Casual dining restaurant

News / UK and world by Press Association April 30, 2019, 12:13 pm Send us a story Sign up to our Daily newsletter Pizza Express profits declined in 2018, after a year of challenges in the UK and fierce competition in China. Group turnover was up 1.6% to £543 million, but underlying earnings declined by 15.3%. The company said this was partly down to challenges in some of its less developed international markets, including China where it has been pursuing a major expansion of the brand. Chairman and chief executive Jinlong Wang said the business faced “intensifying competition from local brands” in China and was focused on adapting to changing consumer demands in the market. Nevertheless international markets now generate just under 20% of group sales, following the opening of 26 new sites in 2018. In the UK, higher wages and property costs weighed on profitability amid a devastating year across the casual dining industry. Several of Pizza … [Read more...] about Pizza Express earnings hit by casual dining crunch

News / UK and world by Press Association February 6, 2019, 11:30 am Send us a story Sign up to our Daily newsletter Jamie Oliver is on the hunt for a new investor in his restaurant business, which was forced to close several sites last year amid the casual dining crunch. The TV chef’s restaurant group has hired advisers at Alix Partners as it eyes selling a stake to an investment partner. A spokesman for Jamie Oliver Group said: “Building on the success of Jamie’s recent books and TV shows, Jamie Oliver Restaurants Group is seeking an investment partner to work alongside Jamie and the team to evolve and expand the business in the UK and international markets.” Any deal is also likely to include a fresh injection of capital from Oliver himself, who put £13 million of his own money into the business when it ran into trouble last year. In January 2018, the group shut 12 of its 37 Jamie’s Italian restaurants amid rising … [Read more...] about Jamie Oliver seeks fresh investment for restaurant group

News / UK and world by Press Association January 15, 2019, 12:03 am FacebookTwitterLinkedInWhatsAppEmail Send us a story Sign up to our Daily newsletter Casual dining is set for a comeback, according to Jamie Oliver, whose restaurant chain was one of many forced to close sites last year. Speaking to the Press Association, the TV chef said there would “always be room for all sectors” in the eating-out industry, but casual dining had been hit hard by recent challenges. “I think mid-market particularly was just in a perfect storm of rents, rates, over-saturation, and we’d just come out of a recession and went into Brexit-ville,” he said. Mr Oliver’s chain Jamie’s Italian closed 12 sites last year, amid tough competition and rising costs. He later revealed that the business had been hours away from bankruptcy, having “simply run out of cash” before he put £13 million of his own money in to keep it afloat. … [Read more...] about Jamie Oliver says casual dining restaurants primed for comeback