Productivity

Coverage explores how restaurants, pubs, caterers, and other hospitality businesses are improving efficiency, team performance, and operational output, including tech adoption, labour planning, workflow design, training, and performance management. Reporting provides practical insight for owners, managers, and F&B leaders focused on boosting productivity without compromising service quality or team wellbeing.

Mar- 2020 -

6 March

Comment

The importance of a healthy work/life balance

After my last column, I asked our general manager to give me some feedback on my first couple of ‘Catering Today’ columns. His main comment was that he felt my writing was a bit impersonal and that readers might like to know a bit about the person behind the words…
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Feb- 2020 -

21 February

Business Bites

Barclays as Big Brother, storms batter insurance companies, Redcar steels itself for renewal

The TUC says Barclays’ surveillance of its employees is ‘dystopian’ after it was revealed the bank uses software to monitor how long employees spend at their desks and issues warnings if they are away for too long. Bosses have been running a test of the system in the London office…
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Oct- 2019 -

31 October

Government

Treasury Committee urges MPs to reform ‘broken’ business rates

The government has been urged to fix the “broken” business rates system as it is continuing to affect high street retailers, a Treasury committee has said. An influential group of MPs has asked the government to examine alternatives to property tax, which puts more pressure on high street retailers than…
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Sep- 2019 -

17 September

Catering Companies

Hospitality productivity rising, but more support needed, report suggests

Hospitality is more productive than widely thought, according to the latest Future Shock report from CGA and UKHospitality, with business leaders seeing “plenty of room” for improvement. The fifth edition of the twice-yearly report highlights data showing that hospitality’s revenues have risen faster than employment levels in recent years. Gross…
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Aug- 2019 -

28 August

Restaurants

Pizza Express group earnings down by 7.7% in H1

Pizza Express saw its group earnings drop by 7.7% for H1, in spite of a small rise in sales for the 26 weeks up to 30 June. Group EBITDA for H1 was down 7.7% to £32.4m, with total sales up 2.6% and like-for-like sales up 0.2%. The group cited “industry-wide…
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Jul- 2019 -

11 July

Pubs and Bars

Pub and bar operators more upbeat than restaurants about future

Pub and bar operators across the UK remain relatively upbeat about future business according to the CGA Fourth Business Confidence Survey, which polled 140 senior industry executives. The survey, which was completed in partnership with research consultants CGA and hospitality solutions provider Fourth, found that 41% of bosses were “fairly”…
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May- 2019 -

28 May

Analysis

Changing workplace eating habits

Walk into an office canteen or casual high street restaurant and you will see a noticeable shift in the food service, atmosphere and dishes on offer. Say sayonara to stuffy, fried, beige foodstuffs and bonjour to global cuisines, food and drink stations, contactless technology and superfast lunch queues. A generational…
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Apr- 2019 -

17 April

Advice

Is it time for your business to use a mobile team app?

The right mobile collaboration apps (also known as digital internal communication platforms) can deliver a wide range of benefits for any catering and hospitality company. Better internal communications creates employees who are more engaged, productive, happier, and more likely to stay with their employer. A team app should be a…
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Mar- 2019 -

14 March

Advice

The impact of location on business

According to Keystone, London is “ideal for headquarters and central offices,” and this is partially because London attracts a fair amount of executive talent, and partially because of the prestige that the city offers. For example, there is a ring designing company called 77 Diamonds, and they enable you to…
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Feb- 2019 -

28 February

Opinion

How AI will disrupt the service industry in 2019

Before we begin, it’s important to define what is meant by artificial intelligence. When mentioned in the media, AI can mean anything from machine learning in supply chain programming to robot baristas serving your morning flat white. According to IBM, artificial intelligence (AI) refers to systems that can actually ‘understand,…
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