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Morning Briefing for pub, restaurant and food wervice operators

Wed 21st Aug 2024 - Update: McDonald’s to open more than 200 new UK restaurants over next four years with focus on high street
McDonald’s to open more than 200 new UK restaurants over the next four years with a focus on the high street: McDonald’s plans to opens more than 200 restaurants in the UK and the Republic of Ireland over the next four years, creating 24,000 jobs, in a sign of faith in the high street, reports The Times. The expansion, its biggest since 2002, is part of a £1bn investment by the chain and its franchisees, which already have 1,435 outlets in the UK employing 171,415 people. Four fifths of its restaurants are owned and operated by franchisees. It represents a significant increase in investment by McDonald’s, which put £618mn into new restaurants and upgrades in the five years to 2023. Under the plans to be announced this week, there will be a renewed focus on opening high street restaurants by the company, which is the biggest private employer of young people in Britain. McDonald’s said this demonstrated a “commitment to supporting successful high streets across the country as town and city centres continue to evolve and respond to a variety of challenges”. The rollout will test new restaurant formats, including smaller ones. “We have come a long way since we first opened our doors in Woolwich 50 years ago,” Alistair Macrow, the chief executive of McDonald’s UK&I, said. “We have become an important part of communities across the UK, and I’m delighted that, in this milestone year, we are able to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to growth and announce the creation of new jobs. We’re proud of what we have delivered in the last 50 years and are committed to investing in new opportunities and supporting growth across the UK.” In a new report to celebrate its half-century as part of British life, McDonald’s highlights its contribution to the economy, including nearly £95n of gross value added spread nationwide. Since 1974, more than £51.56bn has been spent on UK-based suppliers and farmers. The world’s biggest restaurant group reported its first global drop in sales since the pandemic in July. UK financials are not covered in McDonald’s Group corporate earnings reporting. The 1% fall in same-store quarterly sales in its 41,800 outlets worldwide in the second quarter prompted Chris Kempczinski, 55, the chief executive of McDonald’s Corporation, to concede that it was “clear that our value leadership has recently shrunk”. He insisted that the company was “working to fix that with pace”. McDonald’s blamed a fall in the number of its customers in the United States, along with the “continued impact of the war in the Middle East” and weaker demand in China. McDonald’s features in the Propel UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database, which is an exhaustive guide to the companies offering a food and beverage franchise in the UK and is available exclusively to Premium subscribers. The database is updated every two months, and the latest version was sent out last week, featuring 270 businesses. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The single subscription rate is £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription.

Next Who’s Who of UK Hospitality to be released on Friday featuring more than 237,000 words of content: The next Who’s Who of UK Hospitality will feature more than 237,000 words of content when it is released to Premium Club members on Friday (23 August), at midday. The database now features 878 companies, and this month’s edition includes seven new additions and 85 updated entries. The companies, listed in alphabetical order, will have their most recent results reported as well as broader information around Ebitda, plans and trading style available. The database merges Companies House information, interviews and other public information to provide an easy to reference and exhaustive guide to the sector. Premium Club members also receive access to five other databases: the Multi-Site Database, produced in association with Virgate; the New Openings Database; the Turnover & Profits Blue Book; the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database and the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database. All Premium Clubs members will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to Propel paid-for events including the Talent and Training Conference (1 October), Restaurant Marketer and Innovator (two days in January 2025) and Excellence in Pub Retail (May 2025). Operators that are Premium Club members are also able to send up to four members of staff to each of our four Multi-Club Conferences for free. Premium Club members receive their daily Propel Info newsletter 11 hours earlier than standard subscribers, at 7pm the evening before. They also receive videos of presentations at eight Propel conference events two weeks after they are held. This represents around 100 videos of industry insight over the course of the year. Premium Club members will be sent a dedicated monthly newsletter that will highlight key updates in the sector and direct subscribers to all the vital content their membershipoffers. Premium Club members also receive exclusive opinion columns every Friday at 5pm, which include the thoughts of Propel group editor Mark Wingett and a host of industry leaders from across the sector. A Premium Club subscription costs an annual sum of £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Premium Club for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or supplier. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.

Five Guys opens third Liverpool location: Better burger brand Five Guys has opened its third location in Liverpool. It has opened at Unit L11 at the New Mersey Shopping Park in Speke, joining its city centre branches at Liverpool ONE and Queen Square. Five Guys chief executive John Eckbert said: “We’re thrilled to be opening our new restaurant and bringing our famous burgers to New Mersey Shopping Park. We pride ourselves on using only the freshest ingredients and offering a wide range of customisation options to suit every taste.” Propel revealed last month that the brand is also preparing to open new sites in Barnet and West Hampstead, as it looks to launch up to 20 further locations this year. It is also set to ramp up its drive-thru estate in the UK, with a target of opening up to ten sites under the format by the end of 2026.

New restaurant from former Casamia chef to open in Bristol: A new restaurant from the former head chef of the Michelin-starred Casamia is set to open in Bristol. Bristol Live reports that Other, which will be located on Cannon Street in the Bedminster area of the city, is the new venture from Casamia’s head chef, Zak Hitchman. It looks set to open in September, some two years after Casamia closed its doors. It will offer small plates, bigger plates and snacks, with dinner from Wednesday to Saturday and brunch “eventually”. The Michelin-starred Casamia announced in May 2022 that it would shut its doors in August of that year. In January, chef Peter Sanchez-Iglesias, the owner of Casamia, posted on the social media platform that he was looking to reopen the restaurant.

Dublin chef closes two out of his three restaurants amidst ‘challenging times’: Dublin chef Dylan McGrath has closed two out of his three restaurants in the city amidst what he called “challenging times” for the industry. McGrath has shut Brasserie Sixty6 and Rustic Stone but confirmed the third of his three restaurants in Dublin, Fade Street Social, will remain open. “Looking at hospitality in the city, the time has come where we have decided it’s simply not sustainable,” he posted to social media. “It’s hard to put into words what has happened to restaurants and the city centre in the last four years. No doubt we will miss the restaurants, but selling on the leases and concentrating on Fade Street Social currently is what’s needed. This is a very challenging time for stand-alone restaurant models. Rustic Stone and Brasserie Sixty6 have been very successful restaurants in Dublin for a long time, but hospitality is changing, and we believe our strong work ethic is better applied to new and different opportunities. We will be focused on Fade Street Social and making it the best it can be.”

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