03/10/2023 09:10:00
Shepherd Neame, the Kent-based brewer and operator of 296 pubs, has announced its results for the 52 weeks ended 24 June 2023. Despite challenging economic conditions, the business achieved record revenues and an increase in underlying profits to the end of the period. Pub & Bar reports that revenue for the year grew by 9.7% to a record £166.3m (2022: £151.5m). Underlying profit before tax grew by 3.8% to £7.6m (2022: £7.3m), while statutory profit before tax was £4.9m (2022: £7.4m). Following a year of increased investment at £17.2m (2022: £5.4m), the operator says that consumer demand was strong throughout 2022/23, but significant inflationary pressure increased costs across the business.
The managing director of Dishoom has said he is fearful the group could lose 3,500 bookings over Christmas if there are further train strikes during the festive period, reports The Caterer. Brian Trollip said the team were "really worried" about the possibility customers would be unable to travel to their six restaurants in London and regional sites in Edinburgh, Manchester, and Birmingham and Brighton. "I think [train strikes are] going to potentially nail the hospitality sector very, very badly over the Christmas period," he told the Casual Dining Show. "Nothing seems to be resolved, there are a couple [of strikes] going on now, but we just feel like that's going to ramp up again over the Christmas period. I think we lost 3,500 bookings over the Christmas period last year and we're anticipating something similar happening this year when the strikes are almost inevitably announced."
Young & Co.'s Brewery has acquired a fourth freehold pub from Marston's and its first in the New Forest, Hampshire. Hospitality & Catering News advises that the Huntsman of Brockenhurst joins the now 831-bedroom-strong Young's Rooms collection of 41 pubs and follows the recent acquisitions of Marston's pubs with rooms; the White Lion in Tenterden and the White Hart in Ford, as well as the Libertine pub in Westbourne, as Young's extends its footprint across the south of England.
With many pubs struggling to break even, operators are being urged to increase pressure through their local MPs around business rates relief as the Government Autumn Statement approaches. The British Institute of Innkeeping is calling on pubs across the country to write to and invite their MPs into their sites as part of it's ongoing #MyPub campaign, advises Morning Advertiser. With ongoing challenges, inflationary pressures and rising costs, the BII said the current business rate relief, in place until March next year, had been a vital lifeline for many operations. For businesses coming out of the pandemic, the devasting energy hikes and soaring inflation, meant many had not had the chance to start to recover from the Covid crisis. Recent data from a BII member survey highlighted that whilst 2 out of 3 pubs are trading strongly with revenues back to normal level or growing, half of them were only breaking even.
Commitments made in UKHospitality's (UKH) Workforce Strategy, launched in May 2022, helped bring hospitality vacancies down by 57,000 at the peak of the industry's staff crisis, advises Pub & Bar.