Marston’s reports good start to second half, first half hit by weather; names new chairman; Stephen Oliver to retire: Brewer and retailer Marston’s has reported like-for-likes sales are up 6% in the six weeks to 11 May at its premium and destination pub with food sales up 9%. However, the cold weather and snow meant like-for-like food sales were up 2% in the segment in the first half, with no figures provided for wet sales. Chief executive Ralph Findlay said: “Although the first half of this year has been significantly impacted by the poor weather in January and March, our focus on quality and good service at reasonable prices is what consumers are looking for. This underpins our clearly defined and proved strategy as we continue to drive growth through building new pub-restaurants, developing franchises, and benefiting from market trends in brewing. Trading in the second half year has started well, and we remain confident of achieving our full-year targets.” Franchise like-for-like profits were up by 10% with 600 pubs now operated under franchise. Ale volumes were up 8%. Meanwhile, Marston’s named Roger Devlin as chairman with effect from 1 September 2013, when David Thompson steps down. Devlin is currently chairman of Gamesys (one of Europe’s largest internet gaming businesses), SIS (the sports media group) and Porthaven Nursing Homes. Stephen Oliver, managing director of Marston’s Beer Company, will retire from Marston’s in September 2013 after 18 years’ service with the business. The company stated: “We thank him for his contribution, and wish him well in the development of his future career. Richard Westwood, currently director of supply chain and commercial operations, will succeed Stephen. Richard has extensive experience with Marston’s in brewing, supply chain management and commercial operations.” Company revenue was £358.1m (2012 £342.1m) and underlying profit before tax was £27.6m (2012: £33.5m) reflecting higher finance costs.

Propel and the ALMR head to NRA in Chicago: A group of operators fly to Chicago today to attend the National Restaurant Association show in a visit organised by Propel Info and the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR). Highlights of the trip include a tour of emerging concepts led by research company Technomic. Among the concepts to be visited are: Hash Hash A Go Go, The Meatloaf Bakery, Native Foods Cafe, The Protein Bar, Hannah’s Bretzel, Roti Mediterranean Grill, Argo, Epic Burger and Yolk. A second tour, led by US marketing expert Linda Duke, will visit Rosatti’s Pizza, Zocalo, Xoco, Beard Papa’s and The Purple Pig. The group will also have dinner at ZED451, the restaurant owner by Mitchells & Butlers major shareholder Joe Lewis. Among the companies attending are: Britvic, Beds and Bars, Mitchells & Butlers, CPL Training, Amber Taverns, Excelerate Resources, Bulldog Hotel Group, Mecca Bingo and Risk Capital.

The Financial Times – the appetite for restaurant deals is growing: The Financial Times has reported on the growing appetite for mergers and acquisitions activity in the restaurant sector. The newspaper reported: “A hamburger and chips at gourmet burger chain Byron will set you back about £12. The fancy burger chain itself will cost closer to £100m. Byron’s private equity backers Gondola Group, which also owns PizzaExpress and Italian restaurant group Ask, received the first round of bids for the chain from private equity rivals earlier this month. The potential sale comes as Bridgepoint is poring over the books of French restaurant chain Côte Brasserie in another potential £100m deal. The two possible sales are just the latest examples of the flurry of M&A that has broken out in the restaurant sector this year as more affordable valuations and an improving economic backdrop encourage suitors to get their wallets out. Valuations are, however, starting to creep up again. The top end of Byron’s valuation of £100m is about 12 times the group’s underlying earnings, which are expected to be roughly £8m this year.”

BBC Two to air two new shows featuring the business of running restaurants: Two new BBC Two shows will focus on the trials and tribulations of running a restaurant. London restaurateur Russell Norman will share his rule book with six first-time restaurateurs in The Restaurateur, while The Restaurant Wars in Manchester, follows two top chefs battling it out to try and open the city’s first Michelin-starred restaurant in 30 years. Alison Kirkham, commissioning editor, features & formats, said: “I am delighted to bring three new faces - Russell Norman, Aiden Bryne and Simon Rogan – to BBC Two. BBC Two has a real heritage in food and business. Both of these new programmes will show the real challenges facing the food business and the real passion behind those who are keeping the industry thriving.”

Chris Gerard – smaller companies should be included in tenanted pub company regulation: Chris Gerard, who operates six-strong Innventure, has argued that smaller companies should be included in the proposed statutory regulation of tenanted pub companies. In his response to the current consultation, he stated: “I think the number of pubs is not as relevant as the density. Small brewers control pockets of pubs, their density can be so great that the market works poorly, particularly in terms of consumer choice. All small brewers and small (tenanted) pub companies should be included.”

Hakkasan unveils brand development plans: Hakkasan, the restaurant company founded by Alan Yau that has expanded abroad, has unveiled ambitious plans to develop the brand with further Hakkasan restaurants and ‘elite nightlife’ venues at select locations around the world, as well as day clubs, spas, boutique hotels and other hospitality and lifestyle offerings. The announcement comes shortly after the launch of its first branded entertainment and nightlife venue Hakkasan Las Vegas at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino. Hakkasan’s portfolio also includes the Yauatcha, Sake no Hana and HKK brands, which are anticipated to grow as part of the expansion. Certain new brands may also be developed. Hakkasan has engaged HKK Hospitality to oversee both its existing portfolio as well as the evolution of the brand in line with the strategic vision. HKK Hospitality’s chief executive Neil Moffitt has significant experience in the hospitality and lifestyle industry, including his role as head of Las Vegas entertainment and nightlife company, Angel Management Group. Moffitt currently manages the Hakkasan Las Vegas nightclub, an 80,000-square-foot curated experience combining Hakkasan’s fine dining experience with a ‘beautifully designed five-level nightclub and entertainment venue. “The highly successful opening of Hakkasan Las Vegas clearly demonstrates how well this brand translates into nightlife. The goal now is to build upon that success. Hakkasan is a fantastic brand with amazing potential and a very strong team, and we believe we can now translate the brand’s core standards to new offerings, including boutique hotels, a resort concept, spas, day clubs and additional nightclubs, while respecting Hakkasan’s foundation in excellence of design and service,” said Moffitt.

Bravo Inns lines up two more sites: Bravo Inns, the north west operator of 33 community pubs led by Ken Buckley, has two more sites in legals. The company, backed by private equity firm Albion Ventures, is also currently refurbishing The Black Horse in Warrington and The Red Lion, in Leigh, Lancashire. Bravo Inns, which achieved a like-for-like sales increase of just under 2% between the start of 2013 and its year-end in March, has bought five of its last eight pubs for under £100,000 – the two sites in legals are also to cost around £100,000. Buckley told Propel: “We always spend more on pubs than we pay for them – the current two refurbishments are costing around £150,000 each. This is not a sexy part of the market – we love pubs with chimney pots around them where you don’t need a car park. We’re a proper community pub company with only one pub in a town centre. Business has been good with our most recent like-for-likes a shade under 2% up - we’re very pleased with that.” Bravo Inns, who senior team includes operations director Mark Dean and finance director Phil Dearden, recently won the BVCA title of best management team in the north west, having been nominated by Albion Ventures. “We were delighted,” said Buckley.

Three more Tiger Bills to open: Three more “East meets West” sites for dining concept Tiger Bills are set to open after franchisee Craig Lewis opened a site in Birmingham at the weekend. Lewis is set to open his second franchise site in Worcester while founder James Eyre will open a site in Taunton and a second franchisee Mustaque Rahmen will open in Whitley Bay. Of his first opening, Lewis said: “People were really impressed with the food, and guests were enthusiastically posting on our Facebook page throughout the evening congratulating the team for a great night - just the start we wanted and hopefully a sign of things to come.”

Simon French – we reiterate our “Buy” recommendation on Restaurant Group shares: Panmure Gordon analyst Simon French has reiterated his  “Buy” recommendation on Restaurant Group shares, with a 560p price target, after the company reported 4.5% like-for-like sales growth in its first 19 weeks. He said: “This is a slightly stronger performance than we anticipated and the group is on track to report a very satisfactory H1 performance. Management has narrowed its opening guidance for 2013 to 30-35 new restaurant openings (from 28-35) and comments that the new site pipeline for 2014 onwards is better than for a number of years. We expect no material change to consensus forecasts on the back of this statement but the strong sales growth and improvement in margins implies the risk is on the upside. The stock trades on a 2013E adjusted EV/EBITDAR of 9.0x and yields 2.7%.”

Ted Tuppen – “we will still sell high quality pubs for the right multiple”: Enterprise Inns chief executive Ted Tuppen has told Propel that the company will still sell high quality pubs if the right multiple of earnings is offered. The company sold just ten high quality pubs for an average of 14 times Enterprise earnings in its first half, compared to 36 in the same period the year before. He told Propel that selling high quality pubs to reduce debt is no longer being “aggressively pursued” but the company would be “silly” not to accept offers at the right level. An offer for a group of three high quality pubs had recently been accepted.

Oakman Inns and Restaurants appoints executive chef: Oakman Inns and Restaurants, headed by Peter Borg-Neal, has appointed Peter Wright as its group executive chef. From 1998 until recently, Wright served as group executive chef at Geronimo Inns, the London pub group owned by family brewery Young’s. During his tenure in this position Geronimo grew from three sites to 34 and was part of the successful team that won several high profile awards and recommendations. Wright has also worked at Payne & Gunter Ltd, London, Oxo Tower, Harvey Nichols, London, Champneys Health Resort, Tring and The Royal Thames Yacht Club, London. Borg-Neal said: “We are delighted that Peter has joined us, after the fantastic job he did at Geronimo alongside the rest of their excellent team. At Oakman we have an even stronger focus on food in our bars and market-town hotels, and the appointment of an executive chef has become increasingly necessary. Peter has long been my first choice for the post and I had to wait until he became available. The wide menu choice, high volumes of food sales and our all day trading concept, mean that our chefs need and deserve the highest levels of training, leadership and support in order to operate effectively.” He added: “Our latest outlet, The Beech House in Beaconsfield, is trading well, averaging over £36,000 net per week in its first four weeks. Furthermore, we are making excellent progress with our planning application in Abingdon-upon-Thames. Peter joins us at an exciting point in our development.” Wright said: “This is a wonderful opportunity to become part of a fast-growing operation and to work with someone as respected and passionate about their food and customer service as Peter Borg-Neal.”

Enterprise Inns to offer licensees free Wi-Fi: Enterprise is to offer licensees free high speed Wi-Fi in partnership with Arqiva. This service will be available free to all customers. Ed Cottrell, commercial director at Enterprise, said: “We are delighted to be exclusively promoting Arqiva to our publicans who, over the coming months, will have the option to access a first rate, free, Wi-Fi service. Wi-Fi is now an expectation, not an option, for most pubs.” Chief executive Ted Tuppen told analysts on Tuesday that Wi-Fi was increasingly important in “attracting people into pubs during the quieter times - the businessman working out on the road can go and work happily on his Wi-Fi knowing that he is getting good quality”. He added: “Having a coffee or a pint of beer or a sandwich while he is doing that – these are all very positive business drivers and we are seeing that even in the relatively small test samples that we started off with.” 

Gastro-pub pioneer Michael Belben opens new pub: Gastro-pub pioneer Michael Belben, who co-founded The Eagle in Farringdon, credited as the first gastro-pub, has opened a new pub, The Three Crowns in Shoreditch. The website states: “The Three Crowns is a stylish new pub opening up in the heart of Shoreditch close to Old Street roundabout. The beautifully designed pub will serve delicious modern British cuisine for breakfast, lunch and dinner - alongside an intricately crafted cocktail menu as well as a craft beer selection.”

Pod launches best-in-class delivery service: Healthy eating chain Pod has launched a new delivery service using an online ordering solution developed by its EPOS provider, Intelligent Business Systems. Customers and businesses can order online from any Pod store. Same day lunch orders are placed before 10am with breakfast orders received before 4pm the previous day. Deliveries are made on foot within a quarter of a mile radius of any of Pod’s 23 central London locations. Online payments are by card or businesses can set up an account. Delivery is free for orders over £25.00. Customers can also order online and collect themselves from their selected Pod store. “We have worked collaboratively with IBS to develop a best-in-class online ordering service, using their expert technical platform as a foundation and then adding bespoke specifications to enhance customer navigation and experience. Post launch, we are continuing to work with IBS on an on-going basis to analyse and refine the service with the aim of exceeding customer expectation,” said Katy Emson, Pod’s director of marketing. “Our stores are very busy at peak periods, and the option of ordering online for delivery or collection reduces customer waiting times in stores. We can also stagger food production for advance orders to less busy parts of the day to maximise operational efficiency. Using an online platform as opposed to the phone or the fax also significantly reduces communication errors, limiting lost operations time in correcting orders,” added Emson.

Stonegate Pub Company makes two more investments: Managed operator Stonegate is working on two more estate investments. The Quart Pot in Runwell, which operates in the company’s Classic Inns segment, re-opens today after a £150,000 refurbishment. The layout has changed to give it a lighter, brighter and more open plan feel. A larger dining space is being created whilst over at the bar a further three cask ale pumps are being installed. Meanwhile, a Yates’s site in Swindon will re-open next Thursday (23 May) after a £160,000 refurbishment.

Former Little Chef manager opens own restaurant: Shelia Feaver is to re-open the Little Chef at Gate Services in Dunkirk, near Faversham, Kent, which closed last year, as her own restaurant, Sheila’s Kitchen today (16 May). The Gate Services’ Little Chef was one of 40-plus Little Chef sites closed and subsequently brought to market by Christie + Co last year. Sheila’s Kitchen is one of a number of sites that have been let to independent roadside restaurant operators — but Feaver is the first former Little Chef restaurant manager to take the plunge. Sheila, who worked at the Little Chef site for 15 years, ten of them as manager, said: “I decided as soon as we were notified of the closure that I wanted to take the site. Of course, it was a decision taken as much with the heart as the head, but our regular customers’ enthusiasm for a restaurant on this site makes me certain the decision is a wise one. One of the hardest parts of the last few months has been turning customers away, but this is also a positive sign for the future.”

 

Palmers of Bridport unveils restaurant plan for flagship Lyme Regis site: Palmers of Bridport has unveiled plans for the derelict Three Cups Hotel in Lyme Regis site that has stood empty for over 20 years. The plans include a landmark new restaurant with letting rooms in the old car park at the back of the site. Palmers chairman John Palmer said: “This is a very expensive project, not least because of the heritage and the underlying geology of Lyme itself. Nevertheless, we have chosen the ‘Rolls Royce’ option because we believe that the town deserves the best investment we can afford.”

Bumpkin to launch fourth site: British restaurant group Bumpkin is set to launch its fourth site on Sydney Street, Chelsea in June. The launch follows the success of venues in Notting Hill and South Kensington, as well as the new Kitchen, Bar & Grill format in Westfield Stratford City. Set in a Georgian townhouse, the restaurant is spread over three floors and has a total of 187 covers, with 65 in The Secret Garden and up to 30 in the private dining room, The Botany Club. The interior reflects the English countryside, taking guests on a journey through the seasons.

Three restaurant brands face delay in St Neots after £8m scheme is built in the wrong place: Prezzo’s Chimchanga brand, PizzaExpress and Restaurant Group’s Frankie & Benny’s brand face delays at a £8m cinema project in St Neots after a design blunder meant the building was built almost a metre out of place. Construction work on the new St Neots cinema and leisure complex had been delayed after contractor Britannia Construction and Developer Turnstone Estates agreed that work had commenced marginally in the wrong location.

Marston’s buys 0.7 acre plot for new pub: Midlands-based Marston’s has contracted to buy a 0.7 acre plot of land from Conygar Investment Company to build a pub at Martello Quays development at Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, subject to planning consent being obtained and other site-related conditions satisfied, the company said. Steve Roberts, head of acquisitions at Marston’s, said: “Marston’s is committed to providing new, quality pub-restaurants across the UK and is delighted to be working with Conygar at the Pembroke Dock site. Our new pubs create significant levels of employment and offer real hubs for locals and visitors to the area to dine, meet and socialise.”

Full speaker list unveiled for Propel Multi Club Conference: The full speaker list has been unveiled for the Propel Multi Club Conference on Thursday 20 June at Oxford Belfry Hotel. Operators of pub, restaurant and foodservice outlets can book up to two free places by e-mailing jo.charity@propelinfo.com. Simon French, leisure analyst at Panmure Gordon, provides an overview of the current state of the UK eating out market - and challenges ahead. Emma Read, of insights firm Horizons, looks at the winners and losers in the UK eating out market – and where the opportunities are. Jason Katz, founder of private equity firm Kings Park Capital, which has live investments in healthy food chain Abokado and juice and smoothie operator Fuel Juice Bars, looks at the investment potential of the sector – and what it is looking for in terms of investment criteria. David Singleton, who oversaw the expansion of Premium Country Dining Group into the UK’s largest gastro-pub chain at Mitchells & Butlers, gives his overview of the ten key issues involved in creating and maintaining a multi-site premium offer. Maurice Abboudi talks about what makes sushi concept K10 unique – the company’s first site takes more than £40,000 per week on limited opening hours. Richard Pope, owner of The Bull’s Head, Repton, Derbyshire, arguably the UK’s finest single site operator, provides an overview of his continuing retail journey, which includes making his own gelato. Jonathan Fornaci, chief executive of Rita’s Ice, the largest Italian Ice concept in the United States looking to expand into the UK, currently operating in 19 states with over 625 outlets, explains what sets apart the company’s offer. The company operates its own Cool University, a state-of-the-art research and development and training facility where franchisees and ‘treat team’ managers learn the ‘art of happiness’. David McHattie, the new chief executive of the ALMR, provides insights on the unique retail experience at his Punch Taverns pub The Devonshire Arms in Baslow, Derbyshire and talks about benchmarking customer service against the best in the sector and the importance of net promoter scores. Jens Hofma, chief executive of Pizza Hut, will explain how the company is being turned around in the wake of its acquisition by Rutland Partners. Jacques Borel, who is campaigning to reduce VAT to 5% in the UK hospitality industry, JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin and Jens Hofma will talk about progress in the campaign and plans going forward.