Coronavirus

May- 2020 -

19 May

Compass Group launches £2bn share raising

Catering firm the Compass Group has announced it has launched a £2bn share offering in order to help increase its liquidity in face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. In a trading update, Compass revealed that for the first six months of the year ending 31 March 2020 it saw revenues…

18 May

CAMRA welcomes ministerial taskforce on re-opening pubs

The Campaign of Real Ale (CAMRA) has responded to the government’s announcement that a ministerial taskforce will be set up by the Department for Business to plan for re-opening pubs and restaurants safely. CAMRA national chairman Nik Antona said that the organisation has welcomed the announcement of a taskforce to…

18 May

Petitions to wind up restaurants rocket 165%

The number of petitions to wind up restaurants has rocketed 165% to 53 in the year ended 20 April, according to the latest figures from UHY Hacker Young. Such petitions, that have been brought forward over bills left unpaid by struggling restaurants, are expected to see a further surge once…

15 May

Costa reopens a further 46 sites

Costa Coffee has reopened a further 46 sites today (15 May) as it continues to bring back its UK store estate. Costa revealed that it has opened a further 31 additional Drive-Thru lanes and another 15 stores open to customers to enter to collect a coffee to takeaway. Costa said…

15 May

Thousands of Deliveroo employees ‘at risk’, warn MPs

A group of cross-party MPs have called on Deliveroo to “protect the incomes and safety” of its workers as the pandemic continues to unfold. The coalition of 44 MPs sent a letter to the Will Shu, the group’s CEO Will, with six demands for the delivery company after accusations it…

14 May

Marston’s agrees £70m banking facility

Pub operator Marston’s has revealed it has agreed a £70m banking facility to help improve its liquidity during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. In a Covid-19 specific trading update it said it has taken a “highly prudent approach” in its management of the business during this period. It added that all…

14 May

Brighton Pier Group details cash-saving measures

The Brighton Pier Group has secured £5m in loans in order to shore up cash during the pandemic. Both term loans are for a period of two years and nine months, and are in addition to the group’s existing term debt and revolving credit facility. A loan repayment holiday on…

13 May

Hospitality reacts to furlough scheme extension

The hospitality industry has reacted to the chancellor’s announcement yesterday that he was to extend the government’s furlough scheme to the end of October calling it a “sensible and timely” move that has “prevented thousands of redundancies”. Yesterday (12 May) Rishi Sunak revealed that “no changes whatsoever” will be made…

13 May

McDonald’s to reopen all Drive-Thrus by June

McDonald’s has revealed its plans to reopen all of its Drive-Thrus by early June, in line with ongoing government guidelines. News of the phased reopening comes as the fast-food giant has today (13 May) reopened 15 pilot restaurants in the South East of England to offer a delivery-only service to…

12 May

Chancellor extends furlough scheme until October

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has extended the Government’s furlough scheme until the end of October. Announcing the decision in the house of commons today (12 May) Sunak revealed that “no changes whatsoever” will be made to the current scheme until the end of July. However he noted that…