Wingstop CEO – our international business is ‘building some momentum and is supercharged for growth’: Michael Skipworth, president and chief executive of Wingstop, has said that the brand’s international business, which includes the UK, is “building some momentum and is supercharged for growth”. The business operates in ten countries outside the US, and currently operates 40 sites in the UK through master franchisee Lemon Pepper Holdings, which plans to open 15 sites here this year. On the back of the brand’s fourth quarter update, Skipworth said: “In 2023, our international business generated like-for-like sales growth consistent with the domestic business, also driven primarily by transaction growth. International markets are executing our proven playbook with guests enjoying our flavour for the first time, and we’re providing greater access to our development pipeline. I continue to believe our international business is supercharged for growth and 2024 is set up to capitalise on this momentum.” Skipworth said that the company was seeing examples where brand partners are developing ahead of their schedule. He said: “We have some of these international markets that are seeing these strong results, seeing the brand land really well, seeing our proven playbook show up, and they are actually developing ahead of their schedule as well. So, we are encouraged by the progress we are seeing outside of the US as well.” The business generated domestic like-for-like sales growth of 21.2% in the fourth quarter, driven primarily by double-digit transaction growth, with system-wide sales increasing to 27.1% to $3.5bn in 2023. As previously revealed by Propel, Lemon Pepper Holdings has already secured nine locations where it will open new restaurants this year. Wingstop UK will open new sites in Hounslow, Clapham High Street, Watford, Croydon Valley Retail Park, Wood Green, Lakeside Shopping Centre, Westfield Stratford City, Merry Hill Dudley, as well as a second site in Leeds. In November, Skipworth said the brand’s debut UK restaurant was hitting record sales volumes, and that the UK was a “playbook for its future restaurant development”.

Households have more to spend on treats as disposable income rises: British households have more money to spend on “extras” than they have had for almost two years as rising wages, falling food price inflation and a cut in national insurance ease pressure on finances. The Times reported that the typical household’s disposable income rose by 6.1% year-on-year to £230 a week in January, the highest since March 2022, and the tenth consecutive month of annual growth, according to the Asda Income Tracker, compiled by the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) consultancy. The average figure masked the extent to which the less well-off are affected by higher food and energy bills. In the poorest 20% of households, disposable incomes fell by 0.5% year-on-year, with a £69 a week shortfall. The cost-of-living crisis has been driven primarily by steep increases in food and energy costs, on which poorer households tend to spend a greater share of their income. Asda and the consultancy said that the wealthiest households’ discretionary spend grew by 15.6% to £254 a week. Disposable income is now above pre-pandemic levels: the figure for a comparable week in January 2020 was £219. Sam Miley, managing economist and forecasting lead at the consultancy, said January’s income tracker results were “the strongest for some time. This improvement was driven by a number of factors, including continued earnings growth, weaker food price inflation, and the recent cut to national insurance contribution rates.” Food prices fell by 0.4% from December to January, the first fall since September 2021. The annual rate of food inflation is now 7% from a high of almost 20% last year. The CEBR said it expects spending power “to continue growing in 2024, supported by a generally more positive economic outlook”.

Staff at four-day-week firms show health improvements: Companies taking part in a trial of a four-day working week are largely sticking to the policy as they reported improvements in workers’ physical and mental health. The Times reported the vast majority of companies taking part in a six-month pilot of a shorter working week in the UK have confirmed that they are still using the policy a year later, according to a study by the independent think tank Autonomy and researchers from University of Cambridge, the University of Salford and Boston College in the US. The policy has been abandoned by just seven of the 61 organisations taking part in the trial, with 31 organisations opting to permanently switch to a four-day week. The report also found that 96% of staff experienced a positive impact on their personal lives, and 50% of organisations reported a reduction in staff turnover. Will Stronge, director of research at Autonomy, said: “One year on from the results of the UK’s four-day week pilot, virtually every company we’ve spoken to has decided to stick with the four-day week. The improvements in physical and mental health, work-life balance, and general life satisfaction, as well as reductions in burnout found at the end of the trial have all been maintained one year on.” Juliet Schor, professor of sociology at Boston College, said the results had been “excellent”. She said: “The key point is that the strong findings at six months are not due to novelty or short-term impacts. These effects are real and long lasting.” Yet Morrisons ditched its four-day working week last month as its staff complained about having to work weekends. The supermarket cut weekly hours for head office employees from 40 to 37.5 in 2021. Employees moved to working nine hours a day and would then work a six-hour day on one Saturday every month. However, the grocer has scrapped those changes after working 13 Saturdays a year proved unpopular with employees.