Friday 23 October: Summer sales jump fails to fix profit squeeze as operators face 82% tax rate

Show Notes

Trade bodies warn that rising energy and food costs are swallowing revenue gains, while the government prepares a crackdown on unfair dismissal for new parents.

Correction: this episode said senior manager pay rose 6.7% alongside the fall in hospitality wages. That figure was not about hospitality and did not come from Langton Capital: it was from a separate Office for National Statistics analysis of pay for managers, directors and senior officials across all industries, reported by City AM.

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: Vapiano UK eyes expansion as earnings climb 16%; The Berkeley and The Connaught narrow losses to £10m; Norfolk McDonald’s franchisee hits £98.4m turnover; Balfour Hospitality to pivot away from 'challenging' pubs; IHG reports 5.3% global RevPAR growth in third quarter

Acquisitions & investment: Crerar Hotels portfolio hits the market for £90m; Parkdean Resorts commits £70m to 2027 upgrades

New openings & closures: Honest Burgers shuts its only Smash & Grab site; MeatLiquor founder to bring Pablo’s to London; Three Sheets duo to open Berryman’s in Dalston; Itsu secures flagship St Pancras International site; Professionals at Play to debut Love, Jackie in Leeds; Prezzo confirms new sites for Norwich and Leeds; Noodle Inn signs for Birmingham and London sites; Three Uncles opens eighth site in King’s Cross; Nonna Italian bakery opens in Covent Garden; Ruff indoor golf signs 10-site Scotland franchise deal

Promotions & people moves: Laura Mills joins The Wolseley Hospitality Group as MD; Preferred Hotels & Resorts names Roberta Possenti as European SVP; Safestay appoints Paul Cummins as executive chairman; Beautiful Pubs Collective hires Ben Scandrett

Trends & market data: Summer sales boost fails to lift hospitality profits; London pub rates jump 24% in new valuation list; Christmas hospitality spend forecast to hit £13.3bn; Hospitality wages fall 1.4% in August

Other industry news: New parents to get stricter dismissal protection; Healey promises £800m red tape cut for small firms; UKHospitality warns of 82% effective tax rate; Bread Ahead secures future at Borough Market

Sources

Propel - Propel Friday News Briefing

Propel - Summer sales boost fails to ease hospitality profit squeeze

Langton Capital - IHG, Just Eat, Parkdean, Sept Tracker, business rates, VAT & other

The Caterer - Crerar Hotels portfolio up for sale for £90m

The Caterer - UKHospitality pushes for ‘material tax cut’ at 2026 Autumn Budget

Restaurant Online - Three Sheets duo to launch martini, wine and oyster bar on Kingsland Road

Restaurant Online - Bread Ahead secures its future at Borough Market

The Morning Advertiser - Pubs set for festive footfall rise as Christmas hospitality spend expected to hit £13.3bn

The Morning Advertiser - Pubs hit by DesignMyNight booking system outage

City AM - Healey slash red tape save firms 800m a year

Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade - Stronger protections for pregnant women and new parents against unfair dismissal

Hospitality & Catering News - The Wolseley Hospitality Group appoints Laura Mills as Managing Director

The Morning Advertiser - Four in five hospitality businesses say costs are holding back investment

The full rundown, with a link to every original story, is at ops-club.com/news/2026-10-23.

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

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 six, Friday the twenty third of October. Here is what the UK trade press reported this morning, collated for operators.

A jump in summer sales has failed to fix the profit squeeze facing operators who now face an effective tax rate of eighty two per cent. Trade bodies are warning that rising costs are swallowing up revenue gains while the government prepares a crackdown on unfair dismissal for new parents.

First, we look at the latest trading figures. Propel reports that Vapiano U K is hunting for new sites in London and major cities after earnings climbed sixteen per cent. Like for like sales grew fifteen per cent this year. Adjusted ee bit dah reached five hundred and fifty nine thousand pounds for the year to December twenty twenty five. The group now views the U K as its global flagship market. Also in Propel, luxury hotel group Selene Holdings narrowed its losses to ten million pounds. Revenue rose to one hundred and thirty six point two million pounds for twenty twenty five. The Connaught saw operating profits double to twelve point eight million pounds. However, The Berkeley saw profits fall to three point nine million pounds due to nearby construction works.

Still with the numbers, Propel reports that a Norfolk McDonald's franchisee has hit turnover of ninety eight point four million pounds. The business returned to a one point one million pound pre-tax profit across twenty two locations. Balfour Hospitality is planning to pivot away from what it calls challenging pubs. The group will sell its City site and focus on its winery after pub losses hit ninety seven thousand pounds. Finally, Langton Capital notes that I H G saw global Rev P A R growth of five point three per cent in the third quarter. Performance was strongest in the Americas while sales in China dipped three point three per cent.

On to who is buying and selling. The Caterer reports that the Crerar Hotels portfolio has hit the market for ninety million pounds. Blantyre Capital is selling the ten luxury properties in Scotland and the Lake District less than four years after buying them. They're available as a whole or as individual assets. Meanwhile, Parkdean Resorts has committed seventy million pounds to upgrades by twenty twenty seven. According to Hospitality and Catering News, this includes six million pounds for Thorness Bay and five million pounds for Skipsea Sands to add new sports bars.

Next, a look at new openings and closures. Propel reports that Honest Burgers has shut its only Smash and Grab site in Liverpool Street following the end of the lease. MeatLiquor founder Scott Collins is bringing the Pablo's breakfast bao concept to Covent Garden by January. Restaurant Online reports that the Three Sheets duo will open Berryman's in Dalston next month. It will be a small, standing-only martini and oyster bar.

We have a run of new sites from Propel. Itsu has secured a flagship site at St Pancras International opposite the Eurostar entrance. Professionals at Play will debut their gaming pub concept, Love Jackie, in Leeds on the fifth of November. Prezzo has confirmed new openings for Norwich Riverside and Leeds White Rose before the end of the year. Noodle Inn has signed for sites in Birmingham and Angel. Cantonese roast meat specialist Three Uncles has opened its eighth site on York Way in King's Cross. Also, Nonna Italian bakery opens its second site today on Drury Lane. Finally, Swedish indoor golf brand Ruff has signed a ten-site franchise deal to debut in Aberdeen.

A few people moves to note. Laura Mills has joined The Wolseley Hospitality Group as Managing Director. She joins from The Ivy Collection, as reported by Hospitality and Catering News. The same publication notes that Roberta Possenti has been named European Senior Vice President for Preferred Hotels and Resorts. Langton Capital reports that Paul Cummins has been appointed executive chairman at Safestay, replacing Larry Lipman. Also, the Beautiful Pubs Collective has hired Ben Scandrett as hospitality and experience manager, according to Propel.

Turning to the wider market, The Morning Advertiser reports that summer revenue gains were wiped out by rising costs. Seventy four per cent of operators reported higher electricity bills. A joint survey found that eighty per cent of firms believe the current climate is stifling investment. Food inflation is now seen as the biggest non-tax threat by eighty eight per cent of businesses. Propel notes that London pub rates have jumped twenty four per cent in the new valuation list. Looking ahead to Christmas, festive spend is forecast to hit thirteen point three billion pounds. However, The Morning Advertiser notes that forty four per cent of consumers plan to visit fewer venues. Finally, Langton Capital notes O N S data showing hospitality wages fell one point four per cent in August, while senior manager pay rose six point seven per cent.

In other industry news, the Department for Business reports that new parents will receive stricter protection against dismissal. City A M reports that the Chancellor has promised an eight hundred million pound red tape cut for small firms. They'll be exempt from filing full profit and loss accounts at Companies House until April twenty twenty eight. The Caterer reports that U K Hospitality has warned of an effective tax rate of eighty two per cent for the sector. Chief executive Allen Simpson says the industry is being hammered compared to the forty per cent rate for banks. Finally, Restaurant Online reports that Bread Ahead has secured a lease extension at Borough Market until twenty twenty eight.

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

With London pub rateable values jumping by twenty four per cent, have you calculated the exact impact on your cash flow once the forty per cent retail and hospitality relief ends?

The government is tightening dismissal rules for new parents from twenty twenty seven. Do your current H R processes document all reasonable alternatives to dismissal to protect you at tribunal?

If forty four per cent of consumers plan to visit fewer venues this Christmas, what specific memorable experience are you adding to your fourth quarter calendar to ensure you are the one they keep?

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, Langton Capital, The Caterer, Hospitality and Catering News, Restaurant Online, The Morning Advertiser, Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade 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.