Premium Club members to receive Multi-Site Database with 3,232 operators and 44 new companies on Friday 30 August:Premium Club members are to receive the Multi-Site Database on Friday, 30 August. The next Propel Multi-Site Database, produced in association with Virgate, provides details of 3,232 multi-site operators and is now searchable in seven main segments. The database features, 953 (29%) operators from the casual dining sector, 780 (24%) pub and bar operators, 540 (17%) cafe bakery, 441 (14%) quick service restaurants, 265 (8%) hotel, 205 (6%) experiential leisure and 55 (2%) fine dining. It is updated each month, and this edition includes 44 new companies. New additions to the cafe bakery sector include South Wales coffee shop Bean & Bread; Latin dessert concept Churros Locos and Merseyside railway station coffee shop concept Coffee Carriage. Premium Club members also receive access to five additional databases: the New Openings Database; the Turnover & Profits Blue Book; 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.

Completion of Revolution Bars Group’s restructuring plan to occur next week: Revolution Bars Group – the operator of the Revolution, Revolución de Cuba and Peach Pubs brands, has said that completion of its fundraising and restructuring plan, announced in April, is expected to occur as planned on 3 September 2024. The company said that application has therefore been made for a total of 1,267,768,7051 new ordinary shares to be admitted to trading on AIM in relation to the fundraising, on that date. The new ordinary shares will rank pari passu with the existing ordinary shares in all respects. The business said that it was previously intended that Keith Edelman, non-executive chairman, would subscribe for 1,440,000 new ordinary shares wholly via the open offer. Edelman has instead entered into a subscription agreement with the company in relation to the subscription of 1,116,250 new ordinary shares, and has taken up his basic entitlement under the open offer for the remaining 323,750 ordinary shares. His total subscription amount of 1,440,000 ordinary shares remains unchanged. At the start of this month, a High Court judge approved Revolution Bars Group’s restructuring plan, after arguing it was needed to save the business from collapsing into insolvent administration. The restructuring scheme will amend Revolution’s obligations under a fully drawn £30m revolving credit facility with NatWest and extend the time to pay its tax debt, its legal team told the judge. It will also feature the “right-sizing” of a portfolio of leases “in order to create a sustainable business”.

Foodservice inflation continues to ease, but beverage and vegetable prices rise: The latest Foodservice Price Index (FPI) report from Prestige Purchasing and CGA by NIQ reveals more progress in the fight against inflation in the hospitality sector, with rates dropping to 3.1% in July. It means inflation has now fallen for 13 consecutive months. However, the report also indicates a slight uptick in month-on-month prices, with the whole basket of items increasing by 0.2% from June. The rise was largely driven by the beverage categories of the Foodservice Price Index, which have consistently risen since March this year, contributing to year-on-year inflation of 7.3% in the mineral waters, soft drinks and juices segment, and 4.7% in the tea, coffee and cocoa category. On the food side, two of the Index’s eight categories recorded a year-on-year decrease in July, with dairy and oils and fats down by -0.1% and -1.7% respectively. In contrast, the vegetables and sugar, jam, syrups and chocolate categories saw sharp rises of 9.6% and 8.4% respectively. High inflation in the vegetables category is predominantly driven by potato pricing. Reports suggest that English white potatoes are currently up around 90% year-on-year as a result of 2023’s challenging harvest. However, if the 2024 harvest progresses without climatic interruptions, price spikes are unlikely to repeat. Shaun Allen, Prestige Purchasing chief executive, said: “The sustained year-on-year decline in foodservice inflation is encouraging, but the slight month-on-month increase and the significant inflation in certain categories, particularly beverages and vegetables, remind us that the journey towards price stability is ongoing. Operators should remain vigilant and proactively manage their procurement strategies to navigate the fluctuating market conditions.” Reuben Pullan, senior insight consultant at CGA by NIQ, said: “After two years of relentless price rises, this further drop in inflation brings more relief to hospitality venues and consumers alike. With energy costs easing too, the tight squeeze on operators’ margins and people’s spending may finally be loosening. However, while businesses can now plan with greater certainty, macroeconomic challenges and pressures in key areas of food and drink mean there is no room for complacency.”

London luxury market gets tougher for the Savoy hotel: The Savoy hotel in central London is facing an increasingly competitive luxury hotel market on the back of a host of openings by rivals. According to the hotel’s accounts, filed this week, at least 15 new luxury hotels with a total of 2,677 rooms are opening across the capital over the 2023-2025 period. The Times reports that the biggest threat comes from Raffles London at The OWO, housed in the Old War Office building on Whitehall, and the Peninsula London on Hyde Park Corner. As a result, the hotel said that the “conversion of business has become even tougher in 2023 and we are seeing the effects in 2024”. The Savoy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Breezeroad, increased its operating profit from £5.7m to £10.3m last year, although an increase in finance costs pushed it to a loss of £17.6m, compared with a loss of £12m previously. Its revenue grew from £52.9m to £63.3m. It hailed a “strong improvement in performance” in 2023, as room revenues reached record levels and continued to grow. The hotel said it had prospered, in particular, from improving corporate business and the positive impact of the Coronation in May last year. The Savoy said its food and drink business had performed well, with the Thames Foyer operating a seven-day operation. It made “great strides” with its relationship with Gordon Ramsay at the Savoy Grill, although it was Restaurant 1890 that received its first Michelin star this year. The Savoy also signed heads of terms with Jeremy King, the restaurateur, to open Simpson’s in the Strand. The pitifully low room and occupancy rates suffered during the pandemic are gradually being forgotten, with the Savoy recording an increase in occupancy last year from 50% to 59%. The average room rate was a shade lower at £711, down from £714 in 2022, while revenue per available room rose from £358 to £419.

Roadside Real Estate exits pub business: Roadside Real Estate has announced its has exited its pub business Barkby Pubs, with the disposal of its four remaining sites. The company has disposed of The Bull Hotel, The Rose and Crown and The Eliot Arms (leaseholds) and operational responsibility for the Coach & Horses (freehold). It has agreed to terminate its existing leases, for nil cost, at The Bull Hotel, The Rose and Crown and The Eliot Arms. The existing management team, via PS91 Hospitality Ltd, have agreed new leases with the landlords of these pubs and have assumed all operational responsibility. Barkby Pub Co Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, retains the freehold for the Coach & Horses and has granted a lease to PS91 Hospitality Ltd to operate that pub. No consideration was receivable by Roadside and no fees were paid to terminate the leases. In the period ended 30 September 2023 the assets subject to the disposal achieved a loss before tax of circa £800,000 (after allocation of central costs) and were held at a total carrying value of circa £200,000. Charles Dickson, executive chairman of Roadside, said: “We are pleased to have concluded the exit of our pub business and we continue to focus on the execution of our roadside real estate strategy.”