hospitalitytoday.com | 17
“June rounded off the weakest quarterly
growth since Q1 2014, following a marked
drop in May to a 27-month low.
“Hotels, restaurants and bars, which had
been the best performing sector in the past
year, saw growth slow to its weakest level
since January 2013 with little evidence of
the summer’s sporting events providing any
significant boost.”
Josh beer of the Illustrious Pub Company,
Cambridgeshire, said: “June was a
challenging month for us, with overall spend
down 4%, perhaps because people were
either away on holiday or chose to watch the
Euro with friends at home. We did however
experience a boost in spend in one branch
where a TV was installed and special platters
were served to accommodate England fans.
“Looking ahead, we expect that our pubs
will perform well, and don’t believe that the
referendum will impact our overall sales. But
as a small business we are a bit concerned
about how the uncertainty around Brexit
may impact banks’ lending to businesses for
renovation and development.”
Quan Nguyen of Chi Cafe, London
commented: “While sales were up in the
first half of June, the last two weeks saw a
slight drop. It’s perhaps too early though to
say whether the drop in sales was down to
the vote, or just because of the wet weather.
Being in central London, a lot of our customers
said they are worried about their job prospects
now, and we fear this whole uncertainty may
eventually impact our sales.”
Pret A Manger to open its first
shop on British motorways
Pret A Manger will be opening its first
motorway service shop, as part of a trial
partnership with Welcome Break. The
shop is scheduled to open at the end of
summer at the South Mimms Services on
Junction 23 of the M25.
The menu will include a large selection
of Pret’s freshly-made sandwiches,
salads, wraps, baguettes and hot options,
alongside organic teas and coffees, cold
drinks, fruit and snacks.
Pret CEO Clive Schlee said:
“This is a new area for the Pret business,
and one we’re looking forward to exploring.
“We’ll obviously have our own kitchen
on the premises, allowing us to serve
motorway customers with fresh, natural
food, handmade throughout the day.
I’m sure this natural food, and our organic
coffee, will be well-received by motorway
customers.”
Rod McKie, CEO of Welcome Break, said,
“Welcome Break is very excited about the
prospect of working with Pret on the UK
motorways and indeed, putting the much
loved Pret brand on the header boards
for the first time.
“I am confident that this trial will be
successful and lead to a long term
partnership with Pret A Manger, and bring
this amazing brand alongside our world
class portfolio of brands to offer even
greater choice to the travelling UK public.”
The first shop will be a twelve month trial
with Welcome Break, and if successful
will lead to other Pret shops opening in
Welcome Break Service Stations.
Shaun Rankin to open
Ormer Mayfair at Flemings
Michelin-starred Chef Shaun Rankin
will be opening a London outpost of his
acclaimed Jersey restaurant Ormer next
month, on 20 September.
The new 85-cover restaurant will be
called “Ormer Mayfair” (above left),
and will be within the boutique
hotel Flemings Mayfair.