Business

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

The UK hospitality sector has reached a total annual turnover of £102bn and a year-on-year growth of 4%, according to new Office for National Statistics (ONS) data published earlier this month. The data represents the first time that all businesses in the ‘Accommodation and Food Services Activities’ category have turned…

GBK has announced it is to enter a CVA this afternoon (24 October) following the appointment of Deloitte in September to oversee a restructuring of the business. In an announcement, Famous Brands, the South African restaurant chain’s owners said: “The CVA process has the objective to ensure financial viability and…

Errant Brewery is to open in Newcastle despite National Rail fears that drinkers would be “putting themselves in danger”. The brewery will open under a railway arch at the city’s Forth Goods Yard, inviting drinkers to “high quality” tasting sessions on Saturdays. The tasting sessions led to National Rail issuing…

An analysis of Office of National Statistics (ONS) employment data from 2018 by luxury hospitality recruiter The Change Group showed a 17% drop in the total number of chefs reported to be working in the UK compared with the same time period in 2017. Overall, the data indicated the number…