Business

The number of seated diners in UK restaurants increased 19% last year when compared with 2019 and increased 50% compared to 2021, according to data from Opentable. Valentine’s Day saw the biggest increase of diners, with numbers almost doubling compared with 2019 and seeing a 137% increase compared with 2021.…

Grind coffee has reported turnover of £16.9m, up from £8.2m but has seen its pre-tax losses increase to £3.4m from £2.5m. In results submitted to Companies House by its parent company Grind Holdings ltd, for the year ended April 2022, the company reported gross profits of £9.9m compared to £4.7m.…

Hospitality turnover for the year ended September 2022 increased 1.3% to £135bn but this is a real terms decrease compared with 2019, according to data from CGA. Inflationary pressures have meant that even though a 1.3% increase is the first time a full-year figure has been above pre-pandemic levels, it…

Ofgem has confirmed that the energy price cap will increase by 80% to a record £3,549 a year for dual fuel for an average household from 1 October 2022.  The rise will affect those on standard variable tariffs, with the record annual bill only being based on typical usage. At…

A third of hospitality businesses plan to reduce opening hours over Christmas as they face a shortage of applicants for vacancies, according to UKHospitality, while 32% have already been forced to reduce their opening hours.  In addition, it was also revealed that more than a third of businesses (35%) plan…

Lexington Catering has announced a partnership with food platform Sessions, which collaborates with chefs to deliver “diverse” flavours, techniques and cuisines. This partnership will allow Lexington clients to access a stable of independent food brands. The brands available include a variety of food choices ranging from sustainably sourced burgers, homemade…

Elior has announced that Jo-Anne Robertson has been promoted to managing director of its education and healthcare division. Robertson joined Elior UK in 2008 as the operational and business lead for the defence multi-activity contracts in the south of England and was promoted in 2018 to managing director for Elior…

Recent analysis from UKHospitality has found the sector could lose up to £1.5bn due to upcoming rail strikes, similar to the level of disruption caused by the Omicron variant of Covid last year.  The group said hospitality businesses have “already seen large-scale cancellations, which are unlikely to be rescheduled, and…

Restaurant company insolvencies have increased by 59% over the past year, rising from 984 in 2020/21 to 1,567 in 2021/22, according to Mazars. In the last three months alone, the number of restaurant companies becoming insolvent rose by 15% to 453, up from 395 the previous quarter. It comes as…

The CGA food price index has continued to rise with food price inflation hitting 19.9% for October 2022, making it nine consecutive months of double digit inflation. Core hospitality products like meat, fish, vegetables and fruit are now all in the 16%-to-19% range year-on-year. Food in total climbed a further…