Business

Nightcap plc has agreed a £10m debt refinancing facility with HSBC UK as the owner of the Cocktail Club, the Adventure Bar Group and the Barrio Familia group of bars continues its expansion. Nightcap is using the bank’s support to consolidate existing debt facilities worth £5.5m across 34 sites, three…

Only 23% of hospitality leaders are now confident about the next 12 months for the general market, according to a new business confidence survey by CGA and Fourth. This is barely a third of the 65% that were confident in their last survey in March.  The survey also revealed that…

Just Eat Takeaway has written down the value of its US subsidiary Grubhub by €3.5bn (£2.9bn), a year after it purchased the food delivery group for $7.3bn (£5.98bn). Meanwhile, Just Eat Takeaway expects its profitability to continue improving going forward and is maintaining its outlook for FY22. Just Eat expects GTV…

Nightcap has announced the launch of the Nightcap Bar Academy, its dedicated training hub which marks a central point for training across the group for both new and existing teams. Located in Camden Market, the Academy will provide training for all staff members to improve skills and deliver “consistent levels…

Independent brewer and pub operator, Shepherd Neame, has continued the expansion of its estate with the acquisition of three Essex pubs on a freehold basis. The acquisitions include The Bellhouse in Leigh-on-Sea, The Exchange in Southend-on-Sea and The Hamlet Court in Westcliff-on-Sea. All three properties were previously part of the…

Deliveroo has lowered its gross transaction value (GTV) guidance for FY22 from 15–25% to 4–12% due to a “more cautious” economic outlook and increased consumer headwinds. Meanwhile, the company continues to expect FY22 adjusted EBITDA margin to be in the range of -1.5 to -1.8%, an improvement against -2% in…

Research and development (R&D) spending in the hospitality industry fell 21% in the Q1 of 2022, according to the latest Office of National Statistics (ONS) data analysed by funding specialist Catax. The ONS published its Q1 2022 statistics for R&D spending on 30 June, Catax states that “spending on R&D…

Hospitality businesses across Scotland could lose an estimated £50m due to the impact of industrial action taking place on the railways this week, industry bosses say. Leon Thompson, executive director of UKHospitality Scotland, said: “Members of the organisation have been reporting bookings being cancelled by customers as strike action by…

Capital and Counties Properties PLC (Capco) and Shaftesbury have announced they have reached an agreement for an all-share merger, valuing the combined group’s portfolio at £5bn with annualised gross income of approximately £165.5m. Under the terms of the agreement, the Capco Group will own 100% of the issued and to…

Compass Group UK and Ireland has announced the appointment of Karl Atkins as the new managing director for Foodbuy, the procurement service provider. Atkins has been with Foodbuy for the past three years in the chief operating officer role – where his focus has been supporting the growth of Foodbuy’s…