23/08/2022
Licensed premises in the City of London have seen a net decline of 14% since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, new research has found. The latest Market Recovery Monitor from CGA by NielsenlQ and AlixPartners showed how closures have been particularly high in areas of central London that are reliant on office workers and tourism, reports Morning Advertiser.When looking at London as a whole, the capital saw a drop of 10.5% in licensed venues and when spilt into the different areas of the city, the northern and eastern regions now have 8% and 9.1% fewer licensed venues than in March 2020 respectively.
The Cocktail Club owner Nightcap has agreed a £10m debt refinancing facility that will be used partly to continue its expansion. Big Hospitality reports that the refinancing, through HSBC, will consolidate the group's existing debt facilities, totalling £5.5m, with the remaining £4.5m to finance capex on new sites.
Five organisations representing the UK hospitality industry have called on the government to take urgent action to counter soaring energy costs in a joint letter. UKHospitality, the British Beer and Pub Association, the British Institute of Innkeeping, Music Venue Trust and Night-Time Industries Association have jointly declared that "rocketing" energy prices are creating a state of "existential emergency". The Caterer report that the letter asks that the government and the Conservative leadership contenders outline a comprehensive support package for an industry that accounts for 10% of the British workforce and 5% of UK GDP. Hospitality operators are currently facing average annual bill increases of at least 300%, coupled with inflation at double digits for the first time since 1982.
More than 20 brands are set to open stores at Battersea Power Station and the surrounding area, including Abercrombie & Fitch, IWC and M&S Food Hall, advises Property Week. Following the latest signings, 85% of the retail and leisure facilities inside Battersea Power Station have exchanged or are under offer, with the first stores set to start trading as the power station opens its doors to the public for the first time this autumn.
Black Diamond Pub Company, a high-end, food-led village pub group, has opened The Three Tuns in Biddenham, Bedfordshire, its third pub in the last 12 months. Ahead of its reopening, The Three Tuns was transformed via a joint £300,000 investment from pub owner Greene King Pub Partners, reports Pub & Bar.
Barrio Familia is launching what it claims will be "the world's largest tequila bar" at the former Tropicana Beach Club site in London's Covent Garden, reports The Caterer.