Propel Newsletter Archive Page

Next Who’s Who of UK Hospitality to be released today featuring 891 companies: The next Who’s Who of UK Hospitality will be released to Premium Club members today (Friday, 21 February), at midday. Another 16 companies have been added to the database, which now features 891 companies. This month’s edition will also include 85 updated entries and more than 238,000 words of content. 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, 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 Excellence in Pub Retail (May 2025) and discounts on specialist sector reports such as the Propel 500 and International Brands report. 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.

Joe & The Juice sees FY turnover near £77m, swings into profit: Joe & The Juice, the juice and cafe bar brand, saw turnover across its UK business in the year to 31 December 2023 near £77m, and said that it expected its turnover in 2024 to “continue the upward trend”. The company, which has 72 UK locations among a worldwide portfolio of 380 stores, saw turnover for 2023 stand at £76,952,519 (2022: £45,770,416), while pre-tax profit stood at £5,034,254 (2022: a loss of £5,141,031). The company said: “Revenue growth was mainly driven by multiple factors – increase in same-store-sales, full year effect of the incorporation of delivery turnover which doubled in 2023 compared to 2022 and price increases to absorb impacts of a high inflationary pressure on input prices throughout 2023. The total number of stores at year end increased from 64 in 2022 to 67 in 2023. The balance sheet for 2023 shows a net liability of £16,205,431. The development compared to 2022 is primarily due to an increase in cash and debtors. Management is satisfied with the company’s operational performance, exceeding previously communicated expectations, and believes 2023 results underline the robustness and growth capacity of the Joe & The Juice brand and business model… Building on the strong financial performance in 2023 and revenue growth trajectory from prior years, management expects 2024 results to continue the upward trend. Revenue is expected to display growth compared to 2024 with operating results in a range of £10m-£13m and a positive result before tax in a range of £8m-£10m. Expectation for operational results is affected by full-year impact from organisational investments made in 2023 and continued investments planned for 2024.” Last year, the business said it saw “the opportunity for expansion of its UK footprint, with the potential for hundreds more sites in the UK, regionally as well as in London, as it works towards a goal of growing its global estate to 1,000 stores in the next five years”.

Britain lost 100 indie breweries last year, says trade body: The number of independent breweries in Britain declined at its fastest rate in 2024, figures from the “indie beer” trade body suggest. The Guardian reports that the UK had 1,715 breweries at the end of 2024, 100 fewer than at the start of the year, according to the data released by Siba, which represents independent brewing companies. The overall fall the previous year was just eight. While Siba’s UK brewery tracker is only in its third year, the data it uses is comparable to figures from the real ale group Camra, because they both count only companies that are actually producing beer. Although the rate of closures slowed during the year, the drop recorded in 2024 is larger than any single-year decline recorded by either Siba or Camra. Other than in the first year of the covid-19 pandemic, the number of small breweries had grown significantly since 2002, when Gordon Brown, as chancellor, introduced tax breaks for small brewers, leading to a “craft beer revolution”. But recently, the sector has been buffeted by a maelstrom of adverse factors, including aggressive competition tactics from big brewers, rising costs and consumers tightening their belts. Margins in the sector have been eroded by wage and ingredient inflation in recent years, while many smaller players are still paying off loans taken to tide them through the covid-19 pandemic. A recent rise in alcohol duty, approved by Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government, increases duties on higher-strength brews, which are often favoured by fans of independent producers. Large brewing companies have also responded to the rise of smaller competitors by buying them out and then labelling them as “craft”. Andy Slee, the chief executive of Siba, said demand for indie beer was still high but that small brewers were finding it hard to sell to local pubs. “Given the demand for independent beer isn’t being met locally, you have to wonder whether more local beer in community pubs would help pub closure rates as well,” he said.

PM to offer youth visa scheme for Europe: Britain will offer European countries an “Australian-style” youth mobility scheme as part of Sir Keir Starmer’s reset with Brussels, The Times reports. Under a plan to be tabled by British negotiators, tens of thousands of young EU workers and students would be able to come to the UK to live and work for two years, with the possibility of a one-year extension. A reciprocal scheme would allow Britons aged 18 to 30 similar access to countries in the EU. The number of people allowed into the UK as part of the scheme would be capped annually to allay Home Office concerns over its impact on immigration statistics. Those coming to the UK would have to pay an NHS surcharge and would not be entitled to benefits. The plan is an attempt to broker a compromise over one of the biggest sticking points in talks with Brussels in time for a summit in London on 19 May. It is hoped there will be a joint political declaration detailing an outline agreement for a post-Brexit reset.

Consumer confidence on the rise: Interest rate cuts have revived consumer confidence while vacancies rose for the first time since June, indicating that it may be “too soon for gloom” about the UK economy this year. The Times reports that the GfK consumer confidence index, which was started in the 1970s, increased by two points over the month to mid-February to -20. Analysts had expected the index to be unchanged. Every category that GfK measures to generate a gauge of consumer confidence improved over the past month. Household optimism in personal finances strengthened, as did sentiment towards the economy over the coming year. The better-than-expected findings were driven by the latest interest rate cut by the Bank of England earlier this month. The central bank lowered borrowing costs by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.5%; some rate setters voted for a half-point cut. “The interest rate cut on 6 February will have brightened the mood for some people, but the majority are still struggling with a cost of living crisis that is far from over,” Neil Bellamy, consumer insights director at NIQ GfK, said. He added that consumers were still much more pessimistic about the economy compared with a year ago. Figures this week showed that inflation climbed to 3% in January from 2.5% in the previous month, higher than expected. Inflation is forecast by the Bank of England to rise to 3.7% in the summer owing to higher energy prices. Bellamy said: “It’s no surprise that consumer views on the general economic situation are still lower than 12 months ago, suggesting that people don’t expect the economy to show any dramatic signs of improvement soon. Politicians looking for bright spots on the horizon will be disappointed.” Separate figures published by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation showed that the number of job postings in the economy jumped by 7.2% over the month to January to more than 1.5 million. It was the first increase since last June. Kate Shoesmith, deputy chief executive of the confederation, said: “While there are tough conversations going on in boardrooms across the country, today’s report suggests it is too soon for gloom about the UK economy’s prospects overall for 2025.”

Top London restaurants adopt minimum spend to deter bots and influencers: Top London restaurants are trying to deter “reservation squatting” and freeloading social media influencers by imposing deposits and minimum spends as the industry grapples with booking bots and rising costs. The FT reports Gymkhana, the two Michelin-starred Indian restaurant in Mayfair, has introduced a £100 minimum spend for dinner payable on booking while Hutong in the Shard skyscraper has set it at £80 per adult for dinner reservations on Fridays and Saturdays. Chutney Mary in St James’s says its dinner minimum spend is £60 per person. Gymkhana said it had introduced the policy in November 2024 “in part due to the number of cancellations and no shows we were seeing per service”, but also because of the “large volumes of bots and reservation resale websites” directed at the restaurant after it won its second Michelin star. Hutong did not respond to requests for comment. MW Eat, to the group that owns Chutney Mary, said it had been “vexed” about whether to introduce a minimum spend, but had done so recently because high-end Indian restaurants suffered from “curry house hangover experiences” where people assumed large groups could order few main dishes, but many cheaper sides. Chris D’Sylva, who owns the one-Michelin-starred Dorian in Notting Hill, said he imposed a “slightly punitive deposit” of £25 per head, because too many people would make multiple bookings at restaurants around London using frictionless online platforms and then only turn up to one. He calls his practice “reservation squatting… because there’s no penalty associated with making a reservation”.

Scottish soft play operators call for urgent support ahead of budget: Less than a week before the Scottish budget is signed off, operators from the indoor play industry are urgently calling on the Scottish government to correct what they see as a critical oversight in the proposed non-domestic rates relief package. In a recent meeting with Ivan McKee MSP, minister for public finance, and Anouk Berthier, head of non-domestic rate policy, industry representatives highlighted their exclusion from the 40% rates relief granted to hospitality businesses. This decision, they argue, places them at an unfair disadvantage compared to counterparts in England and Wales, where retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses benefit from financial support. “The Scottish government has once again side-lined the indoor play sector, despite clear evidence that soft play centres are integral to the hospitality industry,” said Darren Margach, owner of multi-site leisure and play operator Innoflate and also on behalf of The Scottish Soft Play Owners and Management Group and the Association of Indoor Play. “Every indoor play centre in Scotland has a catering element – food and beverage sales are fundamental to our business model, alongside play and parties. Guests typically spend two hours in our centres, expecting food and drink options just as they would in other hospitality settings.” During the meeting, industry representatives referenced analysis from the University of Strathclyde’s Fraser of Allander Institute and the Office for National Statistics, both of which classify indoor play centres within hospitality-related categories. Despite this, the Scottish government continues to exclude indoor play from much-needed hospitality relief. Operators were told that while changes could not be made this year due to time constraints, they may be reconsidered next year. However, business owners argue that delaying support for another 12 months could have devastating consequences. “This is not just an administrative oversight—it’s a decision that threatens jobs and businesses in an already struggling sector,” said Margach. “With additional financial pressures from National Insurance increases and above-inflation wage rises, we simply cannot afford another year of being overlooked.” The industry is now calling for immediate intervention from the Scottish government to include soft play centres in the current relief package before it is signed off next week.