Latest / Hospitality News Briefing / Monday 12 October: UK pub sector warns of 360 closures in 2026 as Loungers makes German debut
Transcript
- Good morning. This is the Hospitality News Briefing, from Ops Club. Episode seventeen, Monday the twelfth of October. Here is what the UK trade press reported this morning, collated for operators. The British Beer and Pub Association is warning that five thousand jobs are at risk this year, with the sector on track to see three hundred and sixty closures in twenty twenty six as Loungers makes its debut in Germany. Starting with the numbers, beef prices have hit the bottom line at Five Guys. Restaurant Online reports the premium burger group saw pre-tax losses of forty three million pounds for the year to December twenty twenty five. While site numbers grew to two hundred and ninety two across Europe, expensive beef margins and a challenging environment meant ee bit dah dropped to fifty three million pounds. In the delivery sector, one major platform has moved into the black. Langton Capital notes the firm turned a forty seven million pound loss into a sixteen million pound profit for the year to December twenty twenty five. Revenue climbed ten point four per cent to one point twenty four billion pounds. Langton Capital also reports that S S P Group saw sales grow five per cent to three point eight billion pounds, with U K like for like sales up four per cent in the fourth quarter. Blank Street Coffee is also seeing growth, with U K revenues jumping seventy per cent to fifty nine million pounds and moving into a three point two million pound profit. Elsewhere, Global Hotel Alliance saw its third quarter revenue climb twenty seven per cent to one point zero four billion dollars. According to Hospitality and Catering News, this was supported by longer stays across its one thousand hotel network. Propel Hospitality reports that Edge Restaurants, a McDonald's franchisee with twenty sites, grew its profit to four point one million pounds by using price increases to protect margins. On to who is buying and investing. Neos Hospitality has secured a ten million pound facility from H S B C U K to fuel its acquisitions. Propel reports the group now has forty venues and plans to transform three more locations by the end of twenty twenty six. Hospitality and Catering News notes that Hiddenwell has committed twenty five million pounds to transforming Ardencote Manor. Meanwhile, Propel reports the owner of Buzz Bingo is exploring a sale of its seventy five club estate, though the C E O warned that potential tax hikes could threaten the business. Looking at new openings, Loungers launched its first international site in Essen on Friday. Propel reports that chairman Alex Reilley believes the German market offers a growth opportunity at least as large as their two hundred and seventy nine sites in the U K. In Mayfair, Burger and Lobster co founder Misha Zelman is opening an Eastern European chophouse called Elezar this November. As Restaurant Online reports, it takes over a site where two other projects failed in less than a year. Hospitality and Catering News reports that Subway is trialling a new format for evening trade, while The Beefy Boys will open their eighth site in Cambridge this winter. A few moves to note. Brindisa Tapas has named Angel Zapata Martin as chef director to prepare for new launches in twenty twenty seven. Also, Michael Davies has been appointed as General Manager for the Somerset Hotel in Llandudno. Both of those are from Hospitality and Catering News. The picture for the wider market is becoming more difficult. City A M reports that pub closures are set to hit one per day. Two hundred and ninety five sites have already folded this year, putting twenty twenty six on course to exceed last year. Each closure costs the Treasury roughly two hundred thousand pounds in lost tax revenue. The U K economy is also expected to shrink by zero point one per cent in the August data. Over in the markets, Langton Capital notes the ten year gilt yield - what it costs the government to borrow for a decade - sat at five point forty three per cent. Finally, some views from the industry. Hawksmoor co founder Will Beckett has criticized identikit high streets. He told Propel that an obsession with rapid scaling is ruining the sector and that one great independent restaurant is often better than a generic concept. In other news from Propel, Wok and Go founder Desmond Pheby has been handed a ten year director ban, and the four site salad brand Bewliehill has entered administration and ceased trading. Three things to think about before you get on with the day. If Five Guys is losing money on beef inflation, how are your own margins holding up against key ingredient spikes this month? Will Beckett suggests identikit towns are killing the sector - are you building a site that belongs in its community or just a carbon copy of your last one? With pub closures set to hit one a day, have you modelled the impact of a further Budget tax raid on your twenty twenty seven cash flow? 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 Restaurant Online, Langton Capital, Hospitality and Catering News, Propel Hospitality and City AM - 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.