Domino’s UK ends dispute with its franchisees and maps way ahead: Domino’s Pizza Group has announced it has reached an agreement with its UK franchisees to resolve long-standing grievances. The company stated: “Despite a long history of strong performance, the board recognises that in recent years DPG has lagged comparable Domino’s businesses around the world. This resolution unlocks an issue which has held the company back and means DPG and its franchisees can begin a new era of collaboration in which the system can realise its full potential. The received overwhelming support with franchisees representing over 99% of UK stores voting in favour of the resolution. Under the resolution, and consistent with our strategic growth plan, DPG will make strategic investments in the system to improve capabilities and drive system sales growth primarily through order count. Specifically, the company has committed to: One-time capital investment of approximately £20m, spread over three years, in digital acceleration, personalisation, ecommerce app development and in-store innovation to enhance the customer experience and drive top-line growth; Increased marketing investment to support new national campaigns and promotions; an enhanced food rebate mechanism for franchisees to encourage order growth, which is conditional on franchisees meeting new store opening targets and order count thresholds; and an improved new store incentive scheme to reward, encourage and accelerate new store openings. In return for DPG’s investments, franchisees have agreed to the following important commitments, which also aim to drive system sales growth through increased order count: A commitment to an enhanced schedule of new store openings, equating to at least 45 new stores to be opened per annum over the next three years, significantly ahead of levels achieved in previous years; A commitment to participate in new national promotional deals focused on both delivery and collection, in contrast to a lack of national advertising and promotions in recent years; An agreement to prioritise, test, and roll-out new technology and product innovation (such as GPS tracking) and to test new store formats, which would bring the DPG system in-line with peer companies; and support for changes by DPG aimed at driving efficiency across the system. The resolution will run for an initial period of three years from 3 January 2022.” Chief executive Dominic Paul said: “This is an important moment for Domino’s, and I’m delighted we have reached what is truly a great resolution with our franchisees. We saw first-hand through the pandemic how, when we work together, we win together. I firmly believe that the resolution we have reached is a good one for franchisees, our people, and our shareholders. It means that our interests are aligned, and we are now in an even stronger position to execute our strategic plan. Our franchisees are truly world-class, and we are looking forward to accelerating our growth together. Our business continues to perform strongly, and we are looking to the future with confidence. Combined with our new strategic plan which is focused on accelerating our growth in both delivery and collection, the resolution we are announcing today can unleash the power of the Domino’s brand, and enable us to deliver long-term, sustainable growth which will benefit all our stakeholders.” 

Propel Premium Advent Video Calendar to feature Elliott Shuttleworth: Propel has launched its Premium Advent Video Calendar, giving subscribers access to a great video each day in December from our autumn conference series. Each day in December in the run-up to Christmas, Premium subscribers will be sent a video featuring some of the sector’s leading operators, who will share insights, advice and expertise. The next video – which will be sent at 9am today (Thursday, 16 December) – features Boom Battle Bars chief executive and founder Elliott Shuttleworth, who explains the thinking behind the adventure bar concept from the team behind trampoline park business Flip Out, and its growth plans. Earlier this month, Premium subscribers received the fifth edition of The New Openings Database, which is produced in association with StarStock. The database showed the details of 366 newly announced site openings and upcoming launches. Premium subscribers also receive access to two other databases – the Propel Multi-Site Database, which is produced in association with Virgate, and the Turnover & Profits Blue Book, which is produced in association with Mapal Group. 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 group editor Mark Wingett. 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. To subscribe, email jo.charity@propelinfo.com.

Rishi Sunak urged to ‘come out of hiding’ to save pubs and restaurants: Incredulous business leaders appealed to Rishi Sunak for help on Wednesday night after Boris Johnson and his covid advisers urged Britons to cut back on socialising but offered no financial support for the trades affected. The chancellor was urged to “come out of hiding” and provide urgent support after Boris Johnson warned Britons to “think carefully” about going out in the run up to Christmas. Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, also urged people to “prioritise” social engagements and reminded them that catching the coronavirus in the days to come could thwart their hopes of celebrating with family. The Telegraph reports that the announcement – which stopped short of formally restricting social gatherings – infuriated business groups, who are concerned that increasingly gloomy rhetoric is imposing “lockdown by stealth” and throttling trade. Many are particularly frustrated by the lack of financial support to compensate them for the impact of the pronouncements, as well as recent guidance to work from home. Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, accused the government of “taking a sledge hammer to what is usually the busiest period of the year”. “With the prime minister appearing to lack the political will to impose actual restrictions, and instead seeking to induce a pseudo-lockdown through repeated sombre-sounding announcements, our sector is now facing the worst of both worlds – a drop in footfall and no government support to help us through,” he said. He appealed to Mr Sunak directly, asking: “Where on earth is the chancellor of the Exchequer? It is quite staggering that despite the obvious implications of the government’s rhetoric we haven’t heard a squeak out of HM Treasury.”