Number of hotel operators set to join updated Premium Database of Multi-Site Companies: A number of hotel operators are among the 24 new multi-site companies being added to the next edition of the Propel Premium Database of Multi-Site Companies, which will be released on Friday (28 April), at midday. The updated Propel Multi-Site Database, which is produced in association with Virgate, features family-run Solley Hotels, which owns the Pitbauchlie House Hotel in Dunfermline, the BW Kings Manor Hotel in Edinburgh and the BW Balgeddie House Hotel in Glenrothes. Also added this month is Luxury Family Hotels, which is based in the south west, and has five venues across the UK. In addition, boutique hotel group GuestHouse, which was founded in 2021 by brothers Tristan, James and Tom Guest, and operates four sites in Bath, York, Brighton and Margate, will be featured. Premium subscribers will also receive a 2,000-word report on the new additions to the database. The comprehensive database is updated monthly and provides company names, the people in charge, how many sites each firm operates, its trading name and its registered name at Companies House if different. The database now features 2,833 companies. Premium subscribers will also receive the next edition of the New Openings Database on Friday, 5 May, at midday. It focuses on newly announced openings and upcoming launches in the sector and is updated every month. The next edition also includes a 5,000-word report on the new additions to the database. Premium subscribers also receive access to three other databases: the Propel Turnover & Profits Blue Book; 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 £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The single subscription rate is £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Email jo.charity@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription. Premium subscribers are also to be given exclusive access to the recording and slides to Propel Multi-Club Conferences. Premium subscribers also receive their morning newsletter 11 hours early, at 7pm the evening before; regular video content and regular exclusive columns from Propel group editor Mark Wingett.

Whitbread FY F&B sales 4% behind pre-pandemic levels, decline in customer volumes: Whitbread has this morning reported that its F&B sales in the 52 weeks to 2 March 2023, were 40% ahead of FY22 but 4% behind pre-pandemic levels with increased spend per head outweighed by a decline in customer volumes. In current trading – seven weeks to 20 April 2023 – it said that UK F&B sales were 10% ahead of FY23, reflecting “softer trading in the base year and the benefit of a number of commercial initiatives”. The Premier Inn owner reported total statutory revenue for the year increased by 27% versus FY20 to £2.625bn and adjusted operating profit increased to £544m, up 12% versus FY20. It said that total UK accommodation sales were up 17% versus FY23, with RevPAR £6.08 ahead of the M&E market in the most recent seven weeks. It said: “This performance reflects the strength of our brand and operating model as well as our ability to mitigate inflationary pressures with strong pricing, estate growth and our continued focus on cost efficiency. An interest credit from the pension fund surplus and higher interest receivable on our cash balances, resulted in a 15% increase in adjusted profit before tax to £413m (FY22: loss of £16m and FY20: profit of £358m). Adjusting items in the period resulted in a charge of £39m, including net impairment charges of £33m, to deliver statutory profit before tax of £375m (FY22: £58m and FY20: £280m). F&B remains an important element of the Premier Inn proposition and also helps drive incremental RevPAR in our hotels. Whilst the hotel market has recovered strongly, the UK pub restaurant market remains challenging with the cost-of-living crisis and high inflationary pressures impacting the recovery in demand. Although higher levels of hotel occupancy meant that F&B sales were 40% ahead of FY22, they remained 4% behind FY20. Despite an increase in spend per head, customer volumes at our branded restaurants, that are focused at the value-end of the market, remained below pre-pandemic levels. While increased occupancy in our hotels, growth in our estate and increased inflationary pressures drove an increase in total operating costs, strong revenue growth and high operational gearing resulted in UK pre-tax profit margins increasing substantially to be well-ahead of FY22 and only slightly below FY20 levels, at 19.6% (FY22: 4.5%, FY20: 20.2%). This drove a marked increase in UK ROCE to 12.9% which is above that achieved in FY20 (FY20: 11.2%). A challenging F&B trading environment, together with an increase in market interest rates and a corresponding increase in the weighted average cost of capital (‘WACC’), impacted 13 standalone restaurants and sites where F&B represent a more significant proportion of total sales. As a result, the group incurred an impairment charge of £54m. However, this was more than offset by the reversal of £55m of previously recorded impairments in Premier Inn UK following a strong trading performance during FY23. The net result was a net impairment reversal of £1m being recorded by Premier Inn UK.” The company said it expects UK inflation of between 7-8% in FY24 and is confident in being able to offset the impact on UK profits through like-for-like sales growth, new room expansion and a focus on cost efficiencies. Dominic Paul, Whitbread chief executive, said: “Having spent time out in the business operations, both in the UK and Germany, I am clear that our strategy is the right one and I am hugely excited about the opportunities we now have in front of us. I want us to strengthen further our position as the UK’s leading hotel brand, improve our F&B performance, continue to drive our efficiency programme, complete some important technology projects and replicate our UK model at scale in Germany.” Separately, the business announced an initial £300m share buy-back to be completed during the first half of FY24.

Deliveroo boss Will Shu – watchdog treated me like a criminal: The boss of Deliveroo has launched a scathing attack on the Competition and Markets Authority over its “rubbish” decision to run an 18-month inquiry into the purchase of a stake by Amazon. The Times reports that Will Shu, who co-founded the takeaway delivery company a decade ago, claimed he had been treated like a criminal and that dealing with the antitrust case was “extremely painful, the hardest thing I’ve had to deal with”. The $500m investment by Amazon, announced in 2019, was subject to a protracted investigation by the CMA in what was regarded as a key test of its approach to the power wielded by the digital groups. In April 2020, the CMA scrapped the investigation and provisionally cleared the investment. In what it admitted was an “unprecedented” situation, the watchdog said that without the money Deliveroo would have gone bust. But after submissions from Deliveroo’s rivals that took issue with that finding, the CMA revisited the deal and concluded that Deliveroo’s position was not as parlous as had been thought. It cleared the deal again, this time on competition grounds. In an interview this week on the Business Studies podcast, Shu said: “The investigation took most of my time, they withheld the money from us and we had to fire 30% of our team during that process because we almost ran out of cash. It was total rubbish. They had no justification for it whatsoever. It was a complete mockery of anything, in my view. I was treated like a criminal. I had to testify in front of panels. That is the opposite of trying to build companies, or trying to take risk. It’s trying to kill companies.” Shu was asked about the controversial dual-share structure that keeps control of Deliveroo in his hands and whether he is the best person to run the business. “I don’t know,” he said. “I’m the person who cares the most. At the end of the day, if you do a good job, they’ll want you in, and if you do a bad job they’ll want you out.”

Employers say hiring workers is a struggle despite layoffs: Companies wanting to hire are still struggling to find new workers despite the cooling economy and growing numbers of layoffs. The Times reports that while headlines have been dominated by big job cuts at companies including Microsoft and Ford, 60% of Britain’s businesses are looking to recruit staff, according to the latest survey from the British Chambers of Commerce – broadly the same as at the end of last year. Of those actively hiring, 80% have reported difficulties as they try to add to their headcounts, just shy of the record 82% that reported similar frustrations in December. “People shortages are a massive issue and employers can see little sign of improvement,” Jane Gratton, head of people policy at the BCC, said. “The high number of unfilled job vacancies is damaging businesses and the economy. Firms are struggling to fulfil order books and turning down new work.” She suggested “urgent reform” of the government’s shortage occupations list was needed to make it easier for companies to fill certain positions with overseas workers. Companies in the hospitality and manufacturing sectors are struggling most, the organisation’s survey showed, with 83% of respondents in those industries reporting hiring troubles. Engineering and construction roles are proving the next hardest to fill, with 81% of those firms unable to find suitable workers. Almost 80% of companies in the professional services, health and education sectors reported difficulties. The lobby group said businesses were having trouble filling different types of roles. Most of the hospitality companies, for example, could not find unskilled workers, while construction firms reported difficulty hiring skilled manual labour.