UKHospitality – situation over rent agreements ‘improving’ but stalemate in negotiations for one in five sector businesses: UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls has told MPs the situation over rent agreements is “improving” for the sector, but there are still one in five industry businesses where there is a “stalemate in negotiations”. It comes as it was revealed shops, restaurants and offices are battling landlords over £1.6bn of unpaid rent 16 months after the start of the pandemic. The coronavirus crisis has forced businesses to chalk up about £7bn of rent debt owed to landlords. The British Property Federation (BPF) has told MPs its members are battling with tenants over 23% of this sum – or £1.6bn. Another £3.5bn or so has been paid back and £1.5bn is subject to agreements to reduce the debt, repay over a longer period or write it off completely. Just a tenth of hospitality businesses have been able to pay their rent in full during the pandemic, while a quarter have paid part of their rent, often by taking on huge amounts of debt, UKHospitality said. Ghislaine Halpenny, director of strategy and external affairs at the BPF, told MPs on the business committee: “There have been a number of well capitalised businesses who have not paid. We know that has a severe impact as large companies are using their market power to abuse small landlords.” The group claimed one in seven commercial tenants have ignored approaches by their landlord to avoid entering talks to agree repayment plans, and believes the rent moratorium must be ended. UKHospitality has argued negotiations have hit a stalemate because of landlords demanding unreasonable rent for periods when businesses were closed or trading was restricted.

 

Whitbread-backed Pure among 62 new companies added to updated Blue Book for Premium subscribers: Healthy food-to-go group Pure has enjoyed such success that Whitbread took a 51% stake in the company in 2016 with an option to acquire the remaining stake – and the business is one of the 62 companies that has been added to the updated Propel Turnover & Profits Blue Book, which is now available to Premium subscribers. Founded by Ed Bentley and Spencer Craig in 2009, Pure has grown to 21 sites and has a turnover of £25.7m. The second edition features a total of 280 companies and provides an overview of the most recent five years, ranking them by turnover and profit conversion. It also shows directors’ earnings over five years and the top-earning director. Total turnover for the 280 companies is £25.8bn. The minimum company turnover included is £4m. The Blue Book is updated each month, with more companies added. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £895 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The regular single subscription rate of £395 plus VAT for operators and £495 plus VAT for suppliers remains the same. Premium subscribers also receive access to a second exclusive monthly database, The Propel Multi-Site Database. The updated database of multi-site companies for June included 63 new companies since its previous update in May – making a total of 1,880 listed businesses. Collectively, the 63 new companies operate 565 venues. Subscribers not only received the database as a PDF and an Excel spreadsheet, they were also sent a 10,389-word report on the businesses added during June. Subscribers also receive access to Propel’s library of lockdown videos and Friday Wrap interviews and now also have access to a curated video library of the sector’s finest leaders and entrepreneurs, offering their insights on running outstanding businesses in the sector. Premium subscribers also receive their morning newsletter 11 hours early, at 7pm the evening before our 6am send-out; regular video content and regular exclusive columns from Propel insights editor Mark Wingett. Email jo.charity@propelinfo.com to sign up.

Simon Smith to step down as group CEO at SSP, sales at 42% of 2019 levels in most recent week: UK-based travel hub foodservice company SSP Group has announced Simon Smith has advised the board of his intention to step down as group chief executive to pursue a new opportunity at a private equity-backed business. He is expected to leave the group at the end of 2021 and, in the intervening period, will continue with his existing responsibilities and support an orderly transition. SSP stated: “The board will now commence a process to identify Simon’s successor, and the search process will consider both internal and external candidates. Further updates will be provided as appropriate in due course. As reported at the group’s interim results last month, the business has begun to see a recovery in passenger demand, led by domestic and leisure travel, most notably in North America. Current trading is in line with expectations, with third quarter sales at 27% of 2019 levels, and sales in the most recent week at 42% of 2019 levels, compared with 30% at the beginning of June. The outlook for the rest of the financial year remains unchanged.” Chairman Mike Clasper said, “Throughout the past 16 months, Simon and our executive team have done an excellent job in steering SSP through the enormous challenges presented by the pandemic, acting very rapidly to protect the business and its cash flow, create a more flexible operating model and strengthen the balance sheet. SSP has a very clear strategy and significant competitive strengths, placing it in an excellent position to take advantage of the many opportunities for growth that will be presented by the recovery in the travel sector.”

A third of young people have deleted the contact tracing app to avoid being pinged: A third of people aged 18 to 34 have deleted the NHS covid-19 contact tracing app, according to a new poll. One in five of all UK adults said they used to have the app but have since deleted it, with the highest proportion in the youngest age group, the survey for Savanta ComRes revealed. The poll underlines concerns that rapidly rising coronavirus cases are causing hundreds of thousands of people to be “pinged” even after the briefest contact with an infected person. The new poll suggested 42% of adults currently have the app on their phones, but 20% of these plan to delete it on 19 July. People aged 55 or over are the most likely group to currently have the app, with 49%, but are also most likely to have never installed it or don’t own a smartphone, at 41%. Among the 35 to 54-year-old age group, 42% currently have the app, 19% used to have it but have since deleted, while 30% have never downloaded it or do not have a smartphone. For the 18 to 34-year-old age group, 34% currently have the app, the same proportion used to have it but have deleted it, while 21% either never downloaded it or do not have a smartphone. Chris Hopkins, political research director at Savanta ComRes, told The Independent the survey showed “attempts to contain the virus without restrictions are likely to be very difficult”. He added: “On this evidence, the government can continue to blame the public if, as some expect, cases, hospitalisations, and deaths from coronavirus rise in the latter half of the summer, rather than the government’s own decision to remove restrictions.”

Deliveroo boss Will Shu talks of restaurant staff rudeness when he went undercover: Will Shu, co-founder of Deliveroo, has spoken about how “rude” restaurant staff were when he went on an undercover mission to understand what his drivers go through on a day-to-day basis. Shu occasionally delivers food to unaware customers to test out the Deliveroo app and to “see the restaurants in action”. But during one of his most recent rounds in Notting Hill, he claims to have been “rudely” brushed off by staff at one of the eateries. The encounter came after he warned them the food they’d given him to deliver was cold. Speaking on the Diary of a chief executive podcast, he said: “I did five deliveries in Notting Hill. I’m not like a celebrity so no one recognises me. Then I got the food and it was kind of cold, and I’m like ‘hey, you know this food’s kind of cold’. And they were like ‘just deliver it buddy’.” Although he did not reveal his identity to the staff, he said he made note of their behaviour and will “100%” inform their bosses. He said: “I want to understand what the riders go through. It was really funny, as they were being rude to me, this other rider walked up to me. He didn’t know who I was. He was just like, ‘You see, these guys are at it again’.” Shu said he would tell the bosses: “We need to figure out a way to get this to work. And please tell your staff just smile, say ‘hey, how are you doing’. It makes a big difference in people’s days.”

The Ivy Cardiff handed improvement notice over string of covid rule breaches: The Ivy Cardiff has been handed a coronavirus improvement notice over a series of rule breaches. Wales Online reported the Shared Regulatory Service issued the notice to the restaurant and bar in the Hayes last Thursday (8 July). An inspector found a number of issues including seats at the bar, failures to ensure social distancing and ensuring people are sat in groups of no more than six. An inspection by an enforcement officer found the eatery was “failing to take all reasonable measures to ensure that a distance of two metres is maintained between any persons on the premises other than two members of the same household, or a carer and the person assisted by the carer”. The Ivy Cardiff also failed “to undertake a specific risk assessment of the risk of exposure to coronavirus at the premises”. The notice added the business was also “failing to take other reasonable measures that limit close face to face interaction and maintain hygiene” and identified three breaches. These included changing the layout of the venue, such as the location of furniture and workstations; controlling the use of entrances, passageways, stairs and lifts; and providing or requiring the use of personal protective equipment. The notice said the site failed to “take specific measures for hospitality premises” and cited “ensuring that persons are seated in a gathering of no more than six people, unless they are members of the same household; children under the age of 11; or a carer of the person participating in the gathering”. It also failed to follow the specific hospitality measure of “requiring customers to be seated in the premises in any place other than at a bar when consuming food or drink”. The officer listed several measures for the restaurant to follow so it can comply with the regulations. A spokesman for The Ivy Cardiff said: “We have followed all procedures outlined in the legislation and can confirm we have removed the bar stools as requested. The health and safety of our guests and employees remains paramount. We have provided all necessary documentation on mitigation measures and will continue to work with Cardiff and Vale’s Shared Regulatory Service.”