Category Archives: Hospitality industry

Retailers in UK plan to cut staff hours and jobs amid rising employment costs

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BRC survey finds finance bosses expect technology to improve productivity, with 69% pessimistic about the economy

UK retailers are planning to cut staff hours and jobs amid rising employment costs and pessimism about the economy.

Almost two-thirds (61%) of finance bosses at retail companies said they planned to reduce working hours or cut overtime, according to the latest survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the trade body that represents most big retailers. More than half (55%) said they would cut head office jobs and 42% said they would reduce jobs in stores.

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Can you have a community without craic? Scholars of Ireland’s pubs warn of declining numbers

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Two new books analyse what makes the ‘perfect pub’ and both come to a sobering conclusion: Irish pubs are in trouble

Like triple-distilled whiskey, Irish pubs appear to have timeless appeal. They are staple setting in films, books and plays, draw tourists to Ireland, replicate themselves around the world and induce social media quests for the perfect snug and the perfect pint.

Scholars have now bestowed academic imprimatur on this cultural treasure status by examining – and celebrating – pubs through the lens of history, sociology, architecture, psychology, design, art and literature.

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Pub chain Mitchells & Butlers faces £130m hit from rising wage and food costs

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Group, which also owns restaurant brands including Toby Carvery, feels impact of increase in employer NICs

The All Bar One owner, Mitchells & Butlers, has warned that it is facing about £130m in extra costs over the next year because of a soaring wage bill and rising food prices.

The group, which also owns brands including Toby Carvery, Harvester and Miller & Carter, said the cost increases were largely being driven by April’s increases to the minimum wage and employers’ national insurance contributions.

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Wetherspoon’s to open first pub in Spain – offering garlic prawns and beer from 6am

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Opening in Alicante airport is the chain’s first move into mainland Europe, and will offer outdoor drinking

Wetherspoon’s is to open its first pub outside the UK and Ireland, serving alcohol from 6am every day to sun-seeking Britons waiting for their plane in the departure lounge at Alicante airport.

The opening in Spain, scheduled for January, will be the first foray on to continental European soil for the pub chain, which said it expects to pursue more footholds on the continent in the coming years.

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Toby Carvery owner urged to fund ‘life support’ for felled Enfield oak

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Sprinklers could save 500-year-old tree that had branches cut off without authorisation in April, says expert

The restaurant chain Toby Carvery is being urged to pay for life support for an ancient oak tree that its owner had chainsawed last spring to widespread public dismay.

Experts say the trunk of the 500-year-old tree, on the edge of a Toby Carvery car park in Whitewebbs Park, Enfield, has shown signs of regrowth, despite its branches being sawn off by the restaurant’s contractors in April.

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Business rates rise would put hundreds of big shops at risk, say UK retailers

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Concern for ‘anchor tenants’ as trade body warns that stores could put up prices or cut jobs to protect profits

Up to 400 large shops are at risk of closure with as many as 100,000 jobs at risk if the government goes ahead with plans to hit stores with higher business rates, retailers have warned.

Some of the UK’s largest retail premises, including supermarkets and department stores, would face higher property tax charges under new rules being considered by the government before November’s budget.

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One in four UK late-night venues have closed since 2020, figures show

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Industry body calls for urgent tax cuts to save ‘cornerstones of community life’ and halt rise of ‘night-time deserts’

More than one in four late-night venues have shut their doors since 2020, figures show, prompting lobbyists to warn that the UK faces a worrying rise in “night-time deserts” without urgent tax cuts.

Nearly 800 late-night businesses have been forced to close over the past five years, according to the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), representing a 26.4% contraction in the late-night sector overall. That compares with a 14.2% contraction across the wider hospitality sector.

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‘We’re publicans’: County Limerick community forms syndicate to save village’s last pub

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Group in Kilteely pooled savings to buy bar and licence and ‘everybody brought something to the table’

A century ago, the County Limerick village of Kilteely had seven pubs but one by one they shut. This year, it braced to lose the last.

The economic and social trends that have shuttered family-run pubs across Ireland appear remorseless, leaving many communities with nowhere to meet, have a drink and share stories.

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Soho House members’ club to go private in $2.7bn deal as Ashton Kutcher joins board

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MCR Hotels to lead new equity investors in members’ club chain after four years on New York stock exchange

The members’ club chain Soho House has agreed a $2.7bn (£2bn) deal to take it private after a tricky four years listed on the New York stock exchange.

New York-based MCR Hotels will lead new equity investors in the chain of clubs as part of a deal that will involve it ditching its stock market listing.

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KFC plans to invest £1.5bn in UK and Ireland, creating thousands of jobs

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Fast-food chain’s plan on back of booming fried chicken market includes opening 500 new restaurants

KFC is to invest almost £1.5bn and create thousands of jobs in the UK and Ireland over the next five years, as the fast-food chain seeks to capitalise on the booming popularity of fried chicken.

The chain, which is celebrating its 60th year of operations in the UK, said it plans to invest £1.49bn to grow and upgrade its existing 1,000-outlet estate.

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Profits fall at Premier Inn owner Whitbread on drop in UK bookings

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Shares rise on promises to return £2bn to investors through buybacks and dividends, and more hotel openings

Profits at the Premier Inn owner Whitbread have fallen after it was hit by higher costs and a drop in UK bookings, but shares rose on the promise of a share buyback and more hotel openings.

Britain’s largest hotel group, which owns 852 hotels in the UK and 61 in Germany, reported a 14% fall in adjusted pre-tax profit to £483m for the year to 27 February. Revenues dipped by 1% to £2.9bn, as revenue per available room in the UK was down by 2%.

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Pubs in England and Wales allowed to stay open later for VE Day anniversary

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Venues to remain open until 1am as PM urges UK to come together to mark 80th anniversary on 8 May

Pubs will be allowed to stay open until 1am to celebrate the 80th anniversary of VE Day, the UK prime minister has announced.

The government will allow pubs in England and Wales to close at 1am on 9 May to allow drinkers to continue celebrating into the early hours.

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Uyghur rights group calls on hotel chains not to ‘sanitise’ China abuses in Xinjiang

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Growth in international hotels coincides with government effort to push region as a tourism destination

Almost 200 international hotels are operating or planning to open in Xinjiang, despite calls from human rights groups for global corporations not to help “sanitise” the Chinese government’s human rights abuses in the region, a report has said.

The report by the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) identified 115 operational hotels which the organisation said “benefit from a presence in the Uyghur region”. At least another 74 were in various stages of construction or planning, the report said. The UHRP said some of the hotels also had exposure or links of concern to forced labour and labour transfer programmes.

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Gail’s to drop soya milk surcharge after campaign by Peta

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UK bakery chain says it will offer free soya with coffee or tea from 21 May but will still charge for oat milk

The bakery chain Gail’s is to drop its soya milk surcharge after a campaign by a leading animal rights charity argued the fee “unfairly discriminated” against customers.

Gail’s will offer free soya from 21 May, but will continue to charge between 40p and 60p if costumers want oat in their coffee or tea.

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Turkish opposition leader calls for weekly rallies and deeper economic boycott

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Özgür Özel expanded call to boycott companies perceived as close to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Turkey’s anti-government protesters are weighing their options, amid calls by the main opposition leader for weekly rallies, a growing economic boycott and a groundswell of fired-up student demonstrators determined to stay on the streets.

The leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Özgür Özel, expanded a call to boycott goods and services from companies perceived as close to the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, during a rally in support of the jailed Istanbul mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu.

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UK ministers need to ask why they are offered freebies – and who loses out

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Firms who wine and dine officials may gain a seat at the policymaking table while the third sector is squeezed out

Ministers from Keir Starmer downwards have sometimes seemed perplexed about what they see as the fuss made over their acceptance of hospitality in the last nine months.

From their point of view, free tickets to concerts and sporting events are a paltry form of compensation for the disruption to their private lives that comes from being a frontline politician.

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Nearly 500 cat figurines stolen from Gordon Ramsay’s London restaurant

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By Ramsay’s own estimate, he has lost more than £2,000 during one week in stolen maneki-neko cat models

Nearly 500 cat figurines were stolen in one week from Gordon Ramsay’s new London restaurant, the TV chef has said.

The restaurateur, 58, recently launched Lucky Cat 22 Bishopsgate by Gordon Ramsay in one of London’s tallest buildings, which features the beckoning Japanese cat models called maneki-neko.

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Chiltern Firehouse luxury hotel blaze caused by falling wood from pizza oven

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Fire broke out on Valentine’s Day, partially destroying London venue that had been due to host Bafta party

A fire that tore through a luxury London hotel popular with celebrities was caused by wood falling from a pizza oven.

The Chiltern Firehouse, which had been due to host a post-Bafta film awards party on Sunday evening, was partially destroyed by the fire on Friday

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Luxury London hotel Chiltern Firehouse evacuated after fire breaks out

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Firefighters from across the capital sent to popular venue

The popular celebrity venue Chiltern Firehouse in London will remain closed until further notice after a fire forced about 100 people to evacuate on Friday lunchtime.

The London fire brigade (LFB) said 125 firefighters and 20 fire engines attended the blaze at the restaurant and luxury hotel on Chiltern Street in Marylebone after a 999 call was made at 2.52pm.

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Big shot: Belfast hotel launches ‘life-changing’ £1,000 cocktail

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A £750 mai tai previously earned the city centre bar the title of world’s most expensive cocktail

Spending a grand on an unforgettable experience might not feel extreme for people keen to shake up their routines. But what if it doesn’t involve falling through the skies, or even going outside at all?

“A life-changing experience” is the promise of one Belfast hotel’s £1,000-pound cocktail, launched as part of a new drinks menu.

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