Hospitality news and updates: January 2024
Hospitality news and updates: January 2024
As a hospitality marketing agency, we think it’s incredibly important to always keep our fingers on the pulse of what’s going on in the industry. While regular discussions are always being held in Cab HQ about what’s moving and shaking in the industry, we thought it was important to share with the wider community!
Behold, our January 2024 industry updates…
2024 Restaurant Openings
First up, we’ve been wowed by a list of 2024’s newest and most exciting restaurant openings.
The list includes restaurants dotted across the UK. Roux scholar Tom Barnes is venturing into the world of restaurants, opening up his first restaurant named Skof. Barnes aims to remove some of the “seriousness” associated with tasting menu restaurants. Skof’s doors will be opening in Manchester this spring!
Coming to Liverpool this spring, you’ll find the quirky shipping container restaurant, Boxpark. The space covers 21,000 square feet and will feature 10 kitchen units, three internal bars and an outdoor garden area.
In Surrey in Spring, The Garden will be opening. Ashley Palmer-Watts, alumnus of Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck Group, will be opening a multi-faceted project that incorporates a high-end restaurant, a 52-seat wine bar, a cafè and a bakery. As well as plans for charming onsite accommodation and a kitchen garden!
Leeds will see the opening of Psycho Sandbar. A “fish-heavy” restaurant with a “surf shack” feel and brutalist design.
Des Gunewardena will be opening a flagship restaurant, bar and event space in London’s Exchange building. The project is currently unnamed but a 15-year lease has been taken out on the 6,500 sq ft space.
Also in London, the debut restaurant from Jean-François Piège is to open at the Langham London Hotel. It will be the first international outpost of Mimosa, the Riviera-inspired restaurant from the Moma Group, and replace Michelin Roux's Roux at the Landau, which closed during the pandemic.
US tourists predicted to dominate UK tourism in 2024
The tourist board's forecast for 2024 predicted the US market will be worth £6.7b and contribute almost £1 in every £5 spent by visitors. This follows a year of record-breaking spending by US tourists in the UK in 2023, which was up 28% on 2019 figures.
VisitBritain's overall forecast for spending by international visitors to the UK was £34.1b, up 7% on spending predicted in 2023 and 96% of 2019 levels when adjusted for inflation.
Additionally, tourism is Britain’s third largest service export and VisitBritain expects inbound tourism (both in the number of visits and spending by international visitors) to return to 2019 levels by early 2025! A great relief to the hotel industry.
Government publish tipping code of practice
The Department for Business and Trade has published a draft code of practice on fair and transparent distribution of tips. The draft was passed in the summer of 2023 and includes guidance such as:
- All tips must be paid to staff with no deductions
- Tips must be paid by the end of the month following when tips were received. For example, if tips were received in July, they must be distributed to staff by the end of August.
- Each business must provide its own policy on the distribution of tipping
- Agency workers are eligible for tips
- There can be no pooling of tips between sites
- There is a responsibility of record keeping for tips and employees are within their rights to ask for this.
At a glance, this is fantastic news for staff in the hospitality industry, allowing them to have more transparent guidance on tips, what they will be entitled to and when it shall be paid to them. The guidance recognises that every hospitality model is the same and allows some freedom for businesses to create a system that suits their unique operations.
Investment in UK hotels is at its lowest since 2012
Investment levels in UK hotels were at their lowest since 2012 in 2023. The rising cost of debt and elevated operating costs are said to be the culprit and hit investor confidence. The total annual investment volume of UK hotel transactions was at £2b in 2023, which was 37% down on 2022 and 57% lower than the ten year average (excluding Covid-hit 2020), according to property advisor Knight Frank.
On the flip side, there was a considerable increase in investor activity in the latter half of 2023 and 2024 is expected to be a pivotal year for the hotel industry. It is anticipated that with the higher yields associated with operational real estate and the living sector driving an increasing allocation of capital, hotel investment will likely recover at a more desirable pace as the year progresses.
We hope you found the above useful and we’ll be releasing more industry updates regularly to help keep you up to date on all things hospitality. If you’d like to discuss industry concerns, marketing ambitions or business, please get in touch with a member of the team.