Caprice Holdings returns to profit: Caprice Holdings, the Richard Caring-backed, high-end restaurant business, swung back into a profit for the first time since the pandemic last year. Sales rebounded by 71% to £74.4m (2 January 2022: £43m) for the Scott’s and Sexy Fish operator over the 52 weeks to the start of January this year, as restrictions on hospitality businesses were lifted. Adjusted Ebitda for the period stood at £12.3m (2 January 2022: (£600,000)). The group generated a pre-tax profit of £1.2m last year, an improvement on a loss of £3.9m the year before but still much lower than the £19.1m reported before the pandemic. Revenue last year was helped by the opening of two new restaurants, Scott’s Richmond and Bacchanalia. The company’s wage bill edged up to 35.7% of sales, from 33.7% the year before, and its gross margin fell slightly to 77% from 78.7%. The company said it has been fortunate to be locked into a fixed-price contract on its gas and electricity, which limited the “large scale” price increases suffered elsewhere in the sector. Caring told The Times: “We are thrilled by the results. An amazing job has been done by all our teams. We believe our customers should only have the finest service, food and wine.” Last week, Propel reported that the Caring-backed The Ivy Collection grew its turnover by more than £100m in the year ending 1 January 2023, driven by the expansion of its Ivy Asia brand. Turnover was up from £200,387,000 in 2022 to £302,927,000, while adjusted Ebitda rose from £37,941,000 to £54,7878,000, and its pre-tax profit increased from £20,434,000 to £29,046,000.
Next edition of Propel Turnover & Profits Blue Book shows 68% of companies in profit, up from 60% six months ago: The next Propel Turnover & Profits Blue Book, to be sent to Premium subscribers on Friday (13 October), shows 68% of the 763 largest sector companies are now in profit, up from 60% six months ago. The Blue Book shows 518 companies in profit and 244 reporting losses. The Blue Book is updated each month and ranks companies by turnover, profit and profit conversion, listing directors’ earnings for the past five years. Premium subscribers also receive access to five other databases: the
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The Breakfast Club to launch new Covent Garden site: All-day dining concept The Breakfast Club is to launch a new site in London’s Covent Garden. The business, which earlier this year partnered with SSP Group to launch its debut travel hub site, at Gatwick airport, will open an 894 sq ft “caf” at 55 Neal Street Seven Dials in November. It will become the 15th opening across the country for the brand. Jonathan Arana-Morton, chief executive and founder of The Breakfast Club, said: “This will be such an exciting opening for us – The Breakfast Club has always called the West End home, and our new Covent Garden location couldn’t be more perfect for our next adventure. What a fabulous place and community to call our new home. We can’t wait to get going, doing what we do best, providing good food and drink with our ‘today is going to be a good day’ hospitality and an arms-wide-open welcome.” Michelle McGrath, executive director at landlord Shaftesbury Capital, said: “The Breakfast Club has built a strong reputation as an operator with a unique offer, and is an ideal fit for the ongoing evolution of Covent Garden. Its independence, innovation, and the inherent attention to detail that comes with being a founder-run business means they will deliver an elevated offer and experience. The brand is going to be a great complement to the established diversity of Covent Garden’s all-day F&B offer, including the likes of Gaucho, The Ivy Market Grill and WatchHouse.”
Hiring intentions at a ten-year low as business confidence drains: Companies’ hiring intentions have fallen to their lowest level in almost a decade as recession looms, according to new figures. The Times reports that BDO said its employment index had declined for a third consecutive month to its weakest reading since 2014. Businesses were struggling to maintain staffing numbers “amid higher borrowing costs, elevated wage growth and weaker customer demand”, the advisory firm concluded, warning that “given that output remains weak and a recession is likely on the horizon, these pressures on firms are expected to have persisted last month”. “September marks the weakest reading on BDO’s employment index since September 2014, when recovery from the global financial crisis stalled. Sectors witnessing the most pressure on jobs include construction, support services, food services and wholesale and retail.” BDO’s business confidence and output indices also fell in September. The output index has dropped for three months running and is at its lowest level since lockdowns in March 2021. Kaley Crossthwaite, a partner at BDO, said: “An even more pessimistic outlook from businesses, declining output and the lowest reading on the employment index in nine years are mounting indicators of the slowdown in economic activity predicted over the winter months. With the threat of recession on the horizon, businesses are understandably feeling the pressure.” A separate survey by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) paints a different picture and has found that 73% of firms say they are still struggling to recruit staff. That figure is down from 82% in the final quarter of 2022. Jane Gratton, of the BCC, said: “The scale of the recruitment crisis remains huge, despite a welcome fall in the number of firms reporting hiring problems. The picture in the hospitality and manufacturing sectors is particularly worrying. We have just under a million job vacancies in the economy and skills shortages are damaging businesses’ ability to operate profitably – as well as impacting the wellbeing and morale of remaining staff.”
