Pub chain JD Wetherspoon to cut up to 130 head office jobs August 6, 2020 Pub chain JD Wetherspoon will cut up to 130 head office jobs due to a downturn in the pub and restaurant industry during the coronavirus pandemic. The company announced this morning that 110 to 130 head office positions are at risk of redundancy. Wetherspoon blamed the cuts on a downturn in trading, a slowdown in [...]
Shakespeare: Spoons reputation knifed after botched Super Saturday July 22, 2020 On July 4th, pubs and restaurants in England were allowed to reopen after months of lockdown to stem the spread of COVID-19 – a day that the papers dubbed ‘Super Saturday’. While it’s recommended that people remain two metres apart to stay safe, the hospitality sector is now allowed to observe a ‘one metre plus’ [...]
McDonald’s to open 700 restaurants for dine-in from tomorrow July 21, 2020 McDonald’s is preparing to reopen hundreds of UK restaurants for dine-in customers for the first time since the coronavirus lockdown began in March. The fast food chain said 700 UK branches will reopen from tomorrow following successful pilots. Ramped up social distancing measures will be in place and diners will also be required to leave [...]
Retail restraint: John Lewis and Primark decline government help to play the long game July 16, 2020 For retail, the story of Covid-19 has been one of survival. Inevitably, the sector has looked to the government for assistance. Even the most hardened devotee of the free market has seen the Treasury’s coffers as a life belt to help companies get through the worst of the pandemic. Change and adaptation can come later. [...]
McDonald’s, KFC and Wetherspoon among chains to slash prices after government VAT cut July 15, 2020 High street cafe and restaurant chains including McDonald’s, KFC and Wetherspoon have slashed prices in response to the government’s decision to cut VAT for the sector. Chancellor Rishi Sunak last week announced that VAT would be reduced from 20 per cent to five per cent for hospitality and tourism businesses. Fast food favourites and casual [...]
Wetherspoon slashes prices after hospitality VAT cut July 13, 2020 Pub chain JD Wetherspoon will slash the price of a range of meals and drinks following the government’s decision to cut VAT for the hospitality industry. Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced last week that VAT will be reduced from 20 per cent to five per cent until next year. Wetherspoon said today that it will “fully [...]
Super Saturday: Pubs to open as London braces for boozing Brits July 3, 2020 Pubs and restaurants up and down the country are preparing to open tomorrow – dubbed Super Saturday – for the first time since lockdown began, as Brits readjust to life under social distancing. Bars and eateries will be allowed to open their doors for the first time using measures such as table service and visitor [...]
Super Saturday: The pubs, bars and restaurants reopening in the City July 3, 2020 It’s been eerily quiet in the City over the past few months, but things are starting to come back to life. Following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement last week that England is set to emerge from its “national hibernation,” some of the City’s pubs, restaurants and bars will open their doors for the first time [...]
Hospitality venues raise the bar as pubs’ re-opening app-roaches July 1, 2020 ‘Two pints of lager and a packet of crisps’: no longer (for the time being, at least) a request delivered while waiting at the bar. Instead, a request delivered electronically by smartphone app from a safe, social distance. Technology’s reach knows no bounds as Britain’s public houses – stereotypically bastions of resistance to digital accoutrements [...]
Beer sales sink to 20-year low June 11, 2020 Beer sales in the UK slumped to their lowest levels for 20 years in the first quarter of 2020, as the lockdown continues to weigh on the hospitality industry. The figures Figures released today by the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA), the largest brewing and pub body in the UK, showed that beer sales [...]