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.

Apr- 2022 -

26 April

Features

Behind the doors of Neyba’s £15m investment plans

What is the history of the business? We set up the business formally just over a year ago, but it’s been a couple of years in the making. Misha and I have worked together for the past five years on Burger and Lobster and growing the brand globally. What inspired…
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26 April

Apps & Technology

Delivery and takeaway sales slip as consumers return to eating out

Britain’s managed restaurant and pub groups’ delivery and takeaway sales fell 24% year-on-year after consumers resumed eating out, according to the CGA and Slerp Hospitality at Home Tracker. Groups’ combined delivery and takeaway sales in March 2022 were 119% higher than in March 2019. Three-year sales growth for deliveries stands…
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22 April

Food and Drink

Managed group sales up 4% in March despite inflation, data finds

Despite the high inflation, Britain’s managed restaurant, pub and bar groups achieved a 4% increase in like-for-like sales from pre-Covid-19 levels in March, according to the new Coffer CGA Business Tracker. It revealed the sales increase continues a “gradual upturn” this year, after a like-for-like drop of 1% in January…
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20 April

Apps & Technology

Just Eat mulls Grubhub sale amid subdued Q1 orders

Just Eat has confirmed it is considering a partial or full sale of Grubhub, as it downgraded its full-year growth expectations and saw orders in the first quarter of 2022 remain largely flat against last year. While it maintained the “high level” of orders that were processed during the pandemic…
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19 April

Food and Drink

Recruitment and retention remain ‘major concern’ for hospitality

Staffing issues continue to set back hospitality’s recovery from Covid-19, according to new research from CGA and Fourth’s Business Leaders’ Survey. The poll shows “intense” competition for team members. Three in five (59%) say they will recruit at a greater rate than usual this year, an increase of 13 percentage…
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11 April

Pubs and Bars

Greedy Gordons Pub Group opens third site

Greedy Gordons Pub Group has opened its third site in Northamptonshire, The Snooty Fox at Lowick, near Thrapston. The site is a private leasehold which has been opened by owners Richard Gordon and Sonya Harvey following a £500,000 refurbishment. It was initially due to open in April 2020 but was…
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5 April

Pubs and Bars

Hospitality ‘optimistic’ on prospects but cost pressures threaten recovery

Almost two thirds of restaurant, pub and bar leaders are “increasingly optimistic” about the market’s prospects for 2022, according to CGA and Fourth’s Business Leaders’ Survey. The exclusive poll of multi-site business leaders found that 65% are confident about the next 12 months for the market—an increase of six percentage…
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Mar- 2022 -

30 March

Features

Sunak’s Spring Statement: What it means

“Businesses are going to be incredibly challenged to sustain themselves, having just begun some recovery after Covid,” reveals Lionel Benjamin, co-founder of AGO Hotels. The hospitality industry was already “decimated” by the Covid-19 pandemic and now, following Sunak’s announcement, the sector is being further burdened with VAT rates going back…
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28 March

Cafes and Coffee Shops

Starbucks UK revenue soars 35% in FY21

Starbucks has announced that UK revenues rose by 35% to £328m in the full-year ending 3 October 2021, largely driven by the recovery of sales in both company owned stores and franchised stores following the pandemic. Profit before tax hit £13.3m, up from a £41m loss reported in FY20, despite…
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25 March

Pubs and Bars

Weekend pub and bar transactions up 83% on pre-pandemic levels

Transaction volumes for pubs and bars over the weekend of 18-20 March were up 83.2% on the same weekend in 2019, according to data from Barclaycard Payments. Barclaycard said that transactions were also up 476.1% compared to the same weekend in 2020, the last weekend before the first Covid-19 lockdown).…
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