Latest / Hospitality News Briefing / Friday 25 September: M&B returns to growth in final quarter as overall sales climb 2.1%
Transcript
- Good morning. This is the Hospitality News Briefing, from Ops Club. Episode six, Friday the twenty fifth of September. Here is what the UK trade press reported this morning, collated for operators. Mitchells and Butlers has returned to sales growth in its final quarter as overall sales climbed two point one per cent, marking a recovery from a weather-hit third quarter. Starting with the numbers, Propel Hospitality Info reports that Mitchells and Butlers saw like for like sales rise two point one per cent across the fifty one weeks to the nineteenth of September twenty twenty six. The final quarter saw a one point four per cent bounce as weather patterns normalised, led by drink-led brands like Nicholsons and O'Neills. While food growth remained softer at zero point six per cent, CEO Phil Urban noted that cost headwinds are easing slightly to ninety five million pounds next year. However, growth plans remain cautious due to geopolitical uncertainty and potential government tax moves. Also in Propel, the Vietnamese group Pho saw adjusted ee bit dah reach eight point eight million pounds for its latest forty four week period, with revenue hitting seventy five point six million pounds. The group is seeing a forty seven per cent return on capital employed from sites invested in between twenty twenty one and twenty twenty three. With a pipeline to reach one hundred sites, Pho is proving that focused, smaller formats can thrive even during mid-market cost of living pressures. Two more briefs from Propel: Welcome Break reported a record ee bit dahr of one hundred and forty one point eight million pounds as midweek traffic rebalanced with the return to offices. Meanwhile, Parkdean Resorts hit record on-park spending, delivering double-digit profit growth and planning a seventy million pound investment to upgrade its estate in twenty twenty seven. Moving on to the latest market data, Propel reports that while total at-home sales rose nine point six per cent in August, underlying like for like growth stalled at just zero point two per cent. Takeaway and click and collect revenue has declined for seventeen months straight, suggesting consumers are now fully prioritising the convenience of third-party couriers over more profitable walk-in trade. There is also significant new data from The Pineapple People Report, as reported by Propel, which links stable management to staff retention. Brands with long-tenured general managers see team turnover at fifty two per cent, compared to eighty two per cent where managers keep changing. A similar anchor effect exists for head chefs, with back-of-house turnover at forty two per cent versus seventy seven per cent. The report suggests that GM and head chef retention should be treated as a formal KPI, with a specific review at twenty four months in the role. Next, a look at who is opening where. Propel has a few updates, starting with Individual Restaurants. The group behind Piccolino will launch its first new-generation British pub, The Last Exchange, in London next month. The US brand Chick-fil-A is preparing its first UK drive-thru unit in Hamilton, Scotland, following its return to the market. In Covent Garden, Chef Jordan Bailey will launch a flagship site for his smash burger concept, Heard, this November, including a speakeasy cocktail bar. Finally, the Australian Mexican franchise Zambrero has appointed development agents to target thirty six London sites by twenty thirty. In people moves, Stuart Hills has been promoted to UK CEO at C O R E cruitment after eighteen years with the firm, moving up from his previous role as C O O. One last note from the wider industry, Propel reports that the Prime Minister has suggested he may trial ending the nineteen eighty five ban on drinking alcohol in view of the pitch at professional football matches. Three things to think about before you get on with the day. If your site-level staff turnover is north of eighty per cent, have you looked at how long your general manager has actually been in the building? With delivery taking over two-thirds of at-home revenue but takeaway revenue falling for seventeen months, is it time to re-evaluate your third-party commission costs? Are you tracking your manager retention as a formal KPI with a specific sit-down review at the twenty four month mark to prevent the anchor effect from fading? The full rundown is at ops dash club dot com, where every story links back to the publication that reported it. Today's pulled from Propel Hospitality Info - a signpost to their reporting, not a replacement for it. Scripted and read by AI and published without a human check, so check the original before you act on anything. For longer conversations with the people running the sector, find the Hospitality Ops Club podcast. That is your briefing. Have a great day.