Hospitality

Every business is different, however there are particular issues that pubs and hotels face which are unique to the sector.

Pubs and Inns are a British tradition and often the hub of the community bringing neighbours, families and friends together. With new laws affecting pubs over the years, many have struggled to stay afloat, often losing out to corner shops and supermarkets for cheaper drinks.

In 2002, there were 60,100 pubs across the UK. In 2016, that number had shrunk to 47,955. 
Problems that often arise:

• Rising rent 
• Increasing business rates
• Property price rises
• High utility costs
• If pub or bar, there can be an expensive lease with brewery (no discounts for ‘wet’ stock)
• Increasing duty on alcohol (although recent Budget plans have frozen duty for now)
• Drop in customer spending
• Carrying too much overhead when sales decline
• High turnover of staff due to unsociable hours and short, busy periods
• Seasonality
• The ongoing effect of the smoking ban
• Increasing competition from supermarkets, off licenses (‘staying in’ vs. ‘going-out lifestyle)
• Change in drinking trends (pre-loading – people buy alcohol in shops before going to pubs, therefore spending less)
• Inadequate smoking areas putting customers off
• Competition with restaurants and food trade

As turnaround practitioners, our specialists can help tackle these issues with you to get your pub/ hospitality business back on track. We can go through all the available options, like expert assessment of the issues your company faces, improved financial reporting,  margin analysis, Time to Pay deals, CVAs and pre-pack administrations.  

We have very extensive pub /hospitality sector experience, not just from going to the pub too often either! We have been involved in turning around, liquidating, pre-packing and refinancing your sector. 
Our MD Keith Steven has also personal experience having personally bought a failing wine bar/restaurant in 2012, this is now trading very well and sales are nearly 100% up in 2017.