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Mon 5th Aug 2024 - Update: Portobello Pub Company, Knoops, McDonald's, Hawksmoor |
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Portobello Pub Company sees ‘clear opportunity’ to maintain rate of growth: Portobello Pub Company, the pub and restaurant operator backed by private equity firm Zetland Capital, has said it sees a “clear opportunity” to maintain its rate of growth after building a 27-strong portfolio in its first five years. Starting as a collaboration in August 2019 between Richard Stringer and Rob Jenkins, founder of Portobello Brewing Co, the business stepped up its ambitions with Mark Crowther, former brewer and retailer Liberation Group, joining as chairman and gaining the backing of Zetland in November 2021. An acquisition of 12 freehold pubs in south London followed, and the company is now a collection of 27 premium pubs and bars in London and the south east, including 57 hotel rooms, having recently completed the acquisition of London neighbourhood bar-restaurant business Darwin & Wallace. “We have grown much faster than originally envisaged, and with the backing of Zetland we see a clear opportunity to maintain that rate of growth” said Stringer. “It has been particularly pleasing to build a strong and committed team of people with a tremendous culture of respect and teamwork, and looking back over our first five years I am extremely grateful to every one of our staff for giving us the ability and confidence to continue to grow.” Crowther added: “with Mayuri [Vachhani] joining as chief financial officer along with the recent acquisition of Darwin & Wallace, the business celebrates its fifth anniversary on a strong positive upward trajectory. Roll on the next five years.”
Premium Club members to receive two new databases this week: Premium Club members are to receive two new databases this week. The next Propel New Openings Database will be sent on Wednesday (7 August), at noon. The database will show the details of 268 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 11,881-word report on the 268 new additions to the database. Premium Club members will also receive the next Turnover & Profits Blue Book on Friday (9 August), at midday. The database will feature 59 updated accounts and 13 new companies for a total of 958. Of these, 602 are in profit and 356 have reported a loss. Premium Club members will also receive a 11,881-word report on the 268 new additions to the database. Premium Club members will also receive the next Turnover & Profits Blue Book on Friday (9 August), at midday. The database will feature 59 updated accounts and 13 new companies for a total of 958. Of these, 602 are in profit and 356 have reported a loss. Premium Club members also receive access to four other databases: the Multi-Site Database, produced in association with Virgate; the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database; the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database; and the Who's Who of UK Hospitality. All Premium Clubs members will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to Propel paid-for events including the Talent and Training Conference (1 October), Restaurant Marketer and Innovator (two days in January 2025) and Excellence in Pub Retail (May 2025). Operators that are Premium Club members are also 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 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 supplier. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.
Knoops raising £5m to support expansion, Julian Metcalfe to join as NED: Luxury hot chocolate shop concept Knoops is raising £5m to support its expansion plans while Julian Metcalfe, the founder of Itsu and Pret A Manger is joining the board as a non-executive director. Metcalfe will join alongside Alice Avis, the former chair and chief executive of Sanctuary Spa Group, reports Sky News. The capital-raising is being led by Andrew Gerrie, the co-founder of cosmetics business Lush. Knoops said the new funding would be used to aid its international expansion. The brand, run by chief executive William Gordon-Harris, has 20 stores across the UK, with new openings planned for cities including Belfast and York. “Knoops, like Itsu, is a pioneering confident brand with a sense of purpose and a passion for quality,” said Metcalfe. “They don't come around that often and I applaud their leadership and vision.” Avis added: “I truly believe Knoops has found a real ‘sweet spot’ in the food and beverage market and with that has an exciting, international future ahead of it.” Knoops has a long-term target of 120 stores here and 3,000 globally by 2030. Earlier this year Gordon-Harris told Propel there was “phenomenal momentum across the business” as it enjoyed a record start to the year. Last November, Knoops completed an £8.3m fundraising to aid its growth plans.
Food price inflation ‘led to an opportunity for other players in the QSR market at the expense of McDonald’s’: Food price inflation has led to an opportunity for other players in the quick-service restaurant (QSR) market at the expense of McDonald’s, analysts have said. Last week, McDonald’s reported its first global drop in sales since the pandemic. Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, told The Times that while McDonald’s had initially “muscled through the cost-of-living crisis, offering value for money for cash-strapped consumers looking to trade down”, inflation had “steadily scraped away at household budgets” and some of its lowest-income customers had been forced to cut back, or cut out, Big Macs. Between 2021 and 2024, McDonald’s saw food prices increase by about 30% in the UK. The average price of a Big Mac meal has risen from about £4.49 in 2017 to £7.90 this year, an increase of about 75%. “I think that’s probably where McDonald’s has lost a bit of share,” Wayne Brown, an analyst at Panmure Liberum, told The Times. “It’s in the pricing, but to be honest I think that consumers are questioning the pricing of most things they buy these days.” The Times piece questioned whether UK consumers were shifting their allegiance to food-to-go operator Greggs. Brown said: “One shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that, not so long ago, Greggs was a bakery business. Its entry into QSR has been an evolution. I think what they’ve been able to do over the last few years is grab significant market share off a very low base in certain dayparts. It started with breakfast and very gradually increased the offer in its breakfast range, targeting coffees and basic bacon rolls. It was able to do that because it had already done the hard yards of rejigging its entire supply chain, which was redesigned to supply and support a QSR – food on the go – business, as opposed to a grocery business.” He said that Greggs had targeted some of the players with significant market share. “So what you’re getting is the rise of a new lead at the value end of the segment,” he added. The other thing that Greggs is doing is introducing food options that they know are going to be winners after testing them in stores, Brown said “It’s about delivering something of a higher quality at a cheaper price and maybe operate in that segment of the market which McDonald’s has left,” he added. However, he said: “I don’t think the public is falling out of love with McDonald’s by any stretch of the imagination. I think that for many years it has led on innovation and led on pricing and clearly appeals to a very broad demographic. It clearly has one of the best distribution footprints out there.”
Hawksmoor co-founder – Britain has a farming problem: British farmers no longer believe there is “honour and profit” in agriculture, Will Beckett, co-founder of steakhouse brand Hawksmoor has warned. Beckett said the UK faces a “massive problem” because too many farmers are dropping out of the industry. He told The Telegraph: “I think it’s right to say that Britain has a farming problem. If there is no honour and profit in farming – by the way, that’s not true – if farmers feel [they] can’t make money, or it’s not worth it, it’s not enjoyable, we’ve got a massive problem.” His comments come as UK agriculture continues to battle high energy and fertiliser costs. Beckett said: “We’re not close to self-sustaining on food. We import a huge amount. I think it’s still a government priority to increase our self-sufficiency in food – for that to happen, farming has to work. And there are clearly areas of farming where that is not true. There are a lot of farmers, like many of ours, who are just trying to find different routes to market because they know they will get paid a proper price for their produce.” Hawksmoor operates 13 restaurants across the UK, Dublin, New York, and Chicago, and all of the steak sold in the UK is sourced from Britain. In July, Propel reported Hawksmoor was understood to have officially kicked off a process to explore its future funding options, which could involve a sale of the business. is working with US-based advisory firm Stephens. The company, which was founded by Gott and Will Beckett in London in 2006, is working with US-based advisory firm Stephens on its options. Propel understands that an information memorandum has begun to be circulated to interested parties both here and in the US, where the company, which has been backed by Graphite Capital since 2013, is currently focusing its expansion plans. A valuation figure for Hawksmoor has been mooted as being £100m-plus. The business said its full-year sales are on target to clear £100m this year, and that with consistent like-for-like growth, it is “proof that delivering real integrity at scale is not just the right thing to do, but also a strong financial model for restaurants”. Ceri Gott, people and performance director at Hawksmoor, will be among the speakers at Propel’s Talent & Training Conference. The all-day conference takes place on Tuesday, 1 October at One Moorgate Place in London and is open for bookings. Gott will discuss how the award-winning business has dealt with talent shortages, how it keeps its teams energised, and how it finds the right people to help make match its ambition to open “world class restaurants in world class cities”. For the full speaker schedule, click here. Tickets are £345 plus VAT for operators and £395 plus VAT for suppliers. Premium Club members get a 20% discount. Email: kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com to book places.
McDonald’s UK CEO – apprenticeship levy reforms are the key to growth: Businesses including McDonald's and Currys believe apprenticeship reforms are key to unlocking economic growth. Companies claim money collected from the current levy ends up wasted while the country faces shortages of workers. Businesses want more flexibility. For example, bosses want course length rules axed so they can train older workers in digital skills in less than a year. Since 2017, a combined £2bn of funds have been returned to the Treasury because firms are constrained by stringent rules surrounding the apprenticeship levy. The number of entry level apprentices has plunged. Labour pledged to reform the levy in the King's speech and last month prime minister Sir Keir Starmer launched his new Skills England body to reduce an 'over reliance' on overseas workers. Alistair Macrow, chief executive of McDonald's in the UK and Ireland, told The Mail the levy “needs to be more flexible”. He said: “Allowing for more money to be spent on a wider range of courses and ensuring more of the costs associated with employing an apprentice are covered by the levy would be a good start.” Although McDonald's wants to use unspent levy money to fund 500 youth work qualifications, Macrow said this is “difficult because of the barriers created by the existing levy”. Companies also want devolved nations to be able to use the cash pot.
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