Propel Newsletter Archive Page

Joe & The Juice back on track for profitable growth: Joe & The Juice, the juice and cafe bar brand, is forecasting significant growth across all its markets after posting an operating profit last year and achieving record 2023 revenues. The company, which operates more than 360 locations across 19 countries spanning the UK and Europe, US, Middle East, and Asia, reported a 35% increase in same store sales last year, and 42% year-on-year revenue growth to exceed DKK2.4bn (£275.67m), with digital sales reaching an all-time high and now accounting for 29% of all transactions. It said operating profit reached DKK178m compared to a DKK47m loss in the previous year. Joe & The Juice said it also more than halved its net loss from DKK260m in 2022 to DKK108mm. The company said it was well-positioned for continued growth worldwide. It said that this year its revenue is anticipated to grow “significantly”, while operating profit is expected to increase to at least DKK200m. Additionally, the company anticipates a positive net profit. Joe & The Juice chief executive Thomas Nørøxe said the results “sealed the successful turnaround” of the business which was his main priority after assuming the role in June 2021. Nørøxe said: “Our figures speak volumes: We have succeeded with our strategy of operating Joe & The Juice to solid and profitable growth. In a time when inflation has pressured consumers’ willingness to buy, we have continued to progress, grow, and adjust to a market in constant development. I am very satisfied and proud of that. As in the preceding year, Joe & The Juice has sustained its robust growth in its stores. In 2023, the group achieved a 35% increase in same-store sales. The increase in operating profit was primarily driven by a continued focus on profitability and on the opening of 40 new stores across 19 countries. This was supported by a robust and continued increase in activity on Joe & The Juice’s own digital platform as well as third-party delivery services. Digital sales now consist of an all-time high 29% of the business. At the core of Joe & The Juice’s success is our fantastic and committed employees. Our skilled juicers and competent bar managers have driven the strong growth in revenue by representing the unique culture that the Joe brand stands for every day. Our impressive result is also a clear indication of their dedication to delivering food, coffee, and juice of high quality and developing strong relationships with both loyal and new customers.” Last year, the company secured new backing from US private equity firm General Atlantic, which is thought to have valued Joe & The Juice at $600m (£489.1m). The transaction included a capital increase that provided the company with more than DKK1bn and reduced the company’s debt by 69%. Nørøxe said: “This puts Joe & The Juice in an ideal position to develop our core markets with greater opportunities than ever before. Our ambitions for the future are high, and it is clear to me that Joe & The Juice is entering a new era with the successful turnaround.”

Next Who's Who of UK Hospitality to be released on Friday, 24 May featuring 872 companies: The next Who's Who of UK Hospitality will be released to Premium Club members on Friday, 24 May, at midday. Another 11 companies have been added to the database, which now features 872 companies. This month's edition will also include 42 updated entries. The companies, listed in alphabetical order, will have their most recent results reported as well as broader information around Ebitda, plans and trading style available. The database merges Companies House information, interviews and other public information to provide an easy to reference and exhaustive guide to the sector. Premium Club members also receive access to five other databases: the Multi-Site Database,produced in association with Virgate; the New Openings Database; the Turnover & Profits Blue Book; the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database and the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database. All Premium Clubs members will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to Propel paid-for events including Social Media for Profit (18 July), the Talent and Training Conference (1 October) and Restaurant Marketer and Innovator (two days in January 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.

Inflation ‘has turned UK into a nation of savers’: Inflation has profoundly reshaped the economy by steering people towards the highest savings rate in three decades, alongside a £50bn reduction in spending, according to the Resolution Foundation. The Times reports household consumption contracted by a greater degree than the fall in real incomes during the cost-of-living crisis, with the excess cash being deposited in savings accounts, the economics think tank said in a report. Compared with the final three months of 2019, the final quarter before covid-19 struck, real household disposable incomes have contracted by 1.1%, or £280 per year. However, so-called real spending has dropped much further, coming down by 4.7%, or £1,200 annually. The near-£1,000 difference between the two had been channelled into savings, the foundation said, adding that families had saved 6% of their incomes in the final quarter of last year, the highest rate outside the pandemic in 30 years. “Had they instead saved at 2019 levels, this would have boosted aggregate spending by £54 billion a year,” the think tank said. James Smith, research director at the Resolution Foundation, said: “The sheer scale of this near-three-year inflation shock has reshaped the economy and public finances and changed what people do with their money. The crisis has made us poorer, with the sharp rise in the cost of essentials hitting lower-income families hardest. It also has turned us from a nation of spenders to a nation of savers, with credit card spending falling by 13% and families saving around £54bn a year more than we might have expected.”

Welsh better burger concept set to open third site and eyes fourth location: Welsh better burger concept Burger Boyz is set to open a third site and is eyeing a fourth location. The business, launched by school friends Marcin Sadlos and Jack Phillips in 2021, currently has sites at Newport Market and in Port Talbot’s Commercial Road. Burger Boyz is now gearing up to join the food and beverage line-up at the newly renovated Albert Hall food court in Swansea. Burger Boyz will join the likes of parmesan fried chicken restaurant Mr Croquewich, Greek street food venue Ya Souvlaki, Pizza Boyz, Indian Street Food Kitchen, Italian street food concept The Italian Job, and Academy, which will sell specialty coffee and cocktails. Sadlos and Phillips, who started out by selling their burgers from a food truck before taking over the kitchen at the Red Lion in Port Talbot, still operate a truck called Truck Norris, named after their best-selling Chuck Norris burger. They are also looking to expand to Cardiff next year. “Expanding into Swansea has been something we’ve been thinking about for a while,” Sadlos told Wales Online. “We’ve both always loved food, and that’s how the whole thing started – we had a completely different change in career. Looking back, it was just supposed to be a little side hustle alongside our jobs, and it kind of grew and grew, and is continuing to grow.”

Bristol operators Hyde & Co open new sushi bar: Bristol operator Hyde & Co has opened a new sushi bar in the city. Hyde & Co is behind Japanese restaurant Seven Lucky Gods, which has branches in Bristol’s Wapping Wharf and at the Newport Market food court in Newport. Hyde & Co has now opened Seven Lucky Gods Sushi Bar in a cargo container a stone’s throw from its Bristol site, reports Bristol 24/7. Manager Jim Oakley said the bar sells “top quality sushi” made by the chefs at Seven Lucky Gods. “We’re working together with top chefs from Seven Lucky Gods to bring quality sushi made fresh every day, alongside an excellent range of authentic Japanese groceries to use at home, as well as gift sets, DIY sushi making kits and branded T-shirts, hoodies, caps and beanies,” he said. “We’re also serving up Japanese beer, saki and quality whiskeys and a range of delicious soft drinks. Alongside the already established Seven Lucky Gods restaurant, we aim to provide authentic Japanese food and drink for people to enjoy on the go, at home, or in the vibrant and lively Wapping Wharf surroundings.” Founders Nathan Lee, Jason Mead and Kevin Stokes launched Hyde & Co in 2010 with the launch of a prohibition-style speakeasy bar of the same name in Upper Byron Place. They are also behind Asian fusion concept Four Wise Monkeys in Clare Street, Mediterranean-inspired bar and restaurant Bambalan in Colston Street, sourdough pizza concept Flour & Ash in Whiteladies Road, cocktail bar The Milk Thistle in Quay Head House, steak restaurant The Ox in Corn Street and tarot/burlesque bar The Raven, also in Corn Street.

Midlands pub company to open third site today: Midlands pub company Weavers Real Ale House will open its third site today (Friday, 17 May). It will open in the former Dog House micropub at 2 Vauxhall Road in Stourbridge – adding to its sites in Kidderminster’s Comberton Hill and Malvern’s Church Street. The original Kidderminster site was opened by owner Dean Cartwright in 2015, followed by the Malvern site in 2021. Weavers Real Ale House also last year applied to convert a former Navigator clothes shop in Ledbury, Herefordshire. “We have some exciting news for you Stourbridge,” the business posted on Facebook. “We’re thrilled to announce the arrival of a new Weavers Real Ale House in town. After a successful meeting with the owners, and after going in to only acquire a couple of fridges, we ended up saving the entire pub. With just four hours to spare before the licence deadline, we secured the future of the third Weavers Real Ale House. Get ready for an incredible selection of ale, craft beer, cider and more, all with the signature Weavers emphasis on great beer, excellent service and a fantastic atmosphere. We are on a mission to revive that sense of community, offering a warm and friendly welcome to everyone.”

Suffolk multi-site operator plans to expand his cafe business after finding new home for debut site: Suffolk multi-site operator James Pilley has said he plans to expand his The Hive cafe business after finding a new home for its debut site. Pilley will next month move his The Hive from its current home at The EpiCentre in Haverhill, where it has operated for the past 18 months, after being told its lease was not being renewed. Pilley, who runs the business with his dad Daniel, will move the cafe to the Nine Jars hotel and restaurant in Haverhill High Street, which they also own. “Looking at a long-term plan, we hope to be able to expand The Hive further afield to surrounding towns and grow the business,” James Pilley told the Haverhill Echo. “However, short term, we are keen to continue to serve our loyal customers the same great coffee and keep our dedicated team in their roles with us, and so will be altering part of Nine Jars to become a coffee shop. This will include a cake counter, fresh pastries and lunchtime options as well as a fabulous range of coffee, tea and hot chocolates all with the option to sit in or takeaway. The coffee shop will be an exciting addition to our hotel and will not affect anything we are already offering or working on with Nine Jars.”