Premium Club subscribers to receive updated searchable and segmented New Openings Database on Friday: The next Propel New Openings Database will be sent to Premium Club subscribers on Friday (1 May), at 12pm. The database will show the details of 133 site openings, including which company has opened a site or its plans to open one in the future. The database will have details on what type of site it is and its location, and there will also be a website link to the businesses. The database is published monthly, and Premium Club subscribers will also receive an 8,977-word report on the 136 new additions to the database. It is segmented into seven categories – cafe bakery, casual dining, experiential leisure, fine dining, hotels, pubs and bars, and quick service restaurants – making it even easier for users to search. The database includes new openings in the casual dining sector such as London restaurant and deli operator Ottolenghi opening in Edinburgh, Cosy Club, the Loungers-owned brand, making its London debut, and Lennox, the latest concept from Six by Nico, coming to Glasgow. Premium Club members also receive access to five other databases: the Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the Multi-Site Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database and the Who's Who of UK Hospitality. All Premium Club subscribers will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to Propel paid-for events and discounts on specialist sector reports. Operators that are Premium Club subscribers are also able to send up to four members of staff to each of our four Multi-Club Conferences for free. Premium Club subscribers 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 subscribers also receive exclusive opinion columns every Friday at 5pm, which include the thoughts of Propel chief operating officer – editorial, 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 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. A new Premium Unlimited Plus option, which costs £1,995 plus VAT per annum, has some amazing additional benefits including four free tickets to Propel's paid-for conferences – Excellence in Pub & Bar (19 May), Operational Excellence (9 July) and Talent & Training (15 October) – and the opportunity to run one free sponsored message or situation vacant notice during the year on the newsletter. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.

Zero-hour rule a ‘substantial threat’ to jobs: A guaranteed hours rule for workers is a “substantial threat to good jobs”, according to UKHospitality, urging the government to water it down. The rule – part of Labour’s workers’ rights legislation – is designed to give more job security to people on zero or low-hour contracts. But UKHospitality is among a coalition of trade groups representing firms that employ millions of people that have written to business secretary Peter Kyle to warn the measure, due to come into force next year, will backfire, reports The Mail. “The current approach risks stripping flexibility from the labour market at precisely the wrong moment,” the letter said. “With demand already weakened, poorly designed guaranteed hours measures could become a tipping point, pushing employers to reduce hiring, limit hours or withdraw flexible roles.” To avoid a double whammy of rising unemployment and fewer young people entering the labour market, it requests an “urgent and clear message” to encourage businesses to continue to hire with confidence. The letter, also signed by the British Retail Consortium, Food and Drink Federation, and Recruitment and Employment Confederation, comes amid fears unemployment could soon pass two million. Youth joblessness has soared after Labour’s national insurance hikes and rises in the minimum wage made hiring young people costlier. New workers’ rights pile on further pressure, the trade bodies said. Some rules including those on sick pay and trade union recognition have already taken effect. Guaranteed hours rules seek to give more certainty to those who work regularly, by promising them a set number of hours rather than facing the uncertainty of not knowing when they will be given shifts. But bosses said more flexibility is needed to reflect differing needs of workers, for example, in industries where demand is higher in certain seasons or when production cycles vary. Business leaders also want the rules to apply only to those workers on contracts of up to eight hours a week “rather than sweeping up workers who don’t need low-hours protections and giving workers a right to demand more work where that may not be available”.

 

Hundreds of fish and chip shops on brink of closure as costs soar: Hundreds of fish and chip shops are on the brink of closure due to the rising cost of energy, cooking oil and fish, the government has been warned. Trawlers remain in port after red diesel fuel prices doubled in a month due to the Iran conflict, making it impossible for fishermen to net a profit and sending fish prices soaring. The National Federation of Fish Fryers president Andrew Crook said chancellor Rachel Reeves should cut fuel duty while the Strait of Hormuz closure is impacting on trawlers and distributors. Crook told The Sun: “Independent fish and chip shops are feeling the brunt. The price of cod has doubled and it’s very difficult to turn a profit. We’re seeing shops close. We’ve lost 1,500 in the past three years and expect many more to shut.” Around 500 fish and chip shops are closing a year, with around just 9,000 remaining. Experts said the dish is becoming a luxury, with cod and chips now hitting £12 on average. Fisherman Andrew McLeod said a week’s diesel has gone from £10,000 to £20,500. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has said it is doing “detailed work to assess the food sector’s exposure to rising fuel prices”.