit, cost increases across the board and interest rates rises. North Brewing co-founder Christian Townsley said: "We're currently working with advisors and have recently commenced a process to seek additional investment into our business which will secure the security of our staff and the business as well as push forward with plans for 2024 and beyond. Like the rest of the hospitality and brewing world, over the last 4 years we've endured the turbulence of Covid, Brexit, material cost increases, cost of living crisis and interest rates rises, As a result, we've been looking for investment."
The Signet Collection has announced their acquisition of The Deans Place Hotel, a Grade II listed four star hotel dating back to the 14th century, advises Hospitality & Catering News. The property will open in December 2024 joining the collections award-winning portfolio which includes The Barnsdale in Rutland (launched May 2023), The Retreat at Elcot Park near Newbury (launched June 2022) and The Mitre in Hampton Court, London (launched September 2020).
The Heartwood Collection saw turnover at its pubs and brasseries break £60m in the financial year to June 2023. The Restaurant says that like for like sales rose 6.2% in Heartwood Inns and 8.8% in Brasserie Blanc across the year, and site EBITDA margin increased to 18.2%, compared to a figure of 17.5% in 2022, excluding Government support, according to company reports. The Alchemy Partners- backed pub and brasserie business says that despite pressures on energy costs, spiralling food inflation and above-inflationary wage increases, it has had another successful year, with site EBITDA on £10.9m, compare to £9.6m in 2022.
Incipio Group, the operator behind London venues such as Pergola Paddington, has said it remains committed to bigger sites and hinted at plans for a new Pergola "by the end of the year". Anthony Knight, sales and marketing director at Incipio Group, told The Caterer the brand is still keen to secure big venues as they provide a "return investment" despite significant overheads. He was speaking ahead of the closure of Pergola Paddington on 20 January, which the company said was due to the end of the lease rather than "external factors". The 25,000sq ft space, which is spread across two floors and has a capacity for 900 people, was Incipio's largest site to date. Its next biggest venue is Pergola on the Wharf in Canary Wharf, which has a capacity for 700.
Another large pub operator has revealed encouraging sales figures for the end of 2023. The positive trading momentum reported at the time of Young's interim results in November 2023 continued over the Christmas period. Total managed revenue for the five-week Christmas and New Year period ending 1 January 2024 was up 9% and like-for-like sales were up 7.2%, reports Pub & Bar. The operator says there was significant demand across its local communities over the festive period. For the start of the year, total managed revenue rose 6.9% and 4.7% on a like-for-like basis for the 13 weeks ended 1 January 2024.
Managed pubs saw like-for-like sales growth of 9.6% in December, according to new research, but this doesn't solve the sector's continuing challenges. The latest CGA RSM Hospitality Business Tracker capped strong results for managed pubs, bars and restaurants in 2023 where there was like-for-like growth each month. Morning Advertiser says that December was a sharp increase from the 4% in November and more than double the rate of inflation in the UK, as measured by the Consumer Price Index. While pubs enjoyed a growth of almost a tenth, restaurants benefitted from an 8.3% upswing while bars bounced back from a long run of negative figures with growth of 5.6%.
A new type of consumer has emerged from the post-pandemic recovery, according to a study by data and analytics company GlobalData. Referred to as the "hermit consumer", they are staying in more and going out less with continued implications for foodservice, says Caterer Licensee Hotelier News.