Covid-19

Our COVID-19 coverage captures the full impact of the pandemic on the UK’s foodservice and hospitality sector, from lockdown trading restrictions and government support schemes to recovery planning, operational adaptations, and long-term business implications. This includes essential reporting for restaurant operators, pub landlords, caterers, chefs, and F&B directors navigating one of the most disruptive periods in industry history.

Sep- 2022 -

28 September

Pubs and Bars

Arc Inspirations to launch five new sites amid ‘record’ results

Arc Inspirations has revealed plans to open five sites in the next six months, creating 500 new jobs, following “record” financial results for the 12 months ending 31 March 2022 as group sales hit £38.9m and profits were £7.5m. The group said it has seen “exceptionally strong” recovery from Covid-19…
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23 September

Cafes and Coffee Shops

Creams launches emergency support package for franchisees

Creams has announced it has launched an emergency franchise partner support package to help and guide its partners through inflationary pressures, the cost-of-living crisis and other ongoing economic and societal challenges. The full support package includes financial incentives such as a reduction on royalty fees from October 2022 until February…
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22 September

Restaurants

Comptoir H1 profits surge 150% to £11.5m

Comptoir Group, the owner and/or operator of Lebanese and Eastern Mediterranean restaurants, has announced its profits surged 150% to £11.5m for the six-month period ended 3 July 2022 (H1 FY22), compared to £4.6m in H1 FY21. Group revenues also jumped 158.9% to £14.5m, compared to £5.6m in the comparable period…
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6 September

Government

Government has ‘no plan’ to introduce hospitality work visa

The Government has said it has “no plan” to introduce a hospitality worker visa scheme despite a petition which has gained nearly 17,000 signatures. The petition, started by Thiago Luz Togni (general manager of Temper Shoreditch in London), called for the creation of a visa like the seasonal worker visa…
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1 September

Features

Are seasonal visa’s the answer to the hospitality staffing issue?

To try and raise awareness and tackle some of the issues that many hospitality bosses are facing, a petition was launched by Thiago Luz Togni, a general manager at Temper in Shoreditch, London, calling for the Government to create EU hospitality worker visas. It has reached over 15,000 signatures and…
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Aug- 2022 -

31 August

Features

Why Rekom has expanded its presence into the UK with Proud Mary

Tell me about the history of Rekom. Rekom started in Copenhagen in 2007, a group of individual bars decided to stop competing against each other and decided to come together to create one company. Over the last 25 years it’s grown from just Copenhagen to other parts of Denmark, and…
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26 August

Pubs and Bars

Trust Inns acquires The Punch Bowl Inn in Lincolnshire

The Punch Bowl Inn, a gastro pub-restaurant in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire has been acquired for the first time in 34 years by the Lancashire-based pub company, Trust Inns for an undisclosed sum. Located in a north east Lincolnshire seaside town, the pub is in the town’s North Promenade with a 120-cover…
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24 August

Pubs and Bars

Trust Inns FY profits hit £5.6m

The northwestern pub operator, Trust Inns, has announced that the group’s pre-tax profits hit £5.6m in the year to 31 March 2022, compared to a loss of £8.5m the year before. The results show that the group’s pre-tax profits increased by £14.7m from the loss of £9.1m in the prior…
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23 August

Government

Hospitality worker visa petition gains over 10,000 signatures

A petition calling for the Government to create EU hospitality worker visas has reached over 10,000 signatures. The petition, created by Thiago Luz Togni, calls for the two year visa to work similarly to the Seasonal Work visa for horticulture workers, expressing that there is a “massive shortage of qualified…
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22 August

Features

Matsudai: From music to ramen kits to debut restaurant

Tell me the history of Matsudai? I’m not from a catering background, I worked in music and events until autumn 2019. In 2018, I got married, lost my job and moved house all in the space of a week, and it was an overwhelming period. I picked up a lot…
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