Market Halls to return to the expansion trail on the back of strong FY performance: Market Halls, the London-based food market hall operator, is to return to the expansion trail, with plans to launch regionally. It comes after the Gees Court Partners-backed company reported revenue increased 155% to £22m in the 12 months to July 2023 compared with £8.6m the year before. The business – which operates sites in London’s Oxford Street, Canary Wharf and Victoria – said it was its intention to open an average of two to three Market Halls sites per year over the next five years in major cities and regional hubs across the country, with an ambition to become the UK’s largest food hall operator. Target cities include Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Liverpool, Leeds, Cardiff, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh. It said it would achieve this through “pursuing a combination of developing new venues and acquiring existing businesses in a market ripe for consolidation”. The business said while the sales increase was in part attributable to covid-related soft trading in the previous financial year, it also “demonstrates strong underlying growth”, with like-for-like sales up 40%. Ebitda before headquarters costs grew to £2.6m during the year. The company said it had subsequently had an “impressive start” to the new financial year, achieving consecutive record trading weeks and like-for-like sales growth in the first four trading weeks of 38%. It said sales at Victoria, Market Halls’ most established venue, are now performing well above pre-covid levels. The company said: “The group’s site in Oxford Street continues to grow and, with Canary Wharf now firmly established as a destination for both business and pleasure, the newest Market Halls venue is comfortably surpassing expectations, with annualised sales of £11m-plus.” Andy Lewis-Pratt, chief executive of Market Halls, said: “To have seen the popularity of our venues surge despite the tough economic environment is testament to the strength of the Market Halls proposition. Our model is built to be resilient, and it’s heartening to see the hard work of our teams paying off in numbers like these. With the momentum we built through FY22 and FY23 and the exceptionally strong start to FY24, we are confident in our ability to keep growing and becoming increasingly profitable as we work towards our goal of becoming the UK’s largest food hall operator.” Market Halls said it welcomed three million guests through its doors in FY23 and now has 43,000 social media followers and 66,000 email subscribers. Esat Kolege, founding partner at Gees Court, said: “Now that we have three great venues demonstrating solid unit economics and cash flow, we are looking forward to building an exciting line-up of new venues and potential partnerships with independent food halls across the UK.”

Hospitality leaders turn to technology to combat staff retention and churn challenge: Technology is helping hospitality improve staffing related challenges such as retention and churn, but more investment is needed to maximise efficiencies, according to the latest Business Confidence Survey from CGA by NIQ and Fourth. The exclusive poll of business leaders shows 42% currently have a digital solution to help retain staff, with another 31% planning to invest in one over the next 12 months. Staff retention is the joint highest selection when it comes to where leaders are planning further investment in technology over the next 12 months, along with waste reduction. Half (49%) of leaders said they plan to increase their spending on technology over the next 12 months, making it the third biggest priority after staff training and site expansion. Shortages of budget, time and in-house skills are the three main barriers facing those who are not currently investing. The research also reveals widespread interest in artificial intelligence (AI)-powered solutions, with 51% believing it can have a medium level impact on their day-to-day operations, while 5% believe it will have a high impact. The remainder (44%) expect no or minimal impact from the implementation of AI-powered solutions. Sebastien Sepierre, managing director – EMEA, Fourth, said: “Hospitality leaders are looking for ways to relieve operational pressures in the current economic climate while also protecting the customer experience. It’s clear that operators see technology as a solution to mitigate staff shortages, maximise available resources and reduce the admin burden on managers.” Karl Chessell, CGA by NIQ’s director – hospitality operators and food, EMEA, added: “Digital expertise in the industry has accelerated over the last few years, but targeted investment is still needed to unleash its full potential to reduce admin burdens, staff turnover and food waste.”