The highest-ever number of restaurants closed in London in the last 12 months, according to the 28th edition of Harden’s London Restaurants guide. The capital has seen a record 117 closures – the highest since the guide was published in 1991- with 2003 having the previous highest number with 113…
Read More »Business
The Business section on Catering Today delivers comprehensive coverage of the commercial landscape shaping the UK hospitality and catering industry. It reports on company performance, acquisitions, investments, market movements, and leadership changes across restaurants, pubs, and catering groups. With analysis of financial trends, growth strategies, and sector forecasts, Catering Today provides hospitality professionals with the intelligence needed to understand market dynamics and make informed business decisions in a competitive environment.
Government-implemented costs are taking a significant toll on businesses in the eating and drinking-out sector, new data by UKHospitality and business property adviser Christie & Co suggests. According to the 2018 UKHospitality Christie & Co Benchmarking Report, controllable costs have risen to an average of 52.5% of turnover, the highest…
Read More »
UK-based hospitality business has appointed a new managing director to head up its franchising division. Founded by chairman and CEO Nick Taplin, Black and White Hospitality, whose main shareholder is Marco Pierre White, has now on taken on board Brandie Deignan. Deignan will now oversee the growth of the group’s…
Read More »
The Bank of England has placed interest rates on hold following growing uncertainty around Brexit. A vote to leave rates unchanged held by the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) was in favour of leaving rates at 0.75% by 9-0. Financial markets are currently indicating that rates will not rise until…
Read More »
One in seven pubs in England face rises in their business rates bills of nearly £5,000 despite measures announced at the Autumn Budget to cut the rates of smaller high street businesses. Analysis from commercial real estate advisor Altus Group showed medium sized pubs were the “big losers” in Hammond’s…
Read More »
Frankie and Benny’s owner The Restaurant Group (TRG) has announced it has conditionally agreed to purchase Mabel Topco, operating as Wagamama for a cash payment of £357m. TRG said its offer valued Wagamama at £559m and it would convert some of its existing sites into Wagamama restaurants. It plans to…
Read More »
Chancellor Philip Hammond has confirmed plans to give smaller retailers a 33% cut to business rates and introduced a new digital services tax for companies with at least £500m in global revenue. The reduction in rates will take place over the next two years and is expected to save businesses…
Read More »
The chief financial officer of crisis-hit cafe chain Patisserie Valerie has announced his resignation with immediate effect. On 9 October, Chris Marsh was suspended by the company after its directors discovered “accounting irregularities” and investigated potentially fraudulent activity. The company found that it had an unpaid tax bill of £1.14m…
Read More »
The total pre-tax profits at the UK’s top 100 restaurants have plummeted by 80% in the last year to £37m, down from £194m 12 months ago according to accounting firm UHY Hacker Young. The drop means that pre-tax profits at the UK’s top 100 restaurant groups have fallen 89% from…
Read More »
C&C Group, the drinks company which bought Matthew Clark and Bibendum out of administration, has paid off £160m of the drinks distributor’s debt. C&C Group acquired the company in April after its former parent company Conviviality issued a profit warning following the discovery of a £30m unpaid tax bill. In…
Read More »