14/01/2025 09:48:00
Drinks sales in pubs were three times higher on New Year's Eve 2024 than the previous year, new data has revealed. According the latest CGA by NIQ Daily Drinks Tracker, which measures average drink sales in managed venues, NYE trade outperformed 2023 by 373% last year, reports the Morning Advertiser. Christmas Eve was also a key trading day for the festive season, with an uplift of 65% compared to 2023, according to the data. The tracker revealed the last two weeks of 2024 on whole saw strong real-terms growth in pubs thanks to a flurry of drinks sales, with managed venues achieving growth of 4.4% in the week to Saturday 28 December 2024.
Mark Loughborough has been appointed chief executive of Various Eateries, the restaurant group behind the Noci and Coppa Club brands. He will join the board and start his role at the business on 20 January, advises The Caterer. Loughborough has more than 30 years of experience in the industry including 14 years at Young's as both retail director and executive board member, where he oversaw the operation of 280 pubs and 1,085 bedrooms, and managed £490m in revenue. Loughborough said he looked forward to working with the team to unlock the group's "full potential".
The Wolseley Hospitality Group has reported strong sales and record EBITDA but also a loss in its latest financial accounts, says Restaurant Online. Turnover increased 10.8% from £53.7m to reach £59.4m, while like-for-like sales were up 10.4% for the year ended 31 December 2023. Adjusted EBITDA was a record £5.7m for the company, but losses before tax widened to £8.7m, compared with a pre-tax profit of £4.1m in 2022. The group invested heavily during the period and opened two large London restaurants Manzi's and The Wolseley City. The Wolseley Hospitality Group, which is owned by Minor Hotels, operates nine restaurants in the capital. It intends to expand its footprint and is looking to continue to open new venues "both domestically and internationally."
A hotel on London's Pavilion Road, featuring a secret underground tunnel connecting it to Harrods, has won a bid to increase its number of bedrooms, reports Boutique Hotelier. Developer Beaumont Properties Limited is building a new boutique hotel on the former carpark, and now Kensington and Chelsea council has given the green light for the hotel to boost its number of bedrooms from 120 to 154. As the additional bedrooms would be achieved by reconfiguring the hotel's internal layout, a council report found they would have 'no impact' on the character and appearance of the surrounding area.
An historic West Sussex pub from 1536 has been restored to its former glory following a two-year refurbishment project. Located in South Downs National Park, The Swan Inn, has been refurbished by owner Angus Davies, known for his posts at Chez Bruce, Lorne, Sorrel and the Bib Gourmand-awarded The Hollist Arms. The work has seen the restoration of 12 ensuite bedrooms, a cosy pub and a 46-cover dining room offering a menu of seasonal country classics, says Pub & Bar. Fleurets sold the grade II-listed pub on behalf of Stonegate off a guide of £1.25 M in July 2022.
UKH Cymru has warned that the current Visitor Levy legislation plans are too broad and include no specific ring-fencing of funds to improve tourism, in response to the Senedd's finance committee consultation on the draft legislation. As a result, the trade body has called for specific clauses in the legislation that limit local authority spending of raised funds to areas that "demonstrably, tangibly and directly" benefit the tourism sector. It has also called for the introduction of a displacement principle to ensure that proceeds from the levy are not used to replace existing funding by local authorities, advises Hotel Owner.
Pub operators have hit out at Santander, after the bank targeted the sector to encourage customers to cut back on pints at the pub, reports the Morning Advertiser...