Office foodies, the working lunch needs YOU! Opinion Amid a hospitality crisis, it's up to workers to take longer, boozier lunches and power the economy, says Nicole Gordon.
Magners owner hits out at Reeves as hospitality crisis hits sales Hospitality The maker of Magners and Bulmers cider missed its profit and revenue targets this year, blaming Rachel Reeves’ Budget and the “financial stress” it caused pubs and bars. C&C Group, which also owns the Orchard Pig and Jubel brands, said it is seeing resilient demand for cider and beer but plummeting sales of high-alcohol drinks [...]
Campanelle hopes to pick up Toast the City Best Restaurant win Toast the City Campanelle is one of our favourite new Square Mile restaurants, a vast Italian dining room set inside the beautifully restored London Shipping Exchange on Billiter Street. Created by restaurateur Ninai Zarach, the all-day venue is an excellent showcase for grand City architecture. The menu takes inspiration from across Italy, catering for everything from breakfast meetings [...]
Evolv: Revenue at Quaglinos, Coq d’Argent, Madison and Bluebird owner soars May 8, 2026 The group behind restaurants including Quaglinos, Coq d’Argent, Madison and Bluebird has seen its earnings surge despite the challenges facing the hospitality sector. Evolv – formerly D&D London – saw revenue increase 20 per cent from £126.3m to £151.6m year-on-year, with Ebitda rising from £2.6m to £14.6m. Evolv reported a modest loss of £6.8m for [...]
Wetherspoon issues profit warning over ‘substantial’ cost hikes May 6, 2026 JD Wetherspoon has warned it could miss profit targets over “substantial increases in costs,” as pubs brace for soaring energy and shipping prices due to the Iran war. The UK’s best-known pub chain confirmed on Tuesday that the much-feared knock-on effects from the blockage to the Strait of Hormuz have begun to hit hospitality firms. [...]
Tax hikes call time on two pubs a day crushing 2,400 jobs May 5, 2026 The government’s bitter round of tax hikes imposed on the hospitality industry is said to have forced the closure of two pubs a day in the first three months of the year in yet another blow to the already bruised sector. Figures from the Beer Bar and Pub Association (BBPA) showed 161 pubs across Britain [...]
Greene King selling 150 pubs over ‘unprecedented costs’, boss says May 4, 2026 Greene King’s decision to put 150 pubs up for sale was a reaction to the “unprecedented” costs facing hospitality, its boss has said. The pub chain, one of the UK’s largest, revealed plans to put as many as 150 pubs on the chopping block in March and chief executive Nick Mackenzie told City AM this [...]
‘Slightly unnerving’: Greene King enlists AI to answer pub phones April 29, 2026 Greene King has turned to AI-generated assistants to staff its bars as hospitality firms battle to absorb rising costs, City AM can reveal. The Chinese-owned pub chain, one of the UK’s largest, is using a “virtual assistant” named “Charlie” to answer the phone at a number of sites, including in London. The shift to digital [...]
‘Relentless pressures’: More hospitality firms forced to shut even before Iran war April 17, 2026 The rate of corporate collapse in hospitality surged in February in signs the sector was struggling to stay afloat even before the Iran war brought further cost pressures. The number of accommodation and food service firms declaring insolvency jumped by 22 per cent to 270 in February, according to government data. This acceleration of the crisis [...]
Energy bills threat recedes but retail and hospitality remain on brink April 8, 2026 Retail and hospitality leaders are optimistic that the Iran-US ceasefire could spare them from the worst energy bill shocks, but are urging the government to address an array of other cost pressures. British businesses had warned that the soaring energy prices caused by the war in the Middle East could be devastating if the conflict [...]