Posts from May 2023

Prezzo prepares for court clash with landlords

3rd May 2023

Prezzo is preparing to face its landlords in court after the recent announcement that it will be closing a third of its restuarants, Sky News has reported. Citing the rising costs of food and energy, the Italian restaurant chain will close 46 loss-making sites, putting the jobs of 810 members of staff at risk. Prezzo said the cost of its utility bills had more than doubled during the past year, while the prices of dough balls, pizza sauce, mozzarella, and spaghetti had also spiked. The restaurant chain previously went into administration in late 2020 before being purchased by private equity firm Cain International. City sources told Sky News that Prezzo intends to use a formal restructuring plan to force through the closures. The chain has reportedly written to the landlords of its restaurant estate, comprising of 143 sites, notifying them of its legal process through which it intends to shut its unprofitable restaurants. The landlords will be able to vote at a hearing on May 22, although the plan is likely to be approved as Cain International are Prezzo’s largest creditor, according to a City insider. Last week, Prezzo said that “the post-COVID recovery has proved harder than we had...

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HMV set for Oxford Street return

3rd May 2023

HMV is due to return to its flagship Oxford Street store after a four-year hiatus. The music and electronics retailer has seen something of a turnaround in recent years following the takeover of current owner Doug Putman in 2019. In January, HMV posted a return to profit after vinyl outsold CDs for the first time in 35 years. Opening at no.363, the store is set to feature the retailer’s new ‘HMV Shop’ format and new logo, which will also be added to a further 24 new sites and 14 existing stores by the end of the year. The return marks over 100 years since HMV’s initial arrival in the Capital in 1921. Doug Putman said: “The expansion of our fan-focused pop culture offer is really working for us and the reopening of our flagship represents the culmination of a good few years of hard work.” Westminster City Council cabinet member for planning and economic development Geoff Barraclough added: ‘The return of this famous name is proof that there’s a buzz back in the West End. Established retailers want a presence on the UK’s premier shopping street and as a council, we want to see the nation’s high street reinvigorated and...

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Card Factory targets “underpenetrated markets”

3rd May 2023

Card Factory has said it is continuing to focus on expanding within “underpenetrated markets” with the launch of three smaller format trial stores in London. The greetings card retailer is also pursuing its expansion efforts in the Republic of Ireland. Space realignment across 750 stores, display reorganisation in 50 stores, and an updated store design for new and existing sites make up the retailer’s ‘store evolution programme’. This announcement comes as part of the retailer’s preliminary results for the year ending January 31 2023. During this period, the retailer opened 33 stores and closed 21, including five relocations. At the end of the financial year, Card Factory’s portfolio stood at 1,032 stores including 27 in the Republic of Ireland. Simon Comer, Card Factory interim chief financial officer, said that optimisation of the store portfolio continues to be an “important source of sales growth”. Over the 2023 financial year, the retailer enjoyed an increase in revenue over 2022 of 27.1% to £463.2m, and a huge rise in profit before tax of 368.5% to £52.4m. Online sales saw a year-on-year fall of 18.8%, with Card Factory citing both a return to the high street for many customers as well as the impact...

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Watch the Innovation Studio: A taste of the future

3rd May 2023

Employing staff is the biggest challenge for the food and beverage (F&B) industry, said the panel at Completely Retail Marketplace’s Innovation Studio session, ‘A Taste of the Future’. “I think staffing remains a really big problem, and we’ve certainly seen operators pull back from growth, because they physically can’t get any staff”, said Thomas Rose, co-founder of P-Three. He was joined by Ruvan Sangra, head of restaurant and leisure at Lunson Mitchenall, to discuss the issues the F&B industry is facing and how businesses are adapting. “We’re seeing some operators actually close sites on certain days, whether that be a Monday or Tuesday, purely because they can’t get the right teams in place,” added Sangra. When asked about demand, Rose said that it was “surprisingly robust”, despite challenges such as the cost-of-living crisis on consumer confidence. Sangra was also optimistic: “Q1 2023 has probably been better than what was anticipated, which is great”. Yet it could be “survival of the fittest” in a saturated market, the panel suggested. “Brands don’t have cap ex (capital expenditure) to invest, but if you can’t invest, you won’t succeed”, said Rose. When asked how businesses can navigate that challenge, Rose suggested that social media...

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Footasylum set for Oxford Street flagship

3rd May 2023

Footasylum is set to open a flagship store at 73-89 Oxford Street, London, in the second half of the year. Taking a two-storey 20,000 sq ft unit, the footwear retailer said there had been “strong demand” for its offering, but did not reveal an exact date for the store’s launch. Footasylum is currently undergoing a period of rapid expansion, having recently announced that a 6,000 sq ft store is due to open at Watford’s Atria later in the year, while a number of existing sites at Westfield Stratford City, Leeds White Rose, and Essex’s Lakeside Shopping Centre are all set for upsizes. The retailer said that all of these stores will be “significantly bigger” in size. Footasylum chief executive Barry Bown, said: “Our aim is for our unique and extensive branded streetwear offering to be widely available across the UK, and having bigger and better stores is a key part of that ambition.”

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Wagamama owner accelerates restaurant openings after early leisure closures

3rd May 2023

Wagamama is to accelerate the expansion of its restaurant estate after its parent group negotiated a number of early exits for its leisure sites. The Restaurant Group (TRG), which also operates brands including Frankie & Benny’s and Brunning & Price, anticipates seven to eight new Wagamama openings in the 2024 financial year, up from the previous planned five. In March, the group announced plans to dispose or convert over 30 of its loss-making leisure sites. It will now shut 23 of these sites before the end of May. Some of these sites could become part of Wagamama’s estate. The news comes alongside the group’s trading update for the first four months of the financial year. TRG said that both Wagamama and its pub estate had continued to trade well, with like-for-like sales in the first quarter increasing 2% and 5% respectively. The group’s concessions sales rose by 37% in the same period, benefitting from a boost in air travel against 2022 when some COVID restrictions remained in place. Current trading for TRG continues to be “very encouraging”, with savings of around £5m being made every year, the group said.

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Superdry confirms fundraising efforts

2nd May 2023

Struggling clothing retailer Superdry has responded to press speculation with a confirmation that is undergoing discussions with investors with regards to a proposed equity fundraising. The fundraising is worth circa 20% of the company’s issued share capital, with Superdry confirming that its founder and CEO Julian Dunkerton intends to “significantly participate” in the equity raise and will provide a material underwriting commitment. The retailer said this reflected his “confidence in the long-term prospects of the business”. Superdry called in advisers in March after multiple profit warnings, and withdrew its profit guidance for its 2023 financial year in April after a period of slower-than-anticipated growth.

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Plans submitted for £1.5bn Liverpool Street Station development

2nd May 2023

The developer behind The Shard has submitted a planning application which would see the construction of hotel and office space at Liverpool Street Station. The plans, submitted by Sellar, would see the regeneration of the Victorian-era train station with the concourse growing in size from 69,589 sq ft to 145,183 sq ft. The proposals would increase the number of ticket barrier gates from 66 to 107, while the number of lifts and escalators would also rise, from one to seven and four to 10 respectively. Sellar’s plans for a 16-storey building constructed above the station include 1.72 million sq ft of hotel space above 8.61 million sq ft of offices. The proposals were designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, who were also behind the Tate Modern expansion in 2016. Sellar chief executive, James Sellar, said: “The plans will create one of the most sustainable destinations in the Square Mile, including a rooftop garden and City lido, both accessible to the public.” Despite support from Network Rail and Hong Kong-based developer Mass Transit Railway Corportation, the plans met plenty of resistance when they were unveiled in October. Historic England described them as “fundamentally misconceived”, with the organisation’s chief executive...

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Jamie Oliver cooks up London return

2nd May 2023

Jamie Oliver is set to make his return to London with the launch of a new restaurant at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Due to open later this year, the restaurant will be the celebrity chef’s first UK site since 2019. Jamie Oliver’s restaurant group currently operates in over 70 locations across 23 countries. The Theatre Royal restaurant will offer a British-based menu, with food sourced from a number of farmers, fisheries, and artisan producers that Jamie Oliver has known for a number of years. Kevin Styles, CEO of the Jamie Oliver Group, said: “It has always been an ambition to return to our home market, when the time was right, and this feels like the perfect opportunity to open a very unique restaurant in a very unique venue that will celebrate beautiful, comforting dishes”. Theatre Royal Drury Lane, which is owned and operated by Andrew Lloyd Webber’s LW Theatres, reopened in 2021 following a two-year, £60m renovation.

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Sportswear brand launches first pop-up outside of London

2nd May 2023

Swiss sportswear brand On has launched its first pop-up store outside of London at Liverpool ONE. The 4,000 sq ft ‘The Monster Den’ on Lower South John Street will be open until June 4. On’s Liverpool pop-up will offer a programme of events, collaborating with local running clubs and groups such as 2-Step Collective, Dockside Runners, and Laces Out Studio. ‘The Monster Den’ will host group runs, yoga, movement classes, coffee clubs, and DJ performances. On becomes the latest brand at Liverpool ONE in a series of community-focused initiatives at the scheme, including the successful activation from online apparel brand ARNE, the recent launch of Liverpool ONE’s partnership with art-led social enterprise organisation dot-art, as well as a number of events set to take place during the Eurovision Song Contest. Rob Deacon, senior asset manager at Grosvenor, said: “We are so proud to have welcomed On for its first-ever pop-up outside of London. As a brand, On aligns with, and speaks to, Liverpool ONE and our visitors perfectly, sporting not only a reputation for innovation, but a keen dedication to engage with the community.”

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Merry Hill powers up with EV chargers

2nd May 2023

Merry Hill is set to become the second-largest regional hub for ultra-rapid (100kW+) electric vehicle (EV) charging with the scheme now boasting 14 250kW Tesla superchargers. The announcement from Sovereign Centros comes as part of Merry Hill’s wider ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) strategy, with the new superchargers joining the scheme’s existing 64 fast and rapid EV chargers. Merry Hill becomes part of the non-Tesla supercharger pilot, meaning all 14 of the superchargers are available for use by drivers of any EV brand, as part of Tesla’s ambitions to encourage more drivers to go electric. Sovereign Centros say the chargers are capable of adding up to 75 miles of range within five minutes and will be available 24 hours a day. Jack Gordon, senior asset manager at Sovereign Centros, said: “The installation is a significant milestone for the centre in its journey to becoming more sustainable, and fundamental to our commitment to increasing availability to electric vehicle charging points in the West Midlands area. The 14 ultra-rapid chargers will enhance visitors’ shopping experience, by increasing convenience and elevating accessibility.”

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Sustainable swimwear brand makes a splash with debut store

2nd May 2023

Hunza G has opened its first standalone store at 35-37 Monmouth Street in Seven Dials, Covent Garden. Now opening in a 1,583 unit, the sustainable swimwear brand has previously only stocked its collections within multi-brand stores such as Selfridges, Harrods, and Harvey Nichols. The new store launched on April 29 and will remain open until the end of the summer. Hunza G was established in 1984 and commits to creating products which cater to as wide an audience as possible. The brand maintains a ‘one size fit’ mantra and places an emphasis on sustainable creation and waste reduction. The Seven Dials store features artwork by London-based artist Alba Hodsoll as well as diverse mannequins and bespoke curved rails. Georgiana Huddart, co-founder and creative director at Hunza G, said: “Creating a space for our customers to come and experience, in-person, who we are as a brand has been a goal since we re-launched Hunza G in 2015. The location feels perfectly aligned with us and our customers, as it’s located in the Seven Dials Covent Garden area, which is in walking distance of Hunza G HQ in Soho.” Hunza G joins other socially conscious retailers at Seven Dials and Covent Garden...

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Holy Carrot secures first permanent site

2nd May 2023

Holy Carrot has secured its first permanent flagship restaurant, set to open in the Autumn. Taking a 2,000 sq ft ground floor and basement unit at 156 Portobello Road, Notting Hill, the restaurant will offer its menu of plant-based options to a new range of customers. The new restaurant will emulate the boutique-style decor of Holy Carrot’s current pop-up in Knightsbridge. Nick Weir, joint managing partner at Shelley Sandzer, who acted for the site’s leaseholder, said: “The site at Portobello Road provides an excellent opportunity for an independent brand to occupy a prime position in one of London’s most distinguished locations. This move is as progressive for Notting Hill’s food and beverage scene as it is for Holy Carrot.” Holy Carrot’s signing at Portobello Road follows recent news that Shelley Sandzer, alongside DTZ Investors, Robinson Webster, and the team behind Michelin-starred restaurant Brat, helped bring chef Tomos Parry to Soho for his new concept, Mountain.

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