Sector leaders write to PM calling for winter economic plan for hospitality’s recovery: Bosses from companies including Azzurri Group, PizzaExpress, Loungers, Greene King, Stonegate Pub Company, Mitchells & Butlers, JD Wetherspoon and The Restaurant Group have written an open letter to prime minister Boris Johnson calling for a winter economic plan for hospitality’s recovery, and for him to review the decision to prevent households from mixing in hospitality venues over Christmas. In the letter, organised by UKHospitality, the sector leaders state the government’s covid winter plan has left hospitality businesses “out in the cold”. They question why the public is being allowed to meet in homes but not “safe, supervised,” hospitality venues over the festive period, “which Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies scientists acknowledge to be safer”. The letter sets out three key points under the heading “Winter Economic Plan for Hospitality’s Recovery”. The first is a “regular, responsive review”. It stated: “We urge you to keep the tiers under regular, weekly review so as not to leave businesses in limbo over this period and for the restrictions on hospitality to be reviewed and relaxed at the earliest opportunity in the new year.” It secondly called for the government to “urgently increase liquidity in businesses facing such a severe loss of income – existing grants are not sufficient to cover the £0.5bn it costs to keep the sector closed or trading at very low level in tier two”. Finally, in terms of securing a recovery, the letter stated: “We can accelerate the pace of recovery out of this crisis at the start of our Easter season, generating jobs, tax receipts and investment in our high streets and communities and ensure we remain internationally competitive if you extend the reduced rate of VAT to the end of the year. and improve our productivity if you extend the business rates holiday.” The letter, which has also been signed by the heads of Accor, Bourne Leisure, Deltic Group and Burger King, concluded: “We want to help the government roll out mass testing. We want to be here to host the party, the wedding, the family celebration. We want to support community well-being in the cold, dark months of the new year. We want to play a leading role in our economic revival. But we won’t be able to do any of this unless your government looks again at both the evidence and our commitment and gives the British public what it needs to get us all safely through the winter. We urge you to help us through the next four months to deliver our shared ambitions for the next four years and beyond.”

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More sector businesses set to be given chance to reopen before Christmas with PM to reform restrictions: Prime minister Boris Johnson is set to reform the new tier system before Christmas after threats by Conservative backbenchers to vote down the government’s plans – giving more pubs and restaurants the chance to reopen. He wrote to MPs, signalling millions of people who will be hit with the toughest restrictions this week will see them eased on Saturday, 19 December, reports The Sunday Times. He announced the new rules would be scrapped altogether in February unless MPs want them to continue. Millions of people whose towns and cities will be placed in tier three this week will be downgraded to tier two. Hospitality businesses, which are forced to close under tier three restrictions, would also be able to reopen and serve those in family bubbles as long as they eat a meal. Johnson wrote: “Where evidence shows the disease is in sustained decline, areas will be moved down.” Those expected to benefit include 16.4 million people living in 88 boroughs in tier three where the covid-19 infection rate is lower than for some areas in tier two. Johnson’s move came after 70 Tory MPs said they were prepared to vote against his plans when they come before parliament on Tuesday (1 December) – putting the new restrictions in jeopardy. “Every local authority area and each region” will be reviewed every two weeks to see whether it should be in a lower tier — a signal the government is abandoning the approach that whole counties must be in the same tier even where they have a huge variance in infection rates. The government will publish the precise criteria needed to ease restrictions and the public will be able to see live data on their town or council, updated online every day. The new tiers will be announced on Thursday, 17 December and come into force two days later. Johnson’s change of heart was hailed as “constructive” by Steve Baker, who leads The Covid Recovery Group with former chief whip Mark Harper. But the move put Johnson on a collision course with scientists and health chiefs. England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty said only last week while tier three would cut infections, tier two was capable only of “holding the line”.

NTIA accuses government of ‘intentionally wiping out sector’ with more than three quarters of industry set to be out of business by Christmas: More than three quarters (75.6%) of night-time economy and hospitality companies will be out of business by Christmas, according to new research. A flash survey of more than 400 businesses by the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) and Sprout CRM also revealed more than 73% of businesses have made redundancies since the start of the pandemic, with 65% already making more than 40% of their workforce redundant. The NTIA warned many more will follow after the announcement of restrictions, ahead of the Christmas period. The survey also highlighted 74.4% of businesses surveyed were commercial tenants with 77.6% of those in rent arrears by more than two quarters. The NTIA said the new restrictions coming in next week “continue to intentionally exclude the night time economy” and the festive period plans will “break the back of thousands of businesses and hundreds of thousands of jobs lost leading into January”. NTIA chief executive Michael Kill said: “This announcement by the government has led us to believe it is intentionally aiming to collapse our sector. Every town and city across the UK stands to lose valued and much loved venues. This will be another stab in the heart of our town and city centres. I make a direct appeal to the prime minister – ‘Mr Johnson, what are you doing to save the lives and livelihoods of the many businesses and workers within the night-time economy, businesses that have been closed since March and are continuing to suffer? They have staff and freelancers that will lose their jobs irrespective of furlough because the businesses won’t survive. What do you say to that prime minister? I hope you are sleeping well at night because thousands within our sector are struggling to sleep, in fear of their future’.”

Sector businesses in Wales to be subject to stricter restrictions in run-up to Christmas: Pubs, restaurants and bars in Wales will be subject to stricter covid-19 restrictions in the run-up to Christmas, first minister Mark Drakeford has said. The new restrictions, which have not yet been finalised, will come into force from Friday (4 December). Cinemas, bowling alleys and indoor entertainment venues will also have to shut before the festive break. Drakeford said action was needed as case rates continued to rise in the run-up to Christmas. But the Welsh Conservatives said any new restrictions would be a “real blow” for businesses that had already “suffered greatly”, while Plaid Cymru said the lack of detail was leaving employers unable to prepare. Alex Reilley, chairman of cafe-bar brand Loungers, tweeted: “Hospitality being thrown under the bus in Wales to ‘create enough headroom’ for Boris’ Christmas. This is an absolute joke.” Pubs, bars and restaurants had only reopened on 9 November after the Wales-wide 17-day lockdown, and are currently made to close at 10pm. Plans for the new rules have not yet been finalised, but BBC Wales reported one option being considered was the “level three” Scottish system, where venues are banned from selling alcohol and have to close at 6pm. Speaking at the Welsh government’s coronavirus briefing, Drakeford said Wales had to use the “coming weeks” to reduce the spread of the virus, to “create more headroom for the Christmas period”. He added: “This does not mean a return to the firebreak arrangements, but the cabinet has agreed to take further specific and targeted action to reinforce the current national measures we have in place.” Non-essential retail, hairdressers, gyms and leisure centres will stay open, it was confirmed. Speaking of the new measures for pubs, bars and restaurants, Drakeford said: “I know this will be a worrying time for all working in the industry. We are finalising the details of the new arrangements and to put in place a further major package of financial support to respond to those changes. I will give further details about the package on Monday (30 November).”

Berkeley Inns MD prepares to permanently ban MPs backing new tier restrictions and urges sector to follow suit: Berkeley Inns managing director Howard Thacker is preparing to permanently ban any MPs that back the introduction of the strengthened tier system from his venues for “murdering the industry” – and urged other operators to follow suit. Berkeley Inns’ sites are in Derbyshire and Staffordshire, which will be under tier three restrictions once lockdown ends on Wednesday (2 December), meaning the venues must stay closed. Thacker told Propel the company’s five outlets have an average turnover of circa £650,000 a month – so the £3,000 a month for closure “doesn’t scratch the surface”. He said: “We served 75,000 meals between lockdowns and during that period, not a single case of covid was notified as occurring in our customers or staff. And now we’ve been forcibly closed through November until at least 16 December and probably through Christmas as well. Only hospitality is singled out for this treatment. In light of the above, we have to fight back against the people relentlessly destroying our livelihoods. I believe we should, as an industry, permanently ban every MP who votes for these latest measures, from ever attending any licenced premises again—preferably including hotels. We will undoubtedly take this action within our group.” MPs are set to vote on the new tier arrangements on Tuesday (1 December).

Hospitality industry groups call for sector-specific support to ‘stave off mass closures and unemployment’: Business groups representing hospitality, retail and leisure businesses have united to launch the “Bounce Back Better” campaign urging government to provide sector-specific support to “stave off mass closures and job losses”. Their manifesto outlines four packages that will “provide a vital lifeline” for hospitality, retail and leisure businesses alike – a one-off grant for businesses, pausing national insurance employer contributions for furloughed employees, extending the business rates holiday for 2021-22, and an extension of VAT reduction scheme. The manifesto follows “intense and thorough” talks with businesses, Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), local authorities and industry bodies to provide options of support to help the UK economy “bounce back better”. It asks the government to provide a one-off “bounce back” grant of up to £15,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in tier two and tier three across England and Wales with a rateable value of up to and including £150,000. This would support 137,000 businesses and delivered in a manner so local authorities are equipped to distribute at a total maximum cost of £2.05bn, the groups said. They have also asked the government to “remove the burden” of national insurance contributions from employers whose staff are on furlough, saving the average business £2,000 per month until 31 March 2021. As well as extending the business rates holiday, they have also called for an extension in the cut in VAT from 20% to 5% up to and including 31 March 2022. Matthew Sims, founder of the “Bounce Back Better” campaign and chief executive of Croydon BID, said: “The government has provided assurances it will do whatever it takes to support British businesses and help them to bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic. Businesses are approaching a cliff-edge and need the government to provide a parachute in sector-specific measures to stave off mass closures and job losses. Now, more than ever, we need the chancellor to stand by his promise to do whatever it takes.”

 

No drinking in the pub when food is finished, says Downing Street: People living under tier two restrictions will not be allowed to linger to drink in pubs and restaurants after eating, Downing Street has announced. Asked how long drinkers can stay in the pub after purchasing “a substantial meal” – now required under law in order to have a drink – a spokesman said: “We’ve been clear, in tier two, you need to have a substantial meal if ordering any alcohol and it remains the case the guidance says that once the meal is finished, it is at that point.” The clarification is likely to be seen as yet another imposition on struggling businesses, as alcohol sales are traditionally where most restaurants and pubs turn the largest profit. The pub sector has been particularly hard hit by the tier two restrictions with “wet-led” businesses being banned from reopening. The news follows the announcement on Thursday (26 November) business lunches will be allowed, and there will be no restrictions on table size for groups from one household or support bubble. Of the no drinking when food is finished clarification, sector investor Luke Johnson tweeted: “The idea government wants to micromanage our daily lives like this shows how utterly power-crazed and deluded it is.”

Government scientists ignored their own findings on ‘low’ covid infection rates: It has been claimed government scientists ignored their own findings on “low” covid infection rates – and ordered pubs and restaurants to close anyway. According to the Daily Mail, an advisory paper on the importance of ventilation in reducing the risk of infection in enclosed spaces was published in September. It looked in particular at “aerosol transmission” – infections due to virus particles contained in tiny droplets of water that are carried a distance in the air when exhaled. The paper, by experts at the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies’ Environmental and Monitoring Group (SAGE-EMG), found there was “currently no evidence” for infecting someone more than two metres away from the spreader in well ventilated spaces. It added: “In most settings the risk of aerosol transmission is likely to be low if the ventilation rate achieves current design standards. For most workplaces and public environments, this equates to a flow rate [of air] of eight to ten litres per second per person.” Building regulations dating to 2005 state enclosed public places – which include pubs and restaurants – must have ventilation systems that provide an air flow rate of at least ten litres per second. Hugo Osmond, founder of Punch and Various Eateries, has argued the SAGE-EMG paper meant restaurants “by nature of their ventilation would qualify as safe”. He said: “Every restaurant that has used a reputable ventilation company will have a system installed that delivers ten litres per person per second.” Osmond, who studied medicine, said restaurants and pubs had been castigated as potential “super-spreader” hubs, due mainly to the potential risk of aerosol transmission, “but this would appear to be contradicted by SAGE's own paper”. The document led to public advice to open windows regularly – but its other findings were not highlighted. UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said: “I'd estimate 80% of pubs and restaurants, and close to 100% of hotels and indoor leisure facilities, meet the ventilation standards.” 

Latest restrictions could leave sector in ‘smouldering ruins’ warn industry bosses: Hospitality bosses have voiced anger at being “scapegoated” by the government and warned the latest covid rules could leave the industry in “smouldering ruins”. Pub and restaurant operators accused ministers of abandoning them and pleaded for more grants as they scrambled to decide which venues to reopen on Wednesday (2 December), when England emerges from lockdown into a tiered system of restrictions. Many said their businesses will collapse without further help. “We feel like scapegoats without the evidence to support what the government is doing,” Stonegate Pub Company chairman Ian Payne told The Sunday Times, blaming the “forces of evil, otherwise known as Boris Johnson”. UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said: “If restrictions last until Easter, many more are likely to fail. We’ll be walking through the smouldering ruins of an industry that was the third-largest in the UK.” Marston’s chief executive Ralph Findlay accused the prime minister of going back on his announcement lockdown would end this week. “It’s another broken promise,” he said. “I don’t know where that leaves us in terms of trust with the government. It’s not great.” For the hospitality industry, the decision to scrap chancellor Rishi Sunak’s job retention bonus, which would have handed businesses £1,000 for each furloughed employee kept on until the end of January, has exacerbated the situation – many had factored the money into their forecasts. “We’ve already spent half of it,” said Will Beckett, co-founder of Hawksmoor. The Treasury said it was already helping businesses with a £280bn support package “among the most generous in the world”, and had boosted its self-employed income support grant.

APPG report calls for extension of VAT cut and business rates for devastated coastal and lakeside communities: Coastal and lakeside communities have been decimated by covid-19 and the VAT cut and postponement of business rates have been vital in keeping workplaces alive, according to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Hospitality and Tourism’s new report – Coasts and Waters. The report shows the impact of the pandemic has been more pronounced on coastal and lakeside regions due to their reliance on tourism, which generates 50% of local employment in some areas. These regions are likely to bounce back more slowly than other parts of the country, with one third of coastal communities yet to recover from the financial crash of 2008. The report stated APPG members want an extension to the VAT cut as well as a business rates holiday for the whole of 2021 to enable businesses to rebound next year. The APPG has called on the government to take further steps, including revitalising the Tourism Sector Deal to create a plan to boost coastal and lakeside communities; commit to a Coasts and Waters strategy as part of its levelling up strategy; and examine ways to increase demand for off-peak tourism. The report also highlights deficiencies in infrastructure, such as the lack of transport links and poor digital connectivity, and a risk of climate change as major concerns. It also recommended there should be a new cabinet position created for a coastal communities minister. APPG chair Steve Double said: “This work has thrown into sharp relief, the devastating effect covid-19 has had on these fantastic, yet precariously balanced regions. Without the assistance we have called for, many businesses and jobs in the hospitality and tourism sectors will not exist by spring 2021. Without these vital industries, coastal and lakeside areas across the UK will be thrown into penury.” Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, which acts as secretariat to the APPG, added: “These businesses tend to account for a significant proportion of the revenue raised in their areas. They are vital attractions for visitors, important hubs for communities and crucial drivers of inward investment. They have not always had the support they need and deserve. Hospitality and tourism businesses are vital parts of communities and will be essential in rebuilding the economy next year and beyond.”

Marks – the government is just paying us lip service: Peter Marks, chief executive of Deltic Group, the UK’s largest nightclub operator, has said when it comes to being the “party of business”, the Conservative Party is just paying the nightclub sector lip service. It comes after talks with ministers last week failed to result in any specific support for the industry. Marks told The Telegraph: “It was clear from our meeting with the government there is still no specific support for our industry, despite sound financial reasons for doing so, with £1 in £3 taken by us going to the Treasury normally.” In a follow-up interview with LBC, Marks was asked whether the Conservative Party was losing the title of the “party of business”? He said: “I can’t see how it’s helping business at all, it pays us lip service, it has meetings with us over Zoom, it appears to be concerned and says it is going to take our case. I just feel we are washed on the shore, collateral damage, not cared about, and small enough to get away with it. We have just got to keep banging on in the hope one day someone might think nightclubs are a really important part of going out, an important part of people’s growing up. To see them die, in the numbers they are going to die would be a travesty, but unless people get behind us I don’t think any government is going to listen to us. We said we were going to run out of money by the middle of December and that hasn’t changed.” Marks said he felt nightclubs were a bit of a “political messaging football”. He said: “We know the right thing to do right now is to remain shut but be given money to survive. Frankly I am almost at the point where it is too late and I can’t see how Deltic can survive now, which is crazy, as we are the largest operator of specialist nightclubs in the country and goodness knows what our future is like. I have to persuade a new set of investors to come in with no opening in sight.” Parties that have expressed an interest in acquiring Deltic include the private equity firm Greybull Capital, and Shoreditch Bar Group, which is working with Steve Thomas, the founder of Luminar, the at-one-time circa 300-strong chain, from which Deltic was born, on a possible bid.

Ireland to allow restaurants and food-led pubs to reopen on Tuesday: Ireland will allow restaurants and pubs serving food to reopen on Tuesday (1 December). Travel between counties will also be permitted from Friday, 18 December to facilitate a “different but special” Christmas, prime minister Micheal Martin said. People can welcome up to two other households into their homes from that date until Wednesday, 6 January. But pubs that just serve drinks will remain shut across Ireland, meaning such venues in Dublin will have pulled their last pint of 2020 in March. Non-food pubs in other counties were briefly allowed to open in September. Health officials credited a mid-October ban on household visits for a sharp fall in infections, although cases have not fallen to the 100 per day officials targeted to keep them low for a sustained period. Ireland reported 206 cases on Friday (27 November).

Second hospitality demonstration to take place next month: There will be a second hospitality demonstration next month as the industry battles on for a fairer deal. HospoDemo will return to London’s Westminster for another protest, having marched in October with about 600 hospitality workers. Last time, restaurateurs including Tom Aikens and Yotam Ottolenghi gathered to express their outrage over the government’s treatment of pubs and restaurants. The next protest will take place in Parliament Square on Monday, 7 December at 11am. All those attending are encouraged to “bring the tools of your trade to make as much noise as possible, so those making the decisions that are killing our industry hear us loud and clear”. Posting on Instagram, the group said: “The latest evidence shows just 2% of covid transmissions can be traced back to hospitality settings, yet the UK government thinks it’s safer to go to a gym, stand in a busy supermarket queue, go Christmas shopping or watch a game of football with 4,000 fans. Just as we were gearing up to reopen our businesses, the new tier restrictions from 2 December make hospitality the scapegoat once again. The loss of vital Christmas trade will be the final straw for many restaurants, bars, pubs and hotels hoping to survive into 2021. Add on ever-increasing rent debt, among other costs, and the future is frightening for tens of thousands of businesses and their employees. While the furlough scheme is enabling hospitality workers to make ends meet, their jobs simply won’t exist once their employers’ businesses fold in the coming months. The government can’t have it both ways – hospitality needs either fewer restrictions or more government support before the unthinkable happens.”

Hotel cancellations surge amid new restrictions: Hotels have suffered a 50% jump in cancellations as prime minister Boris Johnson’s tough new tier system prompts British holidaymakers to abandon winter staycations. The latest restrictions, which have pushed 99% of England under either tier two or tier three rules, have prompted a flurry of cancellations creating further uncertainty for the struggling hotel sector, UKHospitality said. In England, 8,670 of almost 14,000 hotels and guest houses are caught by tier two restrictions, with a further 4,525 forced to close under tier three rules, according to property adviser, Altus Group. Kent, which has been placed in tier three, has been hit particularly badly according to UKHospitality. Local leaders have expressed anger some towns and villages with extremely low case numbers levels were being penalised for soaring numbers elsewhere. Tony Kelly, managing director at Port Lympne Hotel & Reserve near Hythe, Kent, told The Telegraph he will lose out on £250,000 of trade as a result of the restrictions that force his venue to remain closed until Wednesday, 16 December at least. “We had pretty much half a million pounds of business on the books for December and now half of that is just gone – and that doesn’t include the money guests would spend in the parks and restaurant,” he said. Michael Bonsor, who runs the luxury hotel Rosewood London, said the uncertainty surrounding the restrictions meant people were booking at short notice, making it difficult to plan. “The normal lead time on selling a bedroom would be around 30 to 40 days but we’re looking right now at zero to four days,” he said. “It makes forward planning of the business, such as how many staff the hotel needs, very complex and means we have to make decisions at the very last minute. My biggest concern is New Year’s Eve because there’s really no conversation about that at all [from government] at the moment.”

Job of the day: COREcruitment is looking for an area manager for a coffee brand. The position is based in the Cambridge area, paying up to £50,000. With plenty of growth in the pipeline, it is looking for a strategic operator, along with someone who can oversee the day-to-day, marketing and people development. Experience within the coffee sector would be an added bonus but experience in multi-site, quick service hospitality is essential. This position will offer the opportunity to grow with an international business with ongoing career progression. This role would suit a motivated business leader who is passionate about the industry and growing a great company culture. In addition, it is essential they have a strong financial acumen, are very organised, hands-on and a strategic thinker. Anyone interested can email their CV to sonny@corecruitment.com

 

Birley Sandwiches set for administration process: Birley Sandwiches, the City fast-food chain owned by Robin Birley, owner of the Mayfair private member’s club 5 Hertford Street, is on the brink of collapse after it revealed plans to file for administration. According to The Telegraph the company had been trading well prior to the pandemic and was profitable. However, the shift to home working during the pandemic and harsh restrictions imposed on the hospitality sector have hit sales. The ten-strong company has been forced to make 75% of its 220-strong workforce redundant as a result. Birley said it was with “huge sadness” he had been forced to prepare the firm for administration. He said: “I have been self-funding its losses since the restrictions imposed by the government in March, but the continuing series of lockdowns and ever tighter restrictions means I cannot justify continuing down that route. When businesses as long-standing and robust as Birley Sandwiches’ futures are in jeopardy, it says something extremely meaningful as to the ultimate long-term economic impact this government’s response to coronavirus is going to wreak on our country.” Propel revealed earlier this month Birley Sandwiches had become the latest London-based food-to-go operator to be placed on the market under the name Project Loaf. It had been working with advisers from Lambert Smith Hampton on an accelerated sales process, with a bid deadline believed to be last Wednesday (25 November). It is thought a restructuring of the business would be part of any sales process. Birley’s, which was founded in 1990, operates sites across the City and the capital’s financial district, including stores in Cannon Street and New Street Square in the City, and Churchill Place and Bank Street in Canary Wharf. Propel understands a separate deal for its Canary Wharf site might have already been agreed.

BrewDog co-founder sets out ten biggest mistakes, including hiring expensive senior management team: BrewDog co-founder James Watt has set out what he believes is the ten biggest mistakes he has made as chief executive of the Scottish brewer and bar operator, including hiring an expensive senior management team; getting an acquisition wrong; and picking the wrong international franchisees. On the management team learnings, Watt said: “A few years back, I mistakenly believed the only way to take BrewDog to the next level was to hire an experienced and expensive senior management team. I assembled an all-star cast with impressive resumes and hearty pay checks but within 12 months we had parted company with all seven of them. Despite being fantastic people and leaders, they just did not integrate into our BrewDog culture. Furthermore, installing a whole new senior management team in one fell swoop was always destined to fail. It was an expensive lesson. Now we have the BrewDog Salary Cap that means no-one can join our business and be paid more than seven times the salary of the entry level position in our company. Because of this we have no option but to develop the next generation of BrewDog leaders from within our own ranks and we are much stronger as a team and company because of that.” On the acquisition of cider brewer Hawkes, Watt admitted he “ripped the soul out the brand” by taking production to Ellon and was now in the process of expanding the London cidery so within four weeks all Hawkes ciders will once again be made in the capital from freshly pressed apples. On franchising its bars overseas, he said: “Initially we were so enamoured anyone would want to open a franchise bar internationally we said yes to every inquiry. We did not check to see if the partner could run a bar, if they had the necessary funds and we did not even have a proper contract. This led to some pretty mediocre BrewDog bars internationally. We have since taken these prodigal sons back in-house and now the international franchise bars that we do, we do with far more structure and diligence too, which leads to far better customer experiences.” Watt also said he wished he had been quicker to act on climate change, regretted the legal action the company took on the Lone Wolf trademark dispute and the execution of its Pink IPA launch. Meanwhile, BrewDog has opened a site in Shanghai, China. The outlet has opened in the city’s Jing’ An district.

Upside Down House UK launches £100,000 fund-raise to support expansion plans: Upside Down House UK, the two-storey “inverted home” concept that offers customers a “zero-gravity experience”, is aiming to raise £100,000 on crowdfunding platform Seedrs as it aims to expand across the UK. The company, which operates five sites and has planning permission for two more, is offering 3.3% equity in return for the investment, giving a pre-money valuation of £3.2m. The business has achieved turnover of £1m since launching in 2018. The pitch states: “With five houses already – in Brighton, Bristol, Essex, Manchester and Great Yarmouth – Upside Down House is at an exciting stage of growth with further locations to be announced. The striking two-storey house structure, complete with furniture on the ceiling, captures the interest of guests from the street. Inside, creativity runs wild as guests take surreal images of themselves hanging from the ceiling to share on social media. The business is looking to raise funds so it can expand and reach its aim of having houses nationwide. It benefits from both domestic and international tourists, a huge market in the UK. In our first year of trading, we achieved a business turnover of £170,000, which we saw increase exponentially in the second year by 342%. We can attribute this fast growth to the popularity of the attractions, being the only one of its kind in the UK, and a high demand for houses to open in new locations. A total of 60% of the funds is to be spent on procurement of new sites. This will help us achieve our aim of having a house easily accessible from all areas of the UK, allowing us to expand to new locations and help with the organic growth of our brand. We plan to spend 15% of the funds on marketing to help grow our social media presence and brand awareness and 25% on personnel to further invest in growing our team to support the experience.”

 

PizzaExpress confirms reopening plans: PizzaExpress has confirmed its plans for reopening following the lockdown in England. In line with local tier restrictions and government guidelines, 286 sites will be open on Wednesday (2 December) for dine-in services, while an additional 16 will offer customers delivery and click and collect. All customers through the door will be offered a free portion of its snowball dough balls. The company said its robust safety measures would continue to be implemented across all sites. These include a physically distanced layout, hand sanitiser stations, heightened hygiene procedures and cleaning measures along with regular health checks of team members. PizzaExpress will also provide an online booking service, digital menu and cashless payment. Managing director Zoe Bowley said: “While our doors might have been closed throughout November, we’ve continued to do all we can to serve our customers their favourite pizzas at home. It’s been a challenging year for us all, which is why we’re looking forward to safely welcoming families and households into our pizzerias once again for good times and great food this Christmas.”

 

What The Pitta! to head north, with Manchester site: Vegan doner kebab concept What The Pitta! is to head north, to Manchester. The company is opening the site in Back Turner Street on Friday, 8 January, which will offer delivery, takeaway and eat-in options subject to local covid-19 restrictions. Co-founder Cem Yildiz said: “Manchester feels like a huge step forward for What The Pitta! The site will be our biggest bricks and mortar site yet, and to finally open during what we hope is the tail end of this pandemic fills us with optimism for the future for, not just us, but hospitality as a whole. Manchester is my favourite city outside of London, with such an incredible food scene.” What The Pitta! launched in London in 2016, and has four locations – at Boxpark’s sites in Croydon and Shoreditch, and in Camden and Brighton. In the summer, it opened its debut delivery kitchen, in Battersea. Kebabs at What The Pitta! feature non-genetically modified soya chunks marinated in a blend of Middle Eastern spices and grilled. The contents are then stuffed into hand-made pitta bread and loaded with homemade houmous, tzatziki and salad. Yildiz and Rojdan Gul were inspired to launch What The Pitta! when Gul’s uncle in Freiburg, Germany, taught them the secret of his vegan doner kebabs.

Travelodge chief executive to step down as company reveals 17 hotels lost to rivals following CVA: Travelodge chief executive Peter Gowers will leave at the end of the year after the conclusion of the dispute with its landlords over its recent company voluntary arrangement. Gowers, who took up the role in 2013, will be replaced on an interim basis by chief operating officer Craig Bonnar, as the company starts the search for a replacement. The resignation of Gowers, who will remain as an adviser into the new year, came as Travelodge revealed it had lost 17 hotels to rivals as a result of fallout from the CVA. Although the majority of its landlords opted to stick with the Travelodge brand, two opted for Premier Inn and nine will assume Accor’s Ibis brand under a deal with Ago Hotels. The losses leave Travelodge with 578 hotels, including ten in Ireland and Northern Ireland and five in Spain. They include nine new hotels opened this year. Travelodge is owned by Goldman Sachs, Avenue Capital and Golden Tree Asset Management. In the wake of the lockdown closure of its hotels, Travelodge stopped paying rent, culminating in a CVA to secure rent cuts. To enable it to get sufficient support for the CVA, it was forced to insert a break clause allowing landlords to take back their hotels and hand them to another operator. The latest Travelodge hotel to be rebranded to Ibis will be the property at Heathrow’s terminal five, with UK hotel management and services company RBH taking over the running. The hotel’s owner, Sidra Capital, the Sharia-compliant asset manager based in Saudi Arabia, was the first landlord to terminate its relationship with Travelodge after the CVA. RBH has been tasked with overseeing a phased refurbishment of the 297-bedroom property and will also manage the hotel’s commercial operations once rebranding is complete. RBH managing director Susan Bland added: “Not only does this represent yet another step in our growth alongside franchise partner, Accor, it also signals RBH’s return to the Heathrow market, where we opened our very first hotel in 2000.”

Mayfair restaurant from three-Michelin-starred chef David Muñoz placed on market: StreetXo, the Mayfair-based restaurant from three-Michelin-starred chef David Muñoz, has been placed on the market. The restaurant was opened in Old Burlington Street in November 2016, following a series of delays. StreetXo was Muñoz’s first opening outside his home country of Spain, where he runs DiverXo and StreetXo restaurants, both in Madrid. London’s StreetXo was originally set to open in June 2014 but was beset by delays, some connected to construction issues. The 4,215 square foot site is being marketed by CDG Leisure. 

 

Matt Healy permanently closes Holbeck restaurant: Chef Matt Healy has revealed his Matt Healy x The Foundry site in Holbeck will not reopen. Confirming the news on Instagram, the chef, who is from Horsforth, said: “2020 has been hard for hospitality, especially for independent restaurants like ours. We’re beyond proud of the work we did in the first lockdown with the NHS. In July, we reopened with reduced capacity, then reduced hours, then within the tier system. One thing after another, and then a second lockdown. Over the past few weeks and months, we’ve had some really difficult decisions to make. Regretfully we’ve come to the conclusion that we need to cease trading. We’re so thankful to everyone that has supported us from the very beginning. We’ve had almost three wonderful years at The Foundry. It’s not goodbye. It’s see you later. Here’s to 2021.” Healy and his team Seventh Course took over the reins at The Beehive, in Thorner, in 2019. However, Healy, who was runner-up in the 2016 series of MasterChef: The Professionals, stepped back from the restaurant in March this year. His team also launched Grön Kafe in Oakwood, which opened in September 2018, and has recently expanded to open another site in Low Petergate in York.

 

Security staffing business adds another hospitality sector employee to ranks: Rebecca Cullum, who previously worked for Stonegate Pub Company and The Deltic Group, has been appointed head of risk at Professional Security. The national security staffing business, which took on former Deltic chief operating officer Jason Thorndycraft as its own chief operating officer earlier this month, looks after more than 1,000 hospitality venues across the UK, with more than 7,000 door staff on its payroll. Cullum will oversee all risk, compliance and assurance for the business, which is based in Leeds. Professional Security chief executive Dave Fullerton said: “We are delighted to have Rebecca joining the team. Her wealth of experience in the hospitality sector and the amazing relationships she has built with operators and with local authorities, in particular the police, will be a huge asset to us.” Cullum added: “I’m excited to be joining Professional Security at such an important time for the business and look forward to helping deliver a unique premium offer for our customers.”