Events of the Jubilee weekend boost sales in the off trade First glance at the results from the weekend indicate that the 200,00+ local events held to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee resulted in a bumper weekend for the off trade, but has left the on trade feeling “disappointed”. In line with PROOF’s Jubilee weekend predictions, consumers used the opportunity of the long weekend to catch up with friends and family, with 2 out 5 consumers doing just that. With 43% of consumers celebrating in their homes, it is no surprise that the off trade won out during the Jubilee weekend. Sales grew +6.5% week-on-week driven by food (+7.7%) and rose +4.3% year-on-year. Off trade sales the weekend of the Jubilee pull ahead of all previous years including the successful start of summer 2020. There was positive news for the drinks on trade; the Jubilee weekend boosted performance in managed outlets on Weds 1st and Thurs 2nd as consumers kicked their weekend off out in the trade. However, Saturday and Sunday volumes were -18% and -27% below the 2019 equivalent weekend as just 14% of consumers went to a pub or bar at some point over the weekend and 8% went to a restaurant. The allure of longer opening hours in the on trade was not enough to tempt consumers away from BBQs, street parties, Big Lunches and general get togethers in people’s streets, houses and gardens. PROOF also predicted that British drinks brands and produce such as Gin and English Wine had a good opportunity to emerge triumphant from the weekend given the renewed patriotism the country experienced, watch out for further analysis on the drinks winners and losers from the PROOF team. Source: PROOF Insight, Spirits Business, The Morning Advertiser, IRI, CGA Drinks Recovery Tracker |
As hospitality businesses struggle for staff; some operators turn to tech Hospitality in the UK continues to struggle with staff shortages as vacancies reach 10%, stemming from the loss of European workers caused by Brexit and the Coronavirus pandemic. Lack of staff has forced many businesses to operate with reduced menus and opening hours, contributing to economic activity in hospitality being suppressed by £22bn, as estimated by UKHospitality. Medium to long-term solutions could take the form of new educational pathways into the industry – as proposed by UKHospitality’s new workplace strategy. Other establishments have looked for shorter-term solutions to the problem, with Bella Italia trialing robot waiters. “BellaBot” can make up to 400 table deliveries each day, with staff or customers required to load and unload the produce. There are currently 60 similar robots operating in 20 businesses across the UK according to Eric Guo, chief executive of Spark, the UK distributor for these robots. The robot costs £14,500 per unit whereas an employee working 30 hours per week on national living wage would cost £14,820 per year, demonstrating the potential cost savings over multiple years for technology that can ‘work’ limitless hours. These attractive cost benefits suggest that more and more businesses are likely to add robots to their workforce in the coming years. Source: UKHospitality; The Caterer; Daily Mail; The Guardian; TheBusiness Deck; Business Live |
Lenders lose confidence in sector SME’s but wins for competitive socialising Post coronavirus loan schemes, bank lending to hotels, restaurants, pubs and bars has fallen from £16bn in March 2021 to £14.6bn in April 2022. The lending drop of £1.4bn has been cited by business advisers and chartered accountants Hazlewoods as banks backing away from lending to SME’s in the hospitality sector, which they now perceive as weakened significantly by recent inflation, cost of living squeeze and lockdown closures thus posing a higher risk of default. However, as reported in our mergers & acquisitions section each week, there is still confidence in the sector as many regional and national groups expand and snap up closed sites. Those with a compelling proposition such as activity bars seem to be gaining investment backing; something which has worked for and against groups such as Revolution. Group Chief Exec, Rob Pitcher, explains “We recently lost out on a site we really wanted because the landlord wanted a competitive socialising offer rather than a bar, and competitive socialising seems to be the flavour of the month with some landlords”. Competitive gaming has been a hospitality trend the group have been quick to explore; their first foray Playhouse, an arcade and tabletop gaming concept, launched in the former Revolution site in Northampton. The group cites “much higher profits” on the same amount of sales and therefore will be opening a second Playhouse site soon. Source: Propel, Morning Advertiser |
Investments, Mergers & Acquisitions:
Sources: Big Hospitality, Propel, Langton Capital |
Product Launches & Campaigns:
Sources: Big Hospitality, Propel |