Extra 100,000 visitors expected amid £1bn lift for UK hospitality in May helped by coronation, bank holidays and Eurovision
Liverpool is likely to receive a £40m boost as tens of thousands of Eurovision fans descend on the city to celebrate the annual song contest next week.
Liverpool, which saw off Glasgow to be chosen as host after last year’s winners, Ukraine, were unable to hold the event amid Russia’s invasion, is expecting an influx of visitors.
Continue reading...Tensions between residents and revellers have reached boiling point after loosening of serving restrictions during Covid
The sun has barely set when the music starts thumping on Madrid’s Calle Ponzano. As queues start to form outside the already heaving bars, the party spills out on to the pavement, leaving customers jostling for space with an ever-growing cacophony of smokers and passersby.
Lost in the fray is the brightly lettered message – pleading with punters to keep the noise down – from banners that flap from balconies above. It is a last ditch effort by those who have found themselves living on the frontline of a battle playing out across Spain as exhausted neighbours face off against raucous drinkers.
Continue reading...Tim Martin says Bank of England is right to ask firms to be mindful but advice should not be taken too literally
The boss of JD Wetherspoon has warned it could be “catastrophic” for pubs and restaurants to hold off raising prices as costs continue to soar, as the pub chain revealed that the “ferocious” impact of inflation has fuelled a dramatic increase in its bills.
Tim Martin said that Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, was right to warn companies to be mindful of how much they put up prices to avoid continuing to fuel an inflationary cycle, after the headline annual rate unexpectedly rose to 10.4% last month.
Continue reading...Owner of Night & Day is taking Manchester city council to court in hope it will drop notice served 18 months ago
Much-loved Manchester music venue Night & Day will be back in court this week appealing against a noise abatement notice brought by an adjacent flat.
The owner of the bar, a fixture of the city’s Northern Quarter for 30 years, is taking Manchester city council (MCC) to court in the hope it will drop the notice served 18 months ago.
Continue reading...Heritage and property groups outline plan to boost energy efficiency at historical sites to create jobs, cut emissions and meet net-zero targets
Retrofitting the UK’s historicsl buildings, from Georgian townhouses to the mills and factories that kickstarted the Industrial Revolution, could generate £35bn of economic output a year, create jobs and play a crucial role in achieving climate targets, research has found.
Improving the energy efficiency of historical properties – those built before 1919 – could reduce carbon emissions from the UK’s buildings by 5% each year and make older homes warmer and cheaper to run, according to a report commissioned by the National Trust, Historic England and leading property organisations.
Continue reading...One in five takeaways in some areas of UK did not satisfactorily meet required standards, data shows
Takeaways in poorer parts of England are twice as likely to need improvement in food hygiene as those in wealthier areas, with as many as one in five in some parts of the UK falling below required standards, according to Guardian analysis.
Almost one in 10 takeaways in England’s poorest neighbourhoods did not satisfactorily comply with food hygiene standards, compared with just one in 24 in the richest, according to an analysis of almost 600,000 inspection reports at the beginning of December, 64,000 of them takeaways.
Continue reading...Figure worse than predicted and head of industry body expects ‘more business failures’ in early 2023
The rail strikes have had a worse impact on the UK’s hospitality industry than expected – costing bars, pubs, restaurants and hotels £1.5bn in December alone – according to the head of the body representing the sector.
Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of UKHospitality, said this had contributed to a “perfect storm” for businesses battling high energy bills and a cost of living crisis, adding this meant “undoubtedly we will see more business failures” in the next three months.
Continue reading...Pub and restaurant group Mitchells & Butlers lauds sales rise but warns of risks ahead
The All Bar One owner, Mitchells & Butlers, has lauded recent encouraging sales at the pub and restaurant group but warned that risks from rising food and energy costs lie ahead.
The hospitality chain, which also owns Toby Carvery and Harvester, told shareholders on Wednesday that like-for-like sales had increased by 6.5% since the end of its latest financial year in late September.
Continue reading...Under Victoria’s wage theft laws the Macedon Lounge owner could be jailed if found guilty
A Victorian restaurant faces a potential fine of more than $1m and jail time for its owner, in an Australian-first wage theft case brought over allegations it underpaid workers by thousands of dollars.
The Wage Inspectorate Victoria has deployed the first criminal wage theft charges in Australia, filing a combined 94 against the Macedon Lounge, north-west of Melbourne, and its “officer”.
Continue reading...Closures rise by 60% in past year, including 453 in most recent quarter, says advisory firm Mazars
UK restaurants are going bust at a faster rate than during the Covid crisis owing to a “toxic mix” of surging energy costs, staff shortages and falling bookings.
Closures in the sector rose by 60%, with 1,567 insolvencies over 2021-22, up from 984 during 2020-21, according to a study by the advisory firm Mazars. The figure includes 453 over the past three months, up from 395 in the previous quarter.
Continue reading...Chefs are hoping the concept will tempt diners to spend a little more and fight the cost-of-living crisis
Linden Stores, in the Cheshire village of Audlem, has started a whole sharing menu of modern British food, with two people sharing seven dishes including charred pepper and Cornish Quartz cheddar croquettes, hake wrapped in wild boar pancetta and chocolate and peanut butter tart.
Laura Christie and her partner, Chris Boustead, relocated the restaurant to the village from London in 2020. She has been surprised by the reaction.
Continue reading...Videos appear to show guests rushing to locked gates as strict Covid restrictions return across China
Visitors to Shanghai’s Disney resort were trapped inside for the second time in 12 months after authorities and operators announced a sudden lockdown as part of China’s strict pandemic response.
In a repeat of scenes from across Covid-zero China, viral videos on Monday appeared to show guests rushing to the locked gates of the theme park in an attempt to escape the lockdown. It followed extraordinary scenes on the weekend, with a mass escape of employees from a locked-down Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou, to walk up to hundreds of kilometres to their hometowns.
Continue reading...Pubs, restaurants and hotels threatened by energy bills and food price inflation, survey finds
More than a third of UK hospitality businesses, including pubs, restaurants and hotels, could go bust by early next year as energy bills surge and bookings fall, according to a new survey.
With nearly all businesses saying they face higher energy costs and food price inflation, 35% of respondents to a quarterly hospitality industry survey said they expected to be operating at a loss or to be unable to continue trading by the end of the year.
Continue reading...Nusret Gökçe’s ‘ludicrous’ Nusr-Et Steakhouse charges more than £600 for a tomahawk steak
The London restaurant of Salt Bae, a flamboyant, condiment-sprinkling chef, has reported £7m in sales in its first three months.
Nusr-Et Steakhouse, the outlet at the Park Tower hotel in Knightsbridge known for outrageously priced items such as tomahawk steaks wrapped in gold, also made pre-tax profits of £2.3m in the year to December having only opened its doors in late September, according to accounts filed at Companies House first reported by The National.
Continue reading...Meanwhile £700m of support funds in business rates relief remains unpaid by local councils
Debt repayments, staff shortages and rising energy bills have pushed almost two-thirds of the UK’s top 100 restaurants into the red, according to research that reveals the impact of the pandemic, Brexit and the cost of living crisis on the hospitality sector.
With a recession looming and further increases in energy bills weighing on businesses, a separate report found that £700m of business rates relief remains unpaid with only half of English councils paying out the support funds.
Continue reading...RMT union leaders say ‘no viable’ deals are on the table and walkout is set to go ahead, hitting tourism, sport and festivals
Network Rail bosses say they plan to hold more talks with union leaders today in a last-ditch attempt to avert the biggest strike on the railways for more than three decades.
More than 40,000 rail workers are due to walk out on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Only about half of Britain’s rail network will be open on strike days with a very limited service on lines which are open.
Continue reading...Marston’s phases out ‘two-for-one’ meal offer while Mitchells & Butlers increases prices to cope with rising costs of utilities, wages and food
Two of Britain’s largest pub groups have warned that punters may have to pay more for a meal and see fewer discounts on the menu as they struggle to absorb rising energy and food costs.
The pub and restaurant group Mitchells & Butlers, which runs pub chains including O’Neill’s and restaurant brands such as Harvester, said it was facing a difficult trading environment. Its rival Marston’s said it was working to mitigate inflationary rises through a combination of cost-cutting and “pricing strategies”.
Continue reading...Staff shortages, delays and rising prices are playing havoc with the healthcare, education, farming, hospitality and travel sectors
Although the UK no longer faces the threat of lockdowns or intensive care units being imminently overrun, coronavirus is still disrupting much of society and the economy.
As Britain learns to live with Covid, the virus is still playing havoc with our daily lives, and these difficulties have been compounded by post-Brexit chaos in some in sectors.
Continue reading...Workers took action after share of tips paid on credit and debit cards was cut from 70% to 50% in 2021
Pizza Express waiting staff have won back a bigger slice of their tips after a year-long campaign against a change that handed more to kitchen staff.
The restaurant workers were forced to take action after their share of tips and service charges paid on credit and debit cards was cut from 70% to 50% last year at a time when pay was already under pressure from social-distancing measures that limited the number of diners.
Continue reading...Hospitality, manufacturing and haulage sectors say spring statement falls far short of the help needed
The spring statement did not deliver much to help Lesters, a small but growing packaging company struggling with rising costs.
The Staffordshire-based firm’s energy bills will rise from £7,000 a month to £18,000 when the current contract runs out. Speaking after Rishi Sunak’s spring statement, Lesters’ managing director, Billy Hutchinson, said the chancellor had offered nothing to help on this key issue.
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