Story of the day:
JD Wetherspoon moves to explode male working class usage myth; but figures reveal severity of site Ebitda erosion: JD Wetherspoon has moved to explode the myth that it has a narrow working class customer base. The company has reported the results of PeachBrandTrack research that shows 55 per cent female usage, with 52 per cent of its customers in the ABC1 category. A total of 25 per cent of patrons are in the 24-34 age bracket with 52 per cent aged between 35 and 64. Around 17 per cent of customers are aged 18-24. The company also revealed an even spread of usage throughout the day – 34 per cent if its customers use it for lunch while 38 per cent frequent it after 8pm. Friday and Saturday is significantly the most popular days to visit a JD Wetherspoon venue – 47 per cent of all visits are on Friday and Saturday with a further 15 per cent of all visits on Sundays. The CPL Training Customer Satisfaction Index, a survey of 5,000 customers conducted by Propel Info, found JD Wetherspoon scored higher than a number of more upmarket brands and broadly at the same level as Loungers and Loch Fyne. The company’s financial trends figures, however, show the extent of site Ebitda erosion in the past five years. The company made site Ebitda of £219,000 per pub in 2007, which fell to £212,900 in 2009. Site Ebitda since then has fallen sharply to £194,900, a drop of £18,000 per annum per site despite an average sales increase of £57,000 per annum to £1,401,000 and a £24,100 drop since 2007.
Did you know that 37 companies in the sector turnover in excess of £100m per annum? The Propel Info Hospitality Sector Turnover and Profits Blue Book ranks the 200 leading pub, restaurant and foodservice companies in the UK by turnover and profit, provides a five-year overview of performance and lists directors’ salaries. To buy a copy e-mail Jo Charity or Sharon Dickinson on
jo.charity@propelinfo.com or
sharon.dickinson@propelinfo.com
Industry news:
Qype signs partnership with Hungry House: Qype, the consumer review site, has signed an exclusive partnership with the restaurant listing and delivery service, HungryHouse.co.uk. More than 25 million Qype customers now have access to HungryHouse’s ordering system direct from the Qype platform, allowing them to place their takeaway orders directly online or through the Qype app. The partnership will see the two companies collaborate on business development, marketing and sales initiatives. Visitors to the HungryHouse website and app will see reviews from Qype, and visitors to Qype will be able to click through from a listing to order takeout. “HungryHouse is the ideal partner for Qype and our users. We know that restaurants and takeaways are one of the most searched-for categories on Qype, so adding the option to order food once you’ve read the reviews makes business sense. Ordering food online has never been so easy,” said Richard Dennys, chief marketing officer at Qype.
Technomic research finds older customers prefers to dine-in: Research by Technomic has found that nearly half (48 per cent) of all of the food consumers order at restaurants in the US is eaten on site. But Technomic found consumers’ preferences for dine-in, takeout and delivery orders differ by generation. The company stated: “Data shows that as consumers age, a larger percentage of the meals they source from restaurants is ordered for onsite dining. These restaurant visits account for the largest proportion of orders placed by Baby Boomers—more than half (52 per cent) of Boomers’ restaurant occasions include dine-in service. In comparison, fewer than half of all restaurant orders placed by Millennials (44 per cent) and Gen Xers (46 per cent) are for dine-in.”
Food and beverage boost Network Rail: UK station operator Network Rail, which operates turnover leases, has reported that restaurants and bars saw a 8.48 and 8.42 percentage sales growth between April and June this year. Figures were compiled from the results of retailers operating across 580,000 sq ft of retail space (520 units) at 17 of Britain’s busiest stations owned and operated by Network Rail, where combined annual footfall exceeds a billion. Property director David Biggs reported bad weather and engineering works affected trade. But he added: “The fact we are still able to post an increase in revenue shows our stations still provide some of the most lucrative trading environments available to retailers today.” The completion of 22,000 sq ft of new retail space across 22 new units in the new concourse at King’s Cross in March this year attracted a host of new brands to the station. This quarter, further additions to the station included Patisserie Valerie. After its first quarter of trading, the new space at King’s Cross has reported total sales in excess of £8 million.
Starbucks at home Verisimo machine: Starbucks UK is launching its Verisimo System at-home machine online tomorrow as a rival to Nespresso and Tassimo machines. The new machines cost between £149 and £349 and packs of 12 pods will sell for £5.99 – or around 50p a cup. The system goes on sale in Starbucks stores on 2 November.
E-petition duty escalator poised to hit target: The beer duty escalator e-petition is poised to hit the 100,000 signatures required to trigger a House of Commons debate. The e-petition is only 210 signatures away from the 100,000 total, with 99,790 signatures at 7am this morning.
Company news:
Starbucks UK signs “I” deal: Starbucks has signed a deal to allow the Independent to sell its “I” daily newspaper at 600 sites throughout the UK. The ‘I’ will be on sale six days a week, with The Independent on Sunday taking its place on the seventh day. The newspaper replaces News International’s The Times - Starbucks has also previously sold The Guardian and Observer titles. The campaign is aimed at encouraging trial among busy 25-44 year old professionals, and aims to counter the fact that “people do not have a need to go into newsagents anymore”, according to Independent group chief executive Andrew Mullins.
Be At One sets opening date for thirteenth site: Cocktail bar chain Be At One, which secured £8m of investment for Piper Private Equity last November, has set an opening date on Wednesday 3 October for its new Gresham Street site, the thirteenth in the chain. The venue will serve food overseen by Ossie Gray, a former general manager of the River Café restaurant, which was overseen by his mother Rose Gray. The menu will focus on light plates and tapas-style dishes. Be At One has invested £650,000 on converting the former Bar Battu restaurant.
JD Wetherspoon gets go-ahead in Stirling (at last) and goes for the double: JD Wetherspoon has won a licence to convert a former tax office in Stirling’s Spittal Street after an appeal – Stirling has a population of 87,000. Members of Stirling Licensing Board voted seven to one in favour of granting the £1.5m plan. Wetherspoon won planning consent last year, but it was rejected by licensing chiefs in February. However, the Watford-based firm has now successfully appealed the decision. The company is also looking to get planning consent to convert a vacant site in King Street to a Lloyds No 1. A spokesman said: “We believe that the addition of two JD Wetherspoon outlets would prove a great asset to Stirling’s social scene as well creating jobs.” Licensing board member Steven Paterson said: “Some of the objections made were frankly ridiculous and clearly motivated by a fear of healthy competition.”
Lucky Onion plans flagship Cheltenham site: Lucky Onion Pub Company has lodged plans to convert a Grade II-listed building in Cheltenham into a restaurant and 12-bedroom boutique hotel. The Lucky Onion Company already owns The Tavern, in Royal Well Place, and The Wheatsheaf Inn, in the town of Northleach. The planning application claims the venue could become one of the town’s most “iconic” buildings. Sam Pearman, co-owner of the Lucky Onion Company, said the new site would be called Crazy Eights – after a Georgian card game in a nod to the building’s architectural heritage. “We just think it is a really exciting opportunity and a good solution for a building which has been empty for far too long,” he said.
Antic applies to turn Crouch End Royal British Legion building into a pub: Antic, the fast-expanding London pub company, is understood to have lodged a planning application to convert Crouch End’s Earl Haig Memorial Hall, the former home of the Royal British Legion, to a pub. The venue was sold at auction for more than a £1 million earlier this year to a property developer. The application includes a request for films and live music to be allowed on the premises, as well as dancing and recorded music.
Spirit receives “excellent” Ofsted inspection: Managed operator Spirit has achieved an “excellent result” from its first Ofsted inspection. The Ofsted inspectors gave the pub company Grade Two status in all areas of its Apprenticeship Programme, which was launched by Spirit just three years ago. The programme was praised for its high success rates and good development of workplace skills, highlighting that career progression is clearly identified for candidates and that many decide to commit to stay with the company for the long term. Mark Peters, head of training and qualifications for Spirit, said: “We are thrilled with our good grade from Ofsted. Within three years we have created a strong, comprehensive and effective apprenticeship programme that is unparalleled in the hospitality sector. As part of our strategy to be the best, we are committed to providing a clear career path for those looking to join the hospitality sector that develops candidates to be the best they can be.”
Hogs Back Brewery seeks head of sales: Hogs Back Brewery, headed up by Rupert Thompson, is looking for a head of sales to join the senior management team and drive innovation and growth within the core brand portfolio. The position is “responsible for sales across all channels, the short term focus will be supporting the great reputation of the Hogsback brands in their Surrey heartland”.
No Saints to open Norwich venue this weekend: No Saints, the nightclub company headed by former Luminar chief executive Stephen Thomas, is to re-open the former Luminar site Project in Norwich as a Wonderland venue this weekend. Project was one of the company’s big investments when Luminar was run by Simon Douglas prior to administration. Project closed at the end of March after the Luminar Group failed to come to an agreement with the site’s landlords, X-Leisure, to reduce its rent. The club, formerly Lava Ignite and Time, has since been left unused as X-Leisure searched for new owners for the site. A spokesman for No Saints said: “At a time where clubs and live music venues are closing up and down the country, Wonderland is committed to bringing high-end clubbing and live music experiences to music lovers at affordable prices and this is part of a long-term vision to open Wonderland venues throughout the UK.”
ETM Group teams up with Hotel Chocolat: ETM Group, the London gastro-operator headed by Tom and Ed Martin, has teamed up upmarket chocolate retailer ETM Group to celebrate National Chocolate Week (Monday 8 to Sunday 14 October 2012). Two RTM Group sites, The Botanist on Sloane Square and Chiswell Street Dining Rooms near Barbican, will be serving an exclusive range of Hotel Chocolat hot drinking chocolates and cocktails. They include: The Ultimate Hotel Chocolat (£4.00) – “a divine minty option combines caramel Liquid Chocolat with hazelnut syrup and refreshing fresh mint tea”.
Cambridge council explains lack of action on Greene King pub sale: Cambridge City Council, which has a policy of providing planning protection to pubs in danger of conversion to other uses, has explained its lack of action over Greene King’s sale of gay community favourite, The Bird in Hand on Newmarket Road – it’s set to become an estate agent. A spokesman said: “The main threat to the permanent loss of a pub is its conversion to higher value uses such as residential development. Our approach is to allow public house sites to resist change to higher land use values while allowing some degree of flexibility to those less viable public houses by allowing them to convert to alternative uses, while retaining the opportunity for a public house to return.”
Isle of Wight’s oldest nightclub to close: The Isle of Wight’s oldest nightclub, Colonel Bogey’s in Sandown, is to close in November after 40 years in business. Wayne Peak, who owns the site, said: “There have been a few contributing factors, including the smoking ban, the recession, lack of summer visitors and the increase in government duties and license fees.”
Giraffe opens concept with new name in Huddersfield: Giraffe, founded by Juliette and Russel Joffe, has opened a new concept, Burgers and Cocktails by Giraffe, at Castleford’s Xcape complex in Huddersfield. It’s described as a “revolutionary restaurant that brings power to the patty and might to the margarita”. It offers four types of burger: British beef, ground turkey, grilled chicken breast or veggie. Selected cocktails are 50 per cent off between 5.30pm and 7pm. The venue is based on a similar format operated by Giraffe in London’s James Street but is the first to carry the Burgers and Cocktails by Giraffe name.
Evening Standard hail simplicity of Soho House Chicken Shop: The London Evening Standard has praised the simplicity of Soho’s House’s chicken-focused Chicken Shop offer. Critic David Sexton stated: “The smarter you are, the simpler you can be. In deepest hicksville, the restaurants are nearly always pretentious and usually bad. Only in London could a place as plain and good as this feel right. It’s the height of sophistication, funnily enough. Chicken Shop, in the basement underneath the recently opened third branch of Pizza East, more or less opposite The Vine, is the latest opening from Nick Jones’s Soho House Group — and it is, let us not mince our words, a bloody marvel. No-choice or small-choice menus are all the rage this year — but not many take the principle quite as beautifully far as Chicken Shop. It makes Mark Hix’s chicken and steak joint Tramshed look conceited and overcomplicated.”
Costa coffee opening swamped with 800 applicants: More than 800 people have applied for one of 10 jobs at a new Costa Coffee outlet in Nottingham’s Long Eaton. The new Costa outlet in Market Place opens tomorrow after work began to revamp the store – previously a charity shop – in August. A Costa spokesman said: “The job market is tough all across the country, and anything that we can do to help that is important. Long Eaton has suffered since large national retailers left the high street, including the recent closure of Superdrug.”
Third new-look Beefeater opens: Whitbread has opened its third new-look Beefeater in Birmingham’s Hagley Road. The first two sites were opened on the Eureka Leisure Park, Ashford and Burton on Trent. The company states on its website: “We’ve given our restaurants a jolly good shake-up with a lick of paint, some comfy furniture and a few pink cows – you’ll be amazed at the difference.” Frontal signage now features a US-style pink cow to stress the beef credentials of the brand.
Walkabout operator Intertain invests £1m in Cardiff site: Walkabout operator Intertain has re-opened its Cardiff site after a £1m refurbishment. The refurbishment includes a brand new ‘Reef Bar’ and a new mezzanine level ‘Surfers Bar’. Cardiff follows the redevelopment this year of the Walkabout venues in Hanley, Liverpool, Watford and Temple, as well as the creation of Maluko, a brand new Tiki bar in Leeds, bringing the total number of refurbishments to ten. Chief executive John Leslie said: “We aim to create a great atmosphere in our venues and ensure customers have a fantastic time, whatever their reason for visiting. I’m sure that the redevelopment of Cardiff, our biggest refurbishment in the programme, will show the great return on investment seen by the other refurbished venues.” The venue re-opened on Thursday 13 September.
A total of 263 Punch pubs make the Good Beer Guide: Punch Taverns is celebrating a record number of pubs featuring in the UK’s best selling beer and pub guide - The Good Beer Guide 2013. The Good Beer Guide features 263 Punch pubs from across the UK, with 181 pubs making it into the guide for the second year or more. Punch Buying Club director Andy Slee said he was delighted that so many Punch pubs had made it into the guide and were serving great beer in their community. “It’s fantastic to see more and more Punch pubs featuring in the guide, especially as the pub numbers in our estate are decreasing,” he said.
Brighton operators secure third site: The successful team behind the Brighton nightlife stalwarts ‘Madame Geisha’ and ‘Haunt’, have secured their third site at the former Albert & Pearl bar on Upper Street, Islington for a Victorian-style unique ‘experimental drinking, dining, art and live entertainment’ venue through leisure property advisors Davis Coffer Lyons. The three-storey 20th century building, one of London’s first music halls, was assigned for the remainder of a 25 year tied lease from 2007, for a premium of £165,000. The passing rent for the 3,600 sq ft property is £75,000 per annum, and benefits from a 4am licence. Led by Damian Frizzell and Jennifer Anderson-Mann, House of Wolf will feature vaudeville cabaret and literary salons as part of its entertainment roster, an ‘apothecary bar’, two dining areas and a ‘Wolf Den’ bar. Scheduled to open on 5 October, the venue will also be running a permanent series of one-of-a-kind, monthly pop-up chef residencies, showcasing some of the UK’s most exciting chefs and culinary artists.
Luminar turns away from branded nightclubs in favour of bespoke approach: The UK’s largest nightclub company Luminar has turned away from branded nightclubs in favour of bespoke sites for individual towns. The company is set to re-open its fourth unbranded site in Crawley next month, a former Liquid Envy after a £1m investment. It will be called Moka and move upmarket from its predecessor. Chief executive Peter Marks, said: “In the past, the business model was to have brands of nightclubs across the country, but we are now looking to give them a bespoke feel and make them individual to the town they are in. In Crawley’s case, Liquid Envy had reached the end of its life and was in need of re-invention. Moka will have a state-of-the-art lighting rig supplying the wow factor. This will be one of the first places in the country to have it. The full LED lighting directly over the dance floor will look fantastic. It is a brilliant set up.” The new nightclub will also have a new outdoor smoking area. The smaller Envy part of the nightclub will remain closed for a year while Luminar observes the success of Moka. The Crawley venue closed last November when Luminar went into administration. It also had its opening hours cut to curb drink-related crime and disorder in October.”I know that things got difficult in Crawley but at the time the company didn’t have the money to reinvest in its sites that needed help,” said Marks. Luminar has already opened three unbranded nightclubs after investment. It re-opened its York site as Kuda after a £750,000 last month and in Aberdeen, a former Liquid in Bridge Place has re-opened as The Institute after a £1.2m refurbishment. In Edinburgh, a Lava/Ignite has reverted to its original name, The Cavendish, from 20 years ago. Another four nightclubs will receive refurbishments before Christmas – Eastbourne, Gloucester, Romford and Hanley. Existing brand names are likely to be retained at minor refurbishments where the brand name is “unsullied”, Marks told Morning Briefing. In an August Propel Morning Briefing Friday Opinion, Marks wrote: “For all the best management practices, you cannot win a loyal and regular customer if you are running tired and out-of-date premises, and this was at the heart of the problem in the first place. Much trade was lost to bars and newer clubs, but it can be won back again with a good refurbishment, sensible pricing and good management. There are plenty of examples of this and many successful clubs, yet there are those that think nightclubs can’t survive in this market. I completely disagree. The latent potential within the estate is huge. We have well-located premises and with sensible investment we will transform the clubs.”
Peter Marks is speaking at the ALMR autumn debate on 4 October in Nottingham on: Vouchers and deals, what next for the industry? To buy a ticket call 0208 5792080 or e-mail msteinhofel@almr.org.uk
