News
The latest industry news from the business journalists at Catering Today. We bring you the latest on what’s happening in the restaurants, bars and catering industry, with exclusive stories, analysis, best practice and industry comment.
-
Aug- 2020 -13 August
Hospitality sales halve in July
Managed pub, restaurant and bars saw total July sales down 50.4% against the year before, according to the latest data from CGA’s Coffer Peach Business Tracker. While the overall market reported trading that was “well below” July 2019 levels, the London market “struggled” the most, with London trading down 58.3%…
Read More » -
12 August
HRC Show given green light for March 2021
The ‘Hotel, Restaurant & Catering Show’ (HRC) has been given the green light to go ahead next year between the 22 – 24 March 2021, after both the government and ExCeL London announced a lifting of restrictions from 1 October this year. Previously known as Hotelympia, the show returned to…
Read More » -
12 August
Manchester pubs flouting guidance, undercover report finds
Pubs and bars in a Manchester borough are ignoring Covid-19 guidance and potentially endangering customers, an undercover Sky News investigation has found. A team of undercover reporters posed as walk-in customers at a range of pubs and bars in a Greater Manchester suburb, and discovered the majority of sites were…
Read More » -
12 August
UK in recession following 20% GDP slump
The UK economy has entered into a “technical recession” following a “record” fall in gross domestic product (GDP) during the second quarter of the year. According to the Office for National Statistics, GDP slumped by 20.4% between April and June 2020, compared with the 2.2% drop seen during Q1 2020…
Read More » -
12 August
Haidilao chooses Bullring for first restaurant outside London
Hot pot restaurant chain, Haidilao, has selected the Bullring Birmingham or its first site in the UK outside of London. The 8,073sq ft restaurant will join Brown’s and Wagamama in St Martin’s Square, and is set to launch in early 2021. Founded in 1994 in China’s Sichuan Province, Haidilao now…
Read More » -
11 August
UKH calls for investigation into hospitality energy market
UKHospitality has written to the energy minister Kwasi Kwarteng calling on the Government and watchdog Ofgem to investigate unfair practices in the energy market. The trade body said it has been contacted by hospitality businesses with evidence that they are being “unfairly targeted” by energy firms. UKHospitality chief executive Kate…
Read More » -
11 August
10.5 million meals claimed under ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme
Some 10,540,394 million meals have been claimed under the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme, according to new research from HMRC. Will Broome, founder and CEO of retail tech firm Ubamarket, said that with 83,068 restaurants now having signed up to the scheme the figures from the first week are…
Read More » -
11 August
Hospitality Ulster urges NI executive to create ‘financial rescue package’
Trade body Hospitality Ulster has called on the Northern Ireland executive to create a “financial rescue package” for staff and owners of traditional non-food pubs to avert mass redundancies and business closures as a new indicative date for reopening moves to 1 September. The organisation has stated that the call…
Read More » -
11 August
Domino’s welcomes ‘resilient’ performance despite profit hit
Domino’s UK and Ireland has welcomed a “resilient” UK and Ireland performance in its half-year results, with UK like-for-like sales up 4.8% in the period ended 28 June, 2020. In its second quarter, however, collection orders were down by 87% as this service was halted amid lockdown, though delivery orders…
Read More » -
10 August
Pret A Manger reduces staff working hours
Embattled sandwich chain Pret A Manger has reduced the working hours of its staff in a bid to retain jobs. It comes as the group’s sales are currently down 65% compared with pre-Covid levels. In London sales are down 80%, where the challenges are reportedly most acute. It said that…
Read More »
