Propel Newsletter Archive Page

Various Eateries poised to accelerate following a “year of steady progress”: Various Eateries, the Coppa Club and Noci operator, has said it is poised to accelerate its growth plans following a “year of steady progress”, which saw its like-for-like sales “holding relatively firm despite well-publicised industry challenges”. The company reported revenue growth for the 52 weeks ended 1 October 2023 of 12% to £45.5m (2022: £40.7m), largely driven by new site openings. It reported an adjusted Ebitda loss of £2.2m (2022: profit of £400,000), with the board “choosing to absorb the majority of price rises to strengthen the group’s longer-term prospects”. It’s total pre-tax loss for the period stood at £6.7m (2022: loss of £7.2m). It said that sales in the first quarter of FY24 were “in line with management expectations”. The business said it took a measured approach to expansion during the period with the opening of two new Noci restaurants and one Coppa Club. The business has subsequently secured £10.1m of new funding and said there were encouraging signs that the inflationary environment is normalising. It reiterated it plans to open up to ten Noci sites and up to three Coppa Club sites in the next phase of its roll-out. The company said: “Performance in the year under review was solid given the host of challenges faced by the industry, with like-for-like sales standing relatively firm. Experience tells us that in difficult periods, maintaining customer loyalty and brand reputation is paramount, so we made the conscious decision to absorb the majority of price rises. While this strategy put pressure on our margins in the year, taking a longer-term view we are confident it will stand us in good stead. As we move into FY24, there are encouraging signs that the inflationary landscape is beginning to normalise. Volatility remains and the rate at which certain pressures will abate is difficult to forecast, but conditions appear to be gradually improving. Supported by strong cash reserves and a refined focus, we will continue to pursue our roll-out strategy in a measured and sustainable way, exercising financial discipline while maintaining the ambition necessary to capitalise on the current opportunity.” It said that its Noci concept continues to perform well. H2 (April to September 2023) like-for-like sales at the first Noci site in Islington grew 23%. It said: “Although still in the first months of their existence, initial trading at our second and third sites in Battersea Power Station and Shoreditch has been promising. The group’s townhouse Coppa Clubs in Bath and Guildford, benefiting from high footfall town centre locations, delivered positive performances. The Coppa Clubs with large outdoor spaces, which benefitted in the prior year from exceptionally good weather, were impacted this year by extended periods of unusually wet conditions, including the wettest July since 2009. Trading at the group’s Tavolino site was strong, delivering like-for-like sales growth of 10%.” Andy Bassadone, executive chairman of Various Eateries, said: “Performance in the year under review was solid given the host of challenges faced by the industry. We have continued to focus on customer loyalty, brand reputation and maintaining revenue, and I am proud of our teams for all their hard work. We enter the new financial year in a position of strength having raised £10.1m and converted debt into equity in December. The convergence of site availability, reduced competition and changing consumer behaviours has brought forth a generational opportunity akin to the casual dining revolution of the 1990s and we are well set to capitalise. Inflationary pressures have been a major thorn in the side of all hospitality businesses in the period but encouragingly there are signs they are beginning to abate while interest rates appear to be cooling. We are not out of the woods yet by any means but we are confident our approach is the right one to ensure the long-term prosperity of the group. We are excited about what we are building and look forward to the challenges and opportunities of the year ahead with confidence.”

Variety of launches by casual dining operators to feature in next New Openings Database, Premium Club launches today:Premium members will receive the next New Openings Database tomorrow (Friday, 2 February), at midday. The database features a number of openings in the casual dining sector including Rosa’s Thai, which has secured two openings for 2024, in Cheltenham and London’s Richmond. Benito’s, the Mexican restaurant brand, is to return to the expansion trail with a franchise site in Luton airport. Plus, Indian restaurant group Kricket has secured new funding ahead of opening a fourth London site and further UK expansion. The database will show the details of 95 site openings, including which company has opened a site or its plans to open one in the future. It will have details on what type of site it is and its location, and there will also be a website link to the businesses. The database is published on a monthly basis and Premium Club members will also receive a 4,800-word report on the new additions to the database. Propel is evolving its Premium subscription offer by launching Premium Club today (Thursday, 1 February). All circa 4,000 existing subscribers automatically become members. Premium members also receive access to five other databases: 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 Who’s Who of UK Food & Beverage. Propel is evolving its Premium subscription offer by launching Premium Club today (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 four 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. 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 Club 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 Premium Club for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.

AG Barr appoints Euan Sutherland as new CEO: AG Barr has announced the appointment of Euan Sutherland as its new chief executive with effect from 1 May 2024. As announced in August last year, Roger White will step down from the board at the end of April 2024 and will remain available until the end of July to support a smooth leadership transition as planned. The company said: “Sutherland has a wealth of consumer goods experience, having led major consumer-facing businesses through periods of significant growth, both in the UK and internationally. He has an excellent track record in delivering sustainable growth based on consumer insight, innovation and digital capability, while improving efficiency and profitability through major transformation programmes. He was most recently group chief executive of Saga plc, the UK’s specialist products and service provider for people aged 50 and over, having previously been chief executive of Superdry plc, The Co-op Group and group chief operating officer of Kingfisher plc. Euan has a background in global fast-moving consumer goods brands, including Mars and Coca-Cola, plus eight years on the board of Britvic plc as a non-executive director.” Mark Allen, chair of AG Barr, said: “It has been a great pleasure working with Roger, who has successfully led the business for over two decades and delivered significant value to shareholders, stakeholders and employees. We wish him well in the future. On behalf of the board, I am delighted that Euan is joining AG Barr. He has substantial experience across several consumer-facing businesses and will be a strong addition to the board. He is well placed to lead AG Barr through the next exciting phase of its development and to ensure the continued long-term success of the business.” Sutherland said: “I am very excited to join AG Barr, which has a unique heritage, strong culture and exceptional brands. I look forward to working with the board and the wider business to continue to deliver significant value to shareholders, stakeholders and employees for the long term.” Sutherland’s appointment comes as the business said it anticipated strong revenue and profit performance in respect of its full year ended 28 January 2024. It said that revenue is expected to be circa £400m, representing circa 26% year-on-year growth and circa 7.6% on a like-for-like basis, excluding the contribution from the Boost Drinks business acquired in December 2022. Adjusted profit before tax is now expected to be circa £49.5m, up 13.8% on the prior year (2022/23: £43.5m) and slightly ahead of previous market expectations. It said: “Despite the wet summer weather which impacted Q3 market conditions, our positive underlying brand momentum ensured a strong H2 Group performance.”

Vegan restaurant starts serving meat in bid to keep afloat: Plant-based restaurants are putting meat back on the menu as a growing number of Britons are turning off tofu and leaving behind the Veganuary trend. The Times reports that in the latest sign that plant-based dining is in decline, a vegan restaurant in Cheshire has been forced to introduce meat options to prevent customers from walking out. Adonis Norouznia, the owner of Nomas Gastrobar, said the restaurant had begun offering meat in order to attract more customers. “I feed my family from this business; if I’m not making money, what am I going to do? I would rather change something on my menu to be able to stay open,” Norouznia, who is vegan, said. The restaurant is based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, where competition for customers is fierce with perhaps a dozen other cafes, pubs and restaurants located on the same street. Norouznia estimated that by remaining a vegan restaurant he was appealing to just 5% of his potential customers and he had seen diners walk out after noticing that he sold only plant-based food. “If four people come in, maybe one of them is vegan and the other does not mind eating something vegan but the rest don’t want to eat something that is not meat and then they just walk out,” he said. “We knew that was going to happen but we did not know that it would be such a high level.” Norouznia said including meat on the menu was the “last option” after a range of other efforts to boost sales, including holding the prices of drinks the same for three years and offering discounts on food. A growing number of vegan restaurants across the country have shut down in recent years. In Manchester, vegan restaurant V Rev closed in September 2022 after 12 years of trading, while in London meat-free Kalifornia Kitchen said it had shut its doors in January 2020. Even star-studded vegan restaurants are at risk with Neat Burger, a plant-based burger chain backed by Sir Lewis Hamilton and Leonardo DiCaprio, announced the closure of four of its restaurants in November. Two branches of Clean Kitchen Club, vegan eateries co-founded by the Made in Chelsea star Verity Bowditch, were shut down in February last year. “I am the third vegan restaurant that decided to put meat on the menu in this area – I am not the first,” Norouznia said.

Employers struggle to find workers: The vast majority of British businesses are still struggling to fill vacancies, with smaller companies finding it particularly difficult. The Times reports seven in ten employers have noted a shortage of all types of candidates, a survey by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation has found. The shortage is especially acute outside London and is having the greatest effect on small employers. More than 80% of companies with 50 or fewer staff are finding it difficult to fill their open positions. By contrast, about 67% of large businesses and 57% of medium-sized companies reported shortages of candidates. “Companies reporting persistent hiring difficulties comes as no surprise to us,” Neil Carberry, chief executive at the confederation, said. “Too few firms have appreciated that, despite slow growth, our jobs market has changed fundamentally.” Despite the challenges they face recruiting full-time staff, only 9.5% of the companies surveyed said that they were looking to temporary workers, freelancers or contractors for a solution. Nevertheless, Carberry said: “Support from agencies on both temporary labour and innovative routes to hiring permanent roles are vital to getting the people a business needs now.” Competition for staff has been intense over recent years, with record numbers of vacant positions. The number of job openings has begun to fall in recent months, while the number of people available for work has increased. Even so, UK unemployment rate has remained historically low at 4.2% over the past 12 months, despite the Bank of England’s aggressive monetary tightening cycle. In particular, recruiters have said there is a shortage of skilled workers, such as software developers and engineers, as well as of social care workers. The employment confederation is concerned that worker shortages may end up “constraining the economy” if growth picks up later in the year. If demand for workers increases again but the shortages remain unresolved, it estimates that could cost the economy as much as £39bn every year from 2027.