14/05/2024 09:53:00
Caribbean-styled bar restaurant brand The Rum Kitchen has quietly closed its entire estate, reports the Restaurant. The group, which operated a handful of sites in London as well as an outpost in Brighton, has not made any official announcement regarding the closures, but a note on The Rum Kitchen's Instagram page confirms that all locations are now shut. The Rum Kitchen's website also appears to have been shut down. It is understood that all sites closed within the last month. According to documents filed to The Gazette, one of the group's trading subsidies, Icarus Leisure Soho Limited, was wound up on 10 April.
A historic local brewery plans to buy back its former pubs. Lacons, which started in Great Yarmouth in 1760, has launched a project to reclaim some of its former pub estates, says Eastern Daily Press. In the 1960s, the brewery had 350 pubs in the east of England, including 50 in London, which were lost when they were taken over by Whitbread Brewery in 1965. The new project comes 10 years after the business returned to Great Yarmouth in 2013 - and begins with the recent acquisition of The Artichoke Pub in Broome, a village north of Bungay.
The Mile Castle pub in Newcastle is set to be transformed into a new 26-bedroom hotel, following a £5m refurbishment by owner J D Wetherspoon. In addition to the rooms, Wetherspoon will be creating a new 3,000 sq ft beer garden on the site of a former car park to the side of the building. The pub, which first opened in December 2009, will undergo a full internal refurbishment, to include decoration, new carpet, upgraded lighting, extending the bar on the third floor and creating a new cellar, reports Pub & Bar.
Closures across the hospitality sector slowed from eight sites a day in 2023 to four a day in the first quarter of 2024, figures from CGA by NIQ and AlixPartners has revealed. The latest Hospitality Market Monitor showed a 0.4% decline in the total number of closures between the start of January and the end of March - the third smallest quarter-on-quarter drop since the start of the pandemic, advises Morning Advertiser. According to the research, there were 98,745 hospitality venues in the UK as of March, which was down 2.5% year-on-year, meaning one in 40 venues shut in the past 12 months. However, the latest three-month snapshot provided "cautious confidence" that a slight easing of cost pressures may be starting to put the brakes on business closures.
Revolution Bars Group has said it is in talks with over 30 interested parties as it looks to find a buyer to rescue the business. The Caterer says the group, which is behind the Revolution de Cuba and Peach Pubs brands, launched a formal sale process last month after struggling with a drop in late-night trade. In an update, the business said 42 parties were invited to take part in the process, of which 32 agreed and signed a non-disclosure agreement. Dirty Martini and Cocktail Club operator Nightcap declined to take part in the sale, but last week said it was "exploring all options", including acquiring certain sites or Revolution brands. Alongside the sale process, Revolution has also proposed a restructuring plan that could see almost a quarter of its 80 sites close.
Sector "disappointed" with unchanging interest rates despite inflation ease as firms continue to struggle with Covid-related loan repayments. The Bank of England on Thursday 9 May announced interest rates would remain at 5.25% for a sixth consecutive time in a bid to meet its 2% inflation target, reports Morning Advertiser. UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said: "It's disappointing we're not seeing interest rates ease when we have seen sustained falls in the rate of inflation. Many hospitality businesses are still struggling with Covid-related loans repayments due to persistently high interest rates, and it continues to suck money away from investment and business growth."
Brighton Pier Group is to introduce an admission fee at its Palace Pier during peak trading times as it looks to respond to "challenging" trading conditions, advises The Caterer. The company, which operates the pier as well as five bars, eight indoor mini-golf sites and Lightwater Valley Family Adventure Park, said cost of living pressures has softened consumer demand, with poor weather, train strikes and the fire at the Royal Albion Hotel also impacting trading. The group reported revenue of £34.8m for the 12 months to 24 December 2023, and a pre-tax loss of £8.8m. At the end of the period the group took the decision to dispose of three sites in its bars division in Manchester, Cambridge and Brighton. As of 7 May 2024, the Cambridge and Brighton sites have been sold with Manchester expected to complete later in the year.
James Watt, co-founder and CEO of brewer and bar operator BrewDog, has decided to step down as chief executive of the business he co-founded 17 years ago, reports Pub & Bar.