05/04/2022
Firms in England impacted by the Omicron variant are believed to have received less than half of the £635m support package promised by government, The Caterer has reported. Analysis of government data by real estate adviser Altus Group found that just £305m of the £635m distributed to 309 English councils had been paid out less than three weeks before the final cut-off for applications on 18 March. Altus Group said its analysis revealed that 29 councils had failed to distribute a single penny, while a further 89 councils had distributed less than half of their total allocation in grant funding to those firms hardest hit. Carlisle City Council and East Herts District Council had both paid less than £1 for every £10 of the funding that they had received.
Competitive gaming operator, Roxy Leisure Group, will be opening their 11th site in Bristol reports Pub & Bar. The new opening of Roxy Lanes, which will create 45 jobs follows the launches in Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool and Leeds.
Night-Time Economy Adviser for Greater Manchester, Sacha Lord, has forecasted a 16 to 20p rise in the cost of an average pint over the next 3 months as inflation, increased VAT pressures, and surging gas prices hit hospitality operators. This comes as the reduced rate of VAT at 12.5% for hospitality ended last week, increasing to 20%, reports Morning Advertiser. Lord said: "Our sector looks like it's back to normal with the naked eye, but behind the scenes, operators are barely breaking even. Many operators will be forced to increase customer prices by around 4 to 5% simply to stay afloat and this additional rise will be noticeable to punters."
Fulham Shore is expecting revenue and EBITDA to be above pre-Covid levels for the year ended 27 March 2022, with 18 new sites planned for this year, reports Big Hospitality. In an update of its full year results, to be published in July, the Franco Manca and The Real Greek operator said strong trading momentum and expansion during the year meant that revenue, EBITDA and adjusted headline EDITDA are expected to be ahead of last year's figures and 'comfortably ahead of market expectations".
Budget hotel brand Travelodge has announced it is planning to upgrade its core brand product to a new budget-luxe premium design, advises The Caterer. The design has been created following the success of the group's TravelodgePLUS format and using feedback from the company's largest consumer study. The group intends to roll out the new design across its UK estate and has kick-started this programme with a multi-million pound investment to upgrade 60 hotels this year in popular business and staycation destinations across the UK.
To celebrate the perfect match that is chocolate and beer, Fuller's has launched a chocolate beer glass so customers can enjoy the complementary flavours together, reports Beer Today.