Propel Newsletter Archive Page

JD Wetherspoon puts up prices 7.5%: JD Wetherspoon has increased its food and drink prices by 7.5% in a move that will see the cost of a pint increase by up to 29p. The company has also put up the prices of meal deals by up to 75p. It comes weeks after Wetherspoon confirmed ten of its pubs will be closing for good after being sold and another 35 branches are still up for sale. The new changes means the cost of a pint of Carlsberg has risen from £2.39 to £2.57, a pint of Stella has gone from £3.35 to £3.60 and a Leffe has risen from £3.85 to £4.14. A pint of Corona is now £3.71 instead of £3.45 and a pint of San Miguel has risen by 26p to £3.71. At the company’s pub in Oxted, Surrey, fish and chips with an alcoholic drink was £9.90 but it is now £10.65. An 8oz sirloin steak with an alcoholic drink is now £10.27, up from £9.55. An ultimate burger with a pint of beer has increased from £9.85 to £10.65 while a chicken tikka masala with the same drink choice has gone from £9.70 to £10.43. A large breakfast will now cost £6.34 after previously being £5.90 and a cup of tea or coffee has gone from £1.35 to £1.45. At the start of the year Wetherspoons did warn that prices could climb to battle the soaring food and energy costs. Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon told The Sun: “Wetherspoon has increased prices on food and drink by 7.5%. We believe that our prices are still very competitive in all the locations that we trade, even after the increase. Most businesses in the hospitality industry have had to deal with big price increases in the past year or two. We have tried to keep our prices competitive, bearing in mind that customers have suffered from inflation too. The 7.5% increase is less than the rate of inflation.” A spokesman for analysts Hargreaves Lansdown said: “We’re not surprised to see Wetherspoon put through some modest price rises. They won’t be the only ones and Wetherspoon still offers punters some of the best value around. With energy prices going the right way, this is better than the 15% to 20% rises it warned about.”

Restaurant Marketer & Innovator videos to be sent to Premium readers on Monday, next edition of Blue Book shows collective sector losses of more than £1bn: Propel Premium subscribers are to be given access to the entire recording of the 2023 Restaurant Marketer & Innovator European Summit Conference. Subscribers will be sent 30 separate video presentations, featuring more than 80 speakers, on Monday (13 February), at 9am. The videos include: Nando’s chief executive Colin Hill discussing the better business agenda, why it is championing change and how it’s central to future performance and growth; Coco di Mama commercial brand director Sara McKennedy talking about its omnichannel evolution; Laura Mimoun, chief executive of fast food salad concept Kaleido, sharing how the concept has developed and scaled to six locations and aims to change the way you see salad; and Erik Nissen Johansen, founder and creative director of global hospitality design studio Stylt, presenting the journey of making the Lego Restaurant in Billund, Denmark, embracing Lego values of imagination, creativity, fun, learning and caring. Meanwhile, the next edition of the Propel Turnover & Profits Blue Book, which will be sent to Premium subscribers tomorrow (Friday, 10 February), shows sector companies are making a collective loss of more than £1bn. The Blue Book shows the total profit of the 705 companies in the list is £2,506,488,944 and losses are £3,550,302,377. The Blue Book is updated each month and ranks companies by turnover, profit and profit conversion, listing directors’ earnings for the past five years. Subscribers also receive the Propel Multi-Site Database, produced in association with Virgate; the New Openings Database; the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database; and the Who’s Who of UK Food and Beverage. 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 single subscription rate is £445 plus VAT for operators and £545 plus VAT for suppliers. Email jo.charity@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription. Subscribers also receive access to Propel’s library of Friday Wrap interviews and 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.

Red Oak Taverns acquires three pubs from Marston’s: Red Oak Taverns, the national pub operator founded by Aaron Brown and Mark Grunnell in 2011, has completed its first deal of 2023, with the acquisition of three freehold pubs from Marston’s. The pubs are the Bird in Hand, Atherstone; Black Horse, Sheepy Magna; and The Railway in Cheltenham. The acquisition of the three pubs, which are all operated free of tie, takes the company’s estate to circa 210 sites. Grunnell said: “This a great start to the year with our continuing acquisition programme enhancing our growing pub estate. By focusing on multiple and single site pub packages we are evolving our diverse portfolio, providing unique and flexible pub opportunities within the sector. These three quality pubs, two located in the Midlands and one in the south west, complement our pub portfolio and we are looking forward to welcoming the new tenant partners to our business.” Graeme Bunn, Red Oak’s property and acquisitions director, said: “Delighted to see three more pubs added to our expanding estate. Our team, including Freeths and Fleurets, worked swiftly and enabled the purchase to be completed in under four weeks from agreed heads of terms.”

Uber – UberEats in the UK has ‘turned profitable’: Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi has said UberEats in the UK has “turned profitable”. It comes as the company reported results for the fourth quarter and year ending 31 December 2022, reports The Times. Revenue at the ride-hailing and food delivery group rose 49% to $8.6bn in the last three months of the year, beating analysts’ expectations, while net income dropped 33% to $892m. It had been forecast to post a loss. Uber forecast that it would generate adjusted earnings of between $660m and $700m in the first quarter, exceeding analysts’ expectations of about $593m, according to a consensus compiled by Refinitiv. Uber’s food delivery unit delivered adjusted earnings of $551m in 2022, up from a loss of $348m the previous year. “We continue to be encouraged by the progress we have made in the US and the UK, our two biggest delivery markets,” Khosrowshahi said. “In 2021, we were not the category leader in either market and we were deeply unprofitable. In 2022, our teams have turned these markets profitable, while also maintaining or gaining category position.” In Britain, UberEats is growing faster than the wider online delivery market, Khosrowshahi claimed, while “turning profitable” as a result of “improved restaurant selection and stronger adoption of UberOne”, the group’s subscription service. “The heightened macroeconomic uncertainty is top of mind for us, as indeed it is for our shareholders,” Khosrowshahi said. “Despite that uncertainty, I am more confident than ever in our prospects.” Founded in 2009 and based in San Francisco, California, Uber Technologies is best known for its ride-hailing app, although it rapidly expanded into food delivery following the onset of covid-19. The company, which went public in May 2019, has a market value of about $69bn.

Various Eateries appoints Sharon Badelek as CFO: Various Eateries, the Coppa Club operator, has appointed Sharon Badelek as chief financial officer. Badelek, who will take up the position from Saturday, 1 April, has held financial leadership positions at several high-profile leisure and hospitality businesses, including most recently the position of chief financial officer of RedCat Pub Company. Earlier in her 30-year-plus career, Badelak was UK finance director and later group finance director at Vue Entertainment. She has also fulfilled the roles of chief financial officer of Inspired Villages Group, a retirement village developer and operator; chief financial officer and later chief executive of London bar operator Novus Leisure; chief financial officer of Westpoint Veterinary Group; financial controller and later group financial controller at Holmes Place Health Clubs and group chief accountant at Carlton Communications. Badelek will replace James Darwent, who has acted as chief financial officer on an interim basis since 11 November 2022, Andy Bassadone, executive chairman of Various Eateries, said: “Sharon has an impressive track record in scaling customer-centric businesses in our industry and I have no doubt the knowledge and experience she has built over several decades of good and bad markets will be of great benefit to Various Eateries as we pursue our growth ambitions. At the same time, I would like to thank James Darwent for the important role he has played at the company over the past few months.” Badelek added: “With strong brands that resonate with the modern consumer, a highly experienced senior team and a clear strategy for expansion, Various Eateries has an exciting opportunity to grow into a leading name in UK hospitality.”

London social enterprise cafe reopens in new location: Fair Shot Café, a London cafe providing on-the-job training for young people with learning disabilities, has reopened following a relocation. Founder and chief executive Bianca Tavell launched the first Fair Shot Cafe, in Mayfair’s South Moulton Street, in December 2021 after raising £300,000 in private funding. As reported last month, it is moving to a new site at The Yards, Covent Garden, becoming the first not-for-profit cafe in the West End. It will occupy a 2,224 square-foot unit at 3 Slingsby Place. Fair Shot enrolls 12 young adults with a learning disability into its hospitality training programme each year. Trainees spend four days a week at the cafe and one day a week at a partner college to carry out the educational side of the course.