New research suggests nearly 20% of restaurants are heading towards insolvency?

30th Oct 2017

The Caterer.com published an article today on the doom and gloom of our industry. As if we don't already know that it is getting touugher out there. There is no secret that huge many of the restaurants, both independent and chains, rely on non UK staff. Since the Brexit vote, we have lost over 16,000 EU native individuals who have upped and left the UK. These people are a valuable and key part of the success of the industry. Quite frankly, most people in this country don't percieve a job working in a restaurant or kitchen as a proper career or profession (I'll save that debate for another post) with the exception of fine dining. Food is getting more expensive, we are seeing a drop in corporate spend from EU companies in restaurants and contacts in both finance and law have indicated that they are also seeing the pinch. Recruitment agents for casual staff are struggling to staff up their clients venues and it seems that restaurants can either take the hit of the rising costs, or pass them on to their customers, who likely haven't seen any pay rises them selves. 

What we need to see now is a comprehensive and concerted effort from government to tackle this very real and growing problem. With one of the only industries that has no union, no unified pension scheme, haphazard HR support and probably the most social focus with the likes of Tripadvisor, Masterchef, Bake Off to name a few its time that those in power put as much effort in to protecting this industry and coming up with a plan to support every aspect of hospitality as they do to watching how to boil and egg and write critiques on their local pubs. 

https://www.thecaterer.com/articles/513839/a-fifth-of-uk-restaurants-at-risk-of-going-insolvent?utm_source=TheCaterer&utm_campaign=monday

        

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