Coronavirus

Oakman Inns challenges PM over reopening as it eyes 4 July date

18-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

Oakman Inns says it will be opening its entire estate on 4 July, and has challenged Prime Minister to tell it otherwise.

Hospitality sector reopening announcement delayed by Government review

18-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

Plans to announce that pubs and restaurants in England could reopen on 4 July have reportedly been delayed by the Government's review of the two-metre social distancing rule.

Costa plans for extensive reopening

18-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

Costa Coffee will have more than 1,000 of its UK sites reopened by the end of the month.

Second lockdown would sound death knell for one in three hospitality businesses

18-Jun-2020 By Restaurant

A second lockdown would sound the death knell for a third of hospitality businesses, according to the findings from a new survey.

Rebecca Mascarenhas: “I'm astounded by the short-sightedness of some landlords"

18-Jun-2020 By Joe Lutrario

The respected West London restaurateur behind Elystan Street, Kitchen W8 and the recently launched Church Road on the dangerous lack of clarity from Government and why landlords should be using rent deposits to cover rent arrears.

NTIA demands further support for the NTE and events sector

18-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

The Night Time Industry Association (NTIA) has urged the Government to continue offering financial support to the night-time economy (NTE) and events sector until the end of the year.

Admiral Taverns launches online support platform for licensees

17-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

Admiral Taverns has launched an online support platform to help its licensees as they prepare to reopen their pubs after more than three months of being closed.

Pret trials click and collect

17-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

Pret A Manger is to trial a click and collect service for the first time across five of its reopened London stores, with evening delivery options also on the cards.

Hiscox faces £40m arbitration claim

17-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

Law firm Mischon de Reya has formally commenced its arbitration claim against the insurer Hiscox for non-payment of business interruption insurance.

Westminster Council proposes introducing temporary al fresco dining spaces

17-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

Westminster Council has set out plans to temporarily close roads and create al fresco dining spaces across the borough once hospitality businesses are given the green light to reopen.

AA launches accreditation scheme to help restore consumer confidence in hospitality businesses

17-Jun-2020 By Stefan Chomka

The AA is launching an assessment scheme that it says will support the hospitality industry in re-establishing and rebuilding consumer confidence as the UK prepares to come out of lockdown.

Brad Carter: "There’s always money to be made in chaos"

17-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

Having had to temporarily shut his Birmingham restaurant Carters of Moseley, Brad Carter is now producing up to 140 high-end meal boxes per week for delivery

Trade bodies urge Government to extend rent protection period

17-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

Industry bodies from across the leisure, hospitality and retail sectors have called for the Government to take urgent steps this week to extend protection from rent enforcement activity.

Le Pain Quotidien rescue deal confirmed with 11 sites closed

16-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

Bakery brand Le Pain Quotidien's UK operation has been sold in a pre-pack administration deal.

Pan Pacific delays London opening until 2021

16-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

The Pan Pacific hotel group has announced it is to push back the opening date of what will be its first London site until early 2021.

Plans revealed for 'Glasgow's biggest beer garden'

16-Jun-2020 By Restaurant

Plans have been revealed to create Glasgow's ‘biggest beer garden’ as soon as lockdown restrictions allow.

Staking a claim: the restaurants taking on their insurance companies

16-Jun-2020 By Joe Lutrario

Two months into the UK lockdown that forced restaurants to close and hospitality businesses and their insurers remain at loggerheads over payouts.

Mayfair's Indian Accent will not reopen once lockdown is lifted

16-Jun-2020 By Stefan Chomka

Indian Accent has announced that it is to close permanently its Mayfair restaurant because of the challenges it has faced during the Coronavirus crisis and those of customer distancing it will face once lockdown is lifted.

Pubs and restaurants in Northern Ireland given green light to reopen earlier than planned

16-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

The Stormont Executive has agreed to bring forward the reopening days of pubs, restaurants and hotels in Northern Ireland to 3 July.

Restaurant leaders write to the Prime Minister asking for action to help hospitality sector

16-Jun-2020 By Restaurant

CEOs of restaurant groups including Itsu, Pizza Hut, Pret A Manger and Wagamama as well as delivery platform Deliveroo have written to the Prime Minister calling for measures to help support the hospitality sector.

Government urged to give hospitality sector an opening date as soon as possible

16-Jun-2020 By Restaurant

The Government is being urged to provide the hospitality sector with a definite date on when restaurants, pubs and hotels can reopen.

Seafood Pub Company enters administration

16-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

Multi-award-winning gastropub group The Seafood Pub Company has entered administration.

Creams to introduce QR codes and ice cream van jingles to help prompt distancing and sanitisation

15-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

Dessert-focused chain Creams is to introduce QR codes to access menus and an ice cream van jingle to prompt all team members to wash their hands and sanitise surfaces.

Richard Caring urges Government for more information on how restaurants can reopen

15-Jun-2020 By Restaurant

Richard Caring has warned that Boris Johnson’s “weakness and indecision” on reopening restaurants, pubs and cafes will cost more than two million workers their jobs.

Hospitality shutdown responsible for a quarter of UK's GDP fall

15-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

The Government-mandated shutdown of the hospitality sector was responsible for nearly a quarter of the GDP losses felt by UK business in April, according to the CGA's latest UKHospitality Tracker.

'Comprehensive' review of two-metre distancing rule ordered by PM

15-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

An 'comprehensive' review of the two-metre social distancing rule has been ordered by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as pressure continues to grow for the Government to relax the guidance.

Friday Five: The week's top news

12-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

As the Coronavirus crisis continues to dominate the headlines, we round-up some of the main stories regarding how it has affected the hospitality industry in the past week.

Sam Harrison on his re-opening plans and his upcoming celebrity quiz night

12-Jun-2020 By Joe Lutrario

Hammersmith restaurant Sam's Riverside plans to relaunch as soon as the Government allows with a new seafood terrace offering.

Corbin & King launches delivery service to help top-up staff wages

12-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

London-based restaurant group Corbin & King has launched a home dining offer as a way to raise further funds to top up the wages of furloughed staff.

Restaurant described as the 'antidote to the C word' to open next month

12-Jun-2020 By Restaurant

A restaurant that has been purposely designed for customer distancing is due to open in Cornwall’s St Moritz Hotel next month.

Renewed calls to relax two-metre rule and introduce Autumn bank holiday in APPG report

12-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

Just 11% of hospitality businesses have been able to operate normally during the Coronavirus lockdown according to a report from The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Hospitality and Tourism (APPG).

Pre-booking. Perspex screens. Pub hosts. How Greene King's pubs will operate post lockdown

12-Jun-2020 By Finn Scott-Delany

Greene King has unveiled details of how its pubs will look and operate ahead of them re-opening, under its set of ‘Pub Safe’ promises.

Hospitality redundancies loom once JRS changes in August

12-Jun-2020 By Restaurant

Restaurant businesses will be forced to slash staff numbers when the Government’s Job Retention Scheme (JRS) moves into its next stage in August, according to the latest weekly Hospitality Leaders Poll by MCA Insight/HIM.

Le Pain Quotidien secures partial rescue deal

12-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

Bakery brand Le Pain Quotidien's UK operation has reportedly been sold in a pre-pack administration deal.

The Lowdown: ‘Helpy Hour’

11-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

With bars, cafés and restaurants facing catastrophic financial losses due to the Coronavirus, Belgium has launched the ‘helpy hour’ initiative, to try and stop its hospitality establishments from going under.

The new (ab)normal? What the future holds for restaurants

11-Jun-2020 By Stefan Chomka

As the lockdown easing tentatively begins, restaurants owners’ minds are turning to reopening their businesses. But what does the short-term future hold for restaurants?

Pressure grows to cut two-metre social distancing rule

11-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

Conservative MPs are reportedly calling on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to cut the two-metre social distancing rule, a move many hospitality operators have said will be integral to their survival.

Scottish Government signals reopening date for hospitality sector

10-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

The Scottish Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing has told the country's tourist bodies that they should prepare for reopening from 15 July onwards.

Homerton pub The Gun launches crowdfund to help secure survival

10-Jun-2020 By Stefan Chomka

East London pub The Gun has launched a crowdfund to raise money to help it avoid closure as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.

McDonald’s to relaunch takeaway and click-and-collect

10-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

McDonald’s has announced plans is to relaunch its in-store takeaway and click-and-collect offering from next week.

Clarity needed over Welsh Government's reopening strategy for sector, says UKHospitality

10-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

UKHospitality Cymru has said that an orderly and clearly signalled opening date, which allows high summer season trading, could save as many as 40,000 jobs in the Welsh hospitality industry.

UKHospitality urges Government to provide fiscal rent support

10-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

UKHospitality has warned of significant business failures and job losses across the sector if the Government fails to provide fiscal support to overcome the stand-off between landlords and tenants over unpaid rent.

Business Secretary pours cold water on early reopening plans for sector

10-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

The Business Secretary has confirmed that the earliest hospitality businesses will be able to reopen will be 4 July, dashing hopes that they may have been able to open earlier.

TRG eyes 125 closures as CVA announced

10-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

The Restaurant Group (TRG) has announced that its struggling leisure arm is to enter into a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) that will see its estate reduced by approximately 125 sites.

Soho Summer Street Festival campaign launched

09-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

London-based commercial landlord firms Soho Estates and Shaftesbury are leading a campaign to temporarily pedestrianise the Soho area and allow hospitality businesses to set-up al fresco drinking and dining areas.

Pizza Express extends lockdown offer to click and collect

09-Jun-2020 By Restaurant

Pizza Express has taken another tentative step towards reopening its restaurant estate by adding an option to click and collect pizzas from the 13 sites in London that is has already opened for delivery.

Video: How restaurants are gearing up for re-opening

09-Jun-2020 By Joe Lutrario

As the re-opening date for restaurants approaches, operators’ thoughts are turning to how they can re-open safely and economically. Here restaurateurs in Brighton & Hove discuss the challenges they face as they look to start welcoming their diners...

BBPA calls for definitive pub reopening date

09-Jun-2020 By Georgia Cronin

The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) has called on Government to provide immediate clarity on whether pubs with beer gardens can reopen from 22 June.

Veggie Pret sites to reopen this week

09-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

Pret A Manger is to reopen all of its Veggie Pret stores across the UK this week, with the majority offering delivery for the first time.

Revised #NationalTimeOut plan proposed

09-Jun-2020 By James McAllister

Hospitality Union’s Jonathan Downey has written a second letter to the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, featuring a revised #NationalTimeOut rent deal proposal.