Propel Newsletter Archive Page

Premium Club subscribers to receive new searchable and segmented New Openings Database on Friday: The next Propel New Openings Database will be sent to Premium Club subscribers on Friday (5 September), at 12pm. The database will show the details of 174 site openings, including which company has opened a site or its plans to open one in the future. The database 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 subscribers will also receive a 11,126-word report on the 174 new additions to the database. It is segmented into seven categories – cafe bakery, casual dining, experiential leisure, fine dining, hotels, pubs and bars, and quick service restaurants – making it even easier for users to search. The database includes new openings in the casual dining sector such as The Elizabeth in London’s Belgravia from chef Anthony Demetre and Lunar Pub Group owner Hubert Beatson-Hird, a new seafood restaurant called Lilibet’s in London’s Mayfair from Bone Daddies co-founder Ross Shonhan, and Maltese hospitality group, Lifestyle Group, which is bringing its Japanese dining brand Aki to London. Premium Club subscribers also receive access to five other databases: the Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the Multi-Site Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database and the Who’s Who of UK Hospitality. All Premium Club subscribers will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to Propel paid-for events and discounts on specialist sector reports. Operators that are Premium Club subscribers are also able to send up to four members of staff to each of our four Multi-Club Conferences for free. Premium Club subscribers 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 subscribers 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.

Escape Hunt and Boom operator ‘starting to see evidence of consolidation’ as it reports full-year revenue increases to £57.8m: XP Factory, which operates the Escape Hunt and Boom Battle Bar brands, has said it is “starting to see evidence of market consolidation” as it reported revenue for the 12 months to 31 March 2025 increased 19% to £57.8m (2024: £48.6m). Escape Hunt owner operated site revenue increased 7% to £14.2m (2024: £13.3m). Boom owner operated revenue increased 29% to £42.2m (2024: £32.7m). Group adjusted Ebitda grew to £10.5m (2024: £9.9m). The group said it saw continued positive like-for-like sales growth delivered across both owner-operated brands with Boom up 2.3% and Escape Hunt up 3.2%. Adjusted operating profit grew to £3.5m (2024: £2.7m). The company stated: “The opportunity presented by the growth of experiential leisure continues to be attractive. Across both market segments, Escape Hunt and Boom are emerging as winners in the UK market, with growing market share, industry-leading customer ratings and best-in-class operating metrics. As market leaders in their respective segments, the businesses benefit from scale which has proven to be of increased importance in the current environment. The cost increases brought about by tax increases are now beginning to show and it is evident that a number of the weaker competitors are struggling. The number of new entrants also seems to be falling and we are starting to see evidence of consolidation. We believe XP Factory continues to be well placed to capitalise on the changes and to continue to expand. Following the updated strategic plan communicated at the Capital Markets Day in March, both businesses have continued with site rollouts and the development of a robust pipeline. Performance of recent openings remains encouraging, with sites trading in line or ahead of board expectations. This reinforces confidence in the strategy, with a significant untapped UK growth runway remaining for both brands.” As reported last month, the group has seen a “marked turnaround” in like-for-like performance following a “challenging” first quarter of the year. The company said it remains “cautiously optimistic” about meeting the market’s expectations for the full year. Chief executive Richard Harpham said: “The year to March 2025 represents another successful period of development for XP Factory, with underlying operating metrics showing continued positive improvement. While the business is having to cope with increased costs from government policy and a challenging first quarter has posed operational challenges, we have made significant progress towards our strategic goals and remain resolute in pursuit of success.”

Deliveroo launches midweek family meal market deal with restaurant partners: Deliveroo is seeking to capture the midweek family meal market and expand category usage as it launches a new family meal offering in collaboration with restaurant brands. Deliveroo said it is working with restaurant partners to create bespoke meal formats for the first time as part of the launch. Deliveroo is partnering with more than 30 UK restaurant brands, such as PizzaExpress, Wagamama, Bill’s and Dishoom, to offer large shareable meals for up to four people for £25 or under. Deliveroo said Family Dinneroo will be rolled out over the coming months to 30 towns and cities across England, Scotland and Wales. The initiative will also launch in Dublin next month. Customers will be able to order the larger sharing meals between 4.30pm and 6.30pm from Monday to Thursday. Deliveroo said the new offering is expected to help restaurants by increasing more activity from families during a traditionally quieter part of the week. Families will also be able to schedule deliveries and order dishes up to five days in advance. Carlo Mocci, chief business officer at Deliveroo, said: “Restaurant delivery has been traditionally perceived as an indulgent treat, reserved for a Friday night or weekend. Many of our restaurant partners believe this is not the case, and that delivery can play a greater role during the week. Family Dinneroo offers a way for restaurants to unlock new meal occasions and new customer demand during off-peak hours.” The service will launch in Bath, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Camberley, Canterbury, Cardiff, Chelmsford, Cheltenham, Colchester, Coventry, Crawley, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford, Portsmouth, Reading, Sheffield, Southampton, Tunbridge Wells and York.

More than 600 Greene King licensees urge chancellor to fix business rates in fight to survive: More than 600 licensees of brewer and retailer Greene King have urged chancellor Rachel Reeves to “fix” the broken business rates system to give pubs “breathing space” as they fight to stay afloat. The operators warned in a letter to Reeves that “many pubs are struggling to make ends meet” with “intense cost pressures making survival increasingly difficult”. The letter calls for a lower business rates bill for pubs to be introduced in the Budget this autumn – saving each venue an average of £10,000 a year. The landlords, who operate 613 pubs owned by Greene King, said this would “recognise the unique economic and social value pubs bring to communities across the UK” and “provide immediate relief” to their businesses. Nick Mackenzie, chief executive of Greene King, which has 2,700 pubs, told The Mail: “Business rates are one of the biggest barriers to growth in the pub sector, placing a disproportionate burden on businesses of all sizes.” The hospitality industry was hit by a £500m increase in business rates in April alongside a barrage of other costs imposed by the government. Some 89,000 jobs have been lost across the sector since the Budget last October, according to analysis of official figures by UKHospitality. And there are fears more tax rises would exacerbate worrying rates of venue closures and job losses. “With costs rising across the board, many pubs are struggling to make ends meet, leaving them less able to invest in staff, improve their spaces, or support local economic growth,” the letter warned. “While pubs are well placed to support local growth, intense cost pressures are making survival increasingly difficult.” Mackenzie said Labour must follow through on its pledge to reform business rates. He added Reeves could make an “immediate, positive impact” by introducing a lower, permanent and universal rate, or “multiplier”, for pubs.

Knoops CEO – Labour’s workers’ rights reforms ‘will make it more difficult to find the right employees’: William Gordon-Harris, chief executive of luxury hot chocolate shop brand Knoops, has said Labour’s workers’ rights reforms “will make it more difficult to find the right employees”. Gordon-Harris, whose business has 27 stores in the UK, said the package of employment legislation “will definitely cause problems for firms”. The proposals include plans to ban zero-hour contracts and introduce a guaranteed number of minimum weekly hours. Gordon-Harris told The Mail: “It will make it more difficult to find the right employees. For a lot of independents, it is a very alarming time.” Despite gloom on the high street, he said his business was benefiting from a “lipstick effect”. The “lipstick effect” was a phrase coined by the founder of beauty empire Estee Lauder, which explains that even when the economy is in trouble , women will fork out on affordable luxuries such as lipsticks and perfumes.

Treadmill beats the takeaway as Generation Z focus on fitness and health: The treadmill has overtaken the takeaway in young people’s hearts and wallets, making health and fitness their top spending priority over more traditional pastimes. New research by the Gym Group found 44% of 16 to 28-year-olds ranked fitness as their first or second spending priority and 25.7% said they preferred to spend their disposable income, after monthly fixed costs, on health and fitness before other categories. The poll suggested younger people saw exercise as more important than streaming services, which 19.2 % ranked as their top priority, and dining out and going to the pub, which was most important for 17.5%. The Gym Group’s inaugural Generation Z fitness pulse report, based on responses from more than 2,000 people, reported 73% of respondents said they exercised at least twice a week, up from 62% last year. Respondents spent on average £48.81 a month on fitness-related items, including gym memberships and equipment, a year-on-year increase of 17%. Will Orr, chief executive of the Gym Group, told The Times there “is certainly a proportion of our members who will have seen a benefit” from the increase in the national minimum wage, which came into effect in April. Generation Z makes up about two fifths of the Gym Group’s 900,000-plus members at its 245 gyms and Orr said he believed that it was imperative to keep “evolving the look of our gyms – there is an appropriate aesthetic that is attractive to that audience”. Half the young people surveyed said they had formed friendships through exercise, which Orr believed was a testament to how Generation Z not only cared about improving their fitness but prioritised “protecting and improving mental health and building social connections”. “The magnitude of benefits explains why spending on health and fitness is on the rise among this age group,” Orr said. “Working out is a priority for physical and mental well-being but young people also recognise that strong fitness habits are vital for unlocking productivity while working or studying. The ability to integrate exercise into everyday life, including the working day, is a top priority for Generation Z achieving their best.”

Domino’s launches £20m share buy-back programme: Domino’s Pizza Group has launched a £20m share buy-back programme. The company stated: “This will enable Domino’s to take advantage of the opportunity to purchase shares in meaningful size at current share price levels generating attractive returns for shareholders. The programme will be reviewed, as a matter of course, later in the year. The directors of Domino’s Pizza Group remain confident in the prospects for Domino’s Pizza Group’s highly cash generative, resilient and market-leading business, with a robust financial position and its strategy to create shareholder value which is underpinned by its existing capital allocation framework.The group’s expectations for FY25 remain unchanged from the interim announcement with the exception that year end net debt is now expected to be between £280m and £300m.”

Vegetarian and vegan supplier Bespoke receives ‘significant’ investment to support growth: Bespoke Kitchen Foods, which provides vegetarian and vegan products to the pub and casual dining market, has secured “significant” investment from LDC, part of Lloyds Banking Group. Founded in 2008, Bespoke, which is based in Coalville in Leicestershire, has grown rapidly, with revenue increasing 18% on average over the last three years. In January 2025, the company opened a new production facility near its headquarters to further increase its manufacturing capacity. LDC is backing Bespoke’s management team, led by chief executive Sam Tidball. LDC will support the business’ ambitious organic and acquisitive growth strategy, which is underpinned by expansion into new segments, including high street casual dining brands. Following the deal, Chris Copestake has joined Bespoke as executive chairman. Copestake brings decades of food and drink industry experience to the role, including more than four years as chair and then chief executive of private equity-backed food ingredient specialist Freshcut Foods, and as founder of soup and sauces business TSC. Robert Burrell also joins Bespoke as chief financial officer having previously worked at Geary’s Bakery, Denby and The Mellors Group. Tidball said: “We’re at a pivotal moment in our business journey. Consumer preferences continue to evolve, and more people than ever are choosing to reduce meat consumption when eating out. Partnering with LDC, an investor with deep sector experience based right on our doorstep, will help us to seize opportunities for growth in new categories and markets.” A debt facility was provided by OakNorth.