Exclusive – The Gentlemen Baristas in administration: Coffee company The Gentlemen Baristas has been placed into administration, with offers for the business sought by the end of this month, Propel has learned. Farheen Qureshi, of Parker Getty, was appointed administrator of The Gentlemen Baristas last week, which has led to the closure of a handful of the company’s sites, including those in Hammersmith, Holborn and Vinegar Yard in London Bridge. Four of the company’s sites continue to trade – those in Mayfair, Piccadilly, Borough and Park Street in London Bridge. Propel understands that Hilco is currently marketing The Gentlemen Baristas, which generated turnover for the year ended 31 December 2022 of circa £3.5m, under the name Project Cappuccino. The business was founded by Henry Ayers and Ed Parkes, and opened its debut site in Southwark in 2014. Last year, Ayers told Propel it was planning growth outside of London as well as launching a new coffee school. The company, which opened a new 12,000 square-foot roastery and experience centre in London’s Stratford last year, operated at the time from nine coffee houses in the capital, as well as having a fast-growing wholesale operation.

Propel to evolve its Premium subscription offer to launch Premium Club, next Who’s Who of UK Food and Beverage featuring 838 companies to be released on Friday: Propel is evolving its Premium subscription offer by launching Premium Club on Thursday, 1 February. All circa 4,000 existing subscribers automatically become members. The launch of Premium Club comes with even more benefits. All subscribers will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to five Propel paid-for events – The Excellence in Pub Retailing Conference (14 May), Social Media for Profit (18 July), the Talent and Training Conference (1 October) and Restaurant Marketer and Innovator (two days in January 2025). Operators will also be able to send up to four members of staff to each of our four Multi-Club Conferences for free. Propel has also revealed that its key Multi-Site Database, which is updated each month and contains details of more than 3,000 multi-site companies, will be searchable by operating style from the end of January. Premium Club members also get exclusive access to five other databases, including the Who’s Who of UK Food and Beverage, the next edition of which will be released on Friday (19 January), at midday. A total of 57 companies have been added to the database, which now features 838 companies. This month’s edition will also include 142 updated entries. The companies, listed in alphabetical order, will have their most recent results reported as well as broader information around Ebitda, plans and trading style available. The database merges Companies House information, interviews and other public information to provide an easy to reference and exhaustive guide to the sector. The other databases Premium Club members receive are the Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the New Openings Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database, and the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database. Premium Club members receive their daily Propel Info newsletter 11 hours earlier than standard subscribers, at 7pm the evening before. They also receive videos of presentations at eight Propel conference events two weeks after they are held. This represents around 100 videos of industry insight over the course of the year. Premium Club members will be sent a dedicated monthly newsletter that will highlight key updates in the sector and direct subscribers to all the vital content their membership offers. Premium Club members also receive exclusive opinion columns every Friday at 5pm, which include the thoughts of Propel group editor Mark Wingett and a host of industry leaders from across the sector. A Propel Premium subscription costs an annual sum of £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. 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. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.

Richard Ferrier promoted to CEO of Heartwood Collection: Heartwood Collection, formerly Brasserie Bar Co, has promoted managing director Richard Ferrier to chief executive. At the same time, Mark Derry has moved from executive chairman to non-executive chairman of the Alchemy Partners-backed, 35-strong business. Ferrier joined the company in 2011 and held the roles of operations director of Brasserie Blanc and chief commercial officer before becoming managing director in February 2020. He played an integral part in guiding Heartwood through the pandemic and its acquisition by Alchemy Partners in 2022. The company said: “With the business set on an ambitious growth trajectory from 2024 onwards and its first ‘pub with rooms’ site opening next month, Richard has now taken on the role of chief executive having worked with Mark Derry in his role as executive chairman. Mark will be continuing to support the curation of the business strategy and management of external corporate relations as non-executive chairman. Ready to lead the business into this next phase of growth, Richard's belief in building a strong leadership team with shared values and objectives has placed Heartwood in an enviable position to achieve its ambitions to become a leader in the UK hospitality sector.” Last month, the business opened The Plough & Harrow (formerly The George Evelyn) in Long Ditton, Surrey, following a £3m refurbishment programme – its 21st pubs site. Heartwood Collection is aiming to more than double its turnover by 2027, as it plans to reach 90% of site Ebitda from freehold sites. The business is currently turning over circa £66m, with a site Ebitda of £12m. Its pub sites are currently generating £45,000 in average gross weekly sales, and £405,000 average site Ebitda. The company is on track to grow to more than 60 inns and brasseries by 2027, with circa 45 of those sites set to be pubs. The Quill & Scholar in Lichfield is due to open in early March, while the White Horse in Dorking opens next month and will be Heartwood Inns’ first “pub with rooms”, with 56 bedrooms.

Pubs and bars start 2024 with sound year-on-year growth in drink sales: Average sales in managed venues in the week to Saturday, 6 January were 25% ahead of the corresponding week in 2022 – though this is inflated by the inclusion of New Year’s Eve in the most recent data and not in last year’s equivalent period, according to the CGA by NIQ’s Daily Drinks Tracker. On a straight comparison, trading on 31 December was 0.2% ahead of New Year’s Eve in 2022, while New Year’s Day was 1% behind. There was year-on-year growth on three of the remaining five days of the week, including 4% and 13% on Tuesday, 2 January and Wednesday, 3 January. Cold weather contributed to a 5% drop in drinks sales on Friday, 5 January. The generally healthy numbers follow a good end to 2023 for drinks in the on premise, with year-on-year growth of 7% in the final fortnight of the year, comfortably ahead of the rate of inflation. The tracker shows large upswings for all key categories in the first week of 2024, including spirits (up 49%), beer (up 19%), cider (up 24%), wine (up 32%) and soft drinks (up 14%), though all these numbers were skewed by the New Year’s Eve comparisons. Jonathan Jones, CGA by NIQ’s managing director, UK and Ireland, said: “After a positive festive season, pubs, bars and suppliers start 2024 with some decent momentum. As many people rein in their spending and follow Dry January, it is likely to be a slow start to the year for some businesses, but with signs of an easing in inflation and interest rates we can be optimistic that consumer confidence will start to pick up.”

Sky News – Vue cinema chain set for second debt restructuring: Vue International, Europe's largest independent cinema operator, is finalising a fresh debt restructuring after the Hollywood actors’ strike halted the release of a string of blockbuster movies. Sky News reported that UK-based Vue, its shareholders and lenders are in the process of organising the company's second debt-for-equity swap in 18 months in a bid to put the business on a sustainable long-term footing. Under the plans, hundreds of millions of pounds of existing debt will be converted to equity, with roughly £50m of new capital being injected into the company. Vue's founder and chief executive, Tim Richards, told Sky News: “The unforeseen and unprecedented six months of strike action by Hollywood actors and writers in 2023 has had a short and medium-term impact on the industry, pushing back the release of anticipated number of movies and delaying the pipeline of new content. We are in discussions with our shareholders and lenders to ensure the business has the right capital structure to thrive and maximise exciting opportunities ahead once the pipeline of new content improves later this year and in 2025.” Last year's strikes brought the epicentre of the global film-making industry to a standstill, impacting studios, distributors and cinema operators. Among the titles whose release was delayed by the crisis was Dune: Part Two, a sequel that had been among the most anticipated movies of 2023. Vue employs more than 8,000 people and operates more than 225 multiplexes in countries including the UK, Ireland, Germany, Italy and Taiwan. One source said the latest restructuring underlined its stakeholders’ confidence in the long-term prospects of the business, with hits this year expected to include the third instalment of the Deadpool franchise, Beetlejuice 2 and Gladiator 2. Vue completed a previous restructuring almost exactly a year ago, which saw £470m of debt wiped out and the company taken over by its lenders, led by Barings and Farallon Capital Management, a US hedge fund.