Thursday 22 October: Managed groups hit 2026 growth peak as pubs outpace inflation

Show Notes

September sales rose 2.7% in the sector's best performance this year, though operators warn that a 'punishing cocktail of costs' still threatens profitability.

Correction: this episode credited the Parkdean Resorts plan to invest £11m in two holiday parks to Hospitality and Catering News, which reported only the £5m for Skipsea Sands. The £11m plan was Propel's report. The episode also said The Walmer Castle turns over more than £4.5m a year and that The Caterer called the deal a benchmark sale. The Caterer reported sales of more than £4.5m to date, not each year, and did not call it a benchmark.

Collated, not reported. Ops Club did not break these stories, the trade press did. This is a signpost to them.

Scripted and read by AI from the Ops Club written edition. The stories are the trade press's, the selection is ours.

In this briefing

Results & trading updates: Hospitality sales growth hits 2026 high in bright September; Domino’s credits new menu ranges for third quarter sales lift; Bob & Berts profits jump to £1.3m after pause in expansion; Graysons Restaurants reports revenue rise to £55.6m; OneGym EBITDA climbs to £3.8m as estate grows; Tiny Rebel losses widen to £897k amid aborted deal costs; Virgin Wines slips to £1.5m loss despite sales growth

Acquisitions & investment: Public House Group takes over Notting Hill’s Walmer Castle; Parkdean Resorts plans £11m investment in two holiday parks; Modella Capital withdraws from Poundland bidding

New openings & closures: Sandwich Sandwich to open eighth site in Birmingham; The Beefy Boys secures first Welsh site in Cardiff; Noodle & Beer signs for second West End site; Honest Greens lines up Canary Wharf opening; Veeno opens in Northallerton under new franchisees; Tagelo pizza concept secures St John’s Wood debut; Pure Padel to make London debut in Croydon

Trends & market data: Hospitality wages fall for the first time in thirty months; Inflation rise triggers £129m business rates threat; Gen Z visit bars more often than the national average; Consumer confidence drops to three-month low

Other industry news: Greene King warns of 'punishing cocktail' of rising costs; Blackpool and Wrexham shortlisted for City of Culture; Government weighs removing gas bill standing charges

Sources

Propel Hospitality Info - Propel Thursday News Briefing

Propel Hospitality Info - Domino's hails Chick ‘N’ Dip following third quarter sales growth

Restaurant Online - Bob & Berts sees profits rise

The Caterer - Public House Group to operate the Walmer Castle pub

The Morning Advertiser - Hospitality faces £129m biz rates rise from April 2027

City AM - Consumer confidence tumbles as Healey urged to slow tsunami of costs

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport - Blackpool, Milton Keynes, Sheffield and Wrexham shortlisted for UK City of Culture 2029

The full rundown, with a link to every original story, is at ops-club.com/news/2026-10-22.

For longer conversations with the people running the sector, find the Hospitality Ops Club podcast at ops-club.com/podcast.

Three things to think about

With hospitality wages falling for the first time in three years, are you using this 'equilibrium' to lock in talent, or are you still being priced out of the junior roles that fuel your pipeline?

September's 3.5% inflation figure has just baked in a £129m rates hike for 2027 - have you modelled the impact of this on your site-level EBITDA if the Chancellor doesn't blink next week?

If 77% of Gen Z now expect your bar to offer 'more than drinks', what specific non-liquid reason did you give them to visit your sites this week?

What is Hospitality News Briefing?

UK hospitality news, collated every weekday morning in about five minutes.

We summarise the trade press first thing so you don't have to. Each briefing
covers the results, the deals, the openings and the people moves that matter to
operators, with every story credited out loud to the publication that reported it.

We collate, we don't report. The full rundown, with links back to the original journalism, is at ops-club.com/news.

Scripted and read by AI from the Ops Club written edition. The stories are the trade press's, the selection is ours.

Three things to think about before you get on with your day, then you're done.

From Ops Club, the community for hospitality operators. For longer conversations with
the people running the sector, find the Hospitality Ops Club podcast (https://ops-club.com/podcast)

Find us at ops-club.com for more.

Good morning. This is the Hospitality News Briefing, from Ops Club. Episode twenty five, Thursday the twenty second of October. Here is what the UK trade press reported this morning, collated for operators.

Managed groups have just seen their strongest growth of twenty twenty six. Sales rose two point seven per cent in September, though operators are warning that a punishing cocktail of costs still threatens the bottom line.

We start with the trading numbers. According to the N I Q R S M Hospitality Business Tracker, September was the best performance of the year so far. Pubs led the way with three point eight per cent growth. Restaurants also did well with a two point six per cent rise. As Propel Hospitality Info reports, total sales still sit below inflation. This means the sector hasn't seen real terms growth for eighteen months now.

Propel also has the third quarter numbers for Dominos. They saw like for like sales grow two point three per cent. The group credits its new chicken and dip sub-brand and its Italiano pizzas for bringing customers back more often.

Over at Bob and Berts, profits jumped to one point three million pounds. That's a big move from the twenty one thousand pounds they reported last year. Restaurant Online says the coffee chain grew revenue by over eight per cent after pausing new openings to focus on site efficiency.

Four more quick updates from the morning papers. Graysons Restaurants saw revenue rise to fifty five point six million pounds. OneGym reports that its ee bit dah climbed to three point eight million pounds across fourteen sites. Both of those are in Propel. The same publication notes that losses at Tiny Rebel widened to nearly nine hundred thousand pounds after a deal fell through. Finally, Langton Capital reports that Virgin Wines moved to a one point five million pound loss despite growing its sales.

Next, we look at who is buying what. BNF Hospitality has taken over the Walmer Castle in Notting Hill. The pub turns over more than four point five million pounds a year. The Caterer describes the deal as a benchmark sale for the area. Public House Group will take over the operations.

Two other briefs on investment. Hospitality and Catering News reports that Parkdean Resorts will spend eleven million pounds on two of its holiday parks. And City A M says Modella Capital has pulled out of the bidding for Poundland, though they might still buy individual sites later.

On to new openings. Sandwich Sandwich is opening its eighth site in Birmingham tomorrow. The Beefy Boys have secured their first Welsh site in Cardiff for next March. Both of those are from Restaurant Online. Hospitality and Catering News says Noodle and Beer has signed for a second spot in Covent Garden. Propel reports four more: Honest Greens is heading to Canary Wharf, Veeno has opened in Northallerton, Tagelo is debuting in St Johns Wood, and Pure Padel is opening a six-court club in Croydon this December.

In market trends, hospitality wages have fallen for the first time in thirty months. Average weekly earnings dropped one point four per cent in August. Restaurant Online reports that vacancies are also falling. The industry is now calling for a freeze on minimum wage rises to protect junior roles.

The Morning Advertiser is warning of a massive hit to business rates. September's inflation figure of three point five per cent will add one hundred and twenty nine million pounds to sector bills by April twenty twenty seven. This will happen automatically unless the Chancellor steps in next week.

Two more briefs on the market. Heineken research shows Gen Z visit bars more than the national average, but seventy seven per cent of them want more than just a drink. That's from The Morning Advertiser. City A M notes that consumer confidence has dropped to a three-month low as households prepare for tax rises.

Finally, the bigger picture for operators. Greene King C F O Jonathan Fearn says the pub sector is at a tipping point. As reported by The Morning Advertiser, the group now employs twenty per cent fewer young workers than it did last year. Inflation has added four hundred million pounds to their costs since twenty nineteen. They say pubs are now left with just twelve pence profit from every pint sold.

Three things to think about before you get on with the day.

With hospitality wages falling for the first time in three years, are you using this equilibrium to lock in talent, or are you still being priced out of the junior roles that fuel your pipeline?

September's three point five per cent inflation figure has just baked in a one hundred and twenty nine million pound rates hike for twenty twenty seven. Have you modelled the impact of this on your site-level ee bit dah if the Chancellor doesn't blink next week?

If seventy seven per cent of Gen Z now expect your bar to offer more than drinks, what specific non-liquid reason did you give them to visit your sites this week?

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, Restaurant Online, Langton Capital, The Caterer, Hospitality and Catering News, City AM, The Morning Advertiser and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport - 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.