All MCA Insight articles in April 2025
View all stories from this issue.
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NewsExecs vie to take chair role at Whitbread
Sky News reports Christine Hodgson, who chairs water company Severn Trent, and Andrew Martin, chair of the testing and inspection group Intertek, are the leading contenders for the Whitbread job
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InterviewsWhich Wich eyes travel hubs and multi-channel growth
The brand is preparing to open a second UK site in Fleet Street this June – a dual-floor location designed to support dine-in, delivery, and catering operations
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NewsWatchHouse drives expansion in London and New York
The modern coffee house group reported full year revenues for 2024 of £15.4m, up 62% year-on-year, which it described as an “extremely satisfying” performance
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NewsThe Ivy Collection grows sales despite headwinds
The Richard Caring-backed group made £314m from 50 sites across UK & Ireland, which means restaurants across the estate made an average of £6.25m a year
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NewsDeliveroo minded to accept DoorDash offer
The prospective takeover by a larger American rival would be worth £2.7bn, valuing the company at 180 pence per share
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OpinionUnderstanding the power of going out
Customers may be tempted by the food and drink, but it’s the experience – the value of human interaction – that’s arguably what prompts them to think ‘let’s go out’, suggests Peter Martin, MCA contributing editor
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Weekend PressOne in three hospitality workers want to start their own business in the sector
Limited access to funding and lack of training and mentorship cited as biggest barriers, The Standard reports
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Weekend PressMohsin Issa to step down as chief executive at UK petrol station chain
Private equity-backed EG Group continues to explore potential New York listing, the FT reports
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Weekend PressKate Nicholls: ‘Hospitality just can’t absorb these cost increases’
The chief executive of the UKHospitality trade body once helped to save prawn cocktail crisps but she fears what higher employment taxes could do to her sector, she tells The Times
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Weekend PressCheap, ethical and delicious: it’s mince’s moment to shine
The French, though, don’t have a single word for mince. They call it “boeuf haché”. The Americans call it “ground beef”. Adjective, noun. It does what it says on the tin, Tim Hayward writes in the FT
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Weekend PressMeet SpudBros, the Preston pair turning jacket potatoes into a global brand
What started as a food stall in Lancashire has become a hit, drawing huge queues in London with customers eager to try the spuds topped with their secret ‘tram sauce’, The Times reports
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Weekend PressBidding war for Deliveroo? There could be appetite
The US firm DoorDash’s £2.7 billion swoop for the delivery company late on Friday may prompt Amazon, Prosus and Meituan to consider rival bids, The Times reports
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NewsKate Nicholls: NIC hike adds ‘disproportionate impact’ to already pressured sector
The UKHospitality leader describes the reduction in the earnings threshold for employer NICs and the rise in the main rate to 15% as “the most aggressive” tax change she has seen
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NewsLeaders call to reinstate tax-free shopping amid tourist slowdown
The “tourist tax” continues to be a point of concern for operators ahead of what some are calling a potential “summer of discontent”
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Analysis & InsightAlexander Geffert (1940–2025): a leisure industry legend remembered
The former Whitbread managing director and Luminar executive chairman had a career spanning over six decades, and was described as a visionary publican, entrepreneur, and mentor
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NewsLunch outperforms dinner during Easter weekend
Lunchtime bookings accounted for 56% of all reservations on Easter Sunday and Monday, compared to just 28% for dinner, according to the latest Zonal data
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InterviewsPopeyes UK: ‘We see our use of tech as a point of difference’
The fast-growing QSR brand’s chief technology officer David Carey talks to MCA about AI, the development of its app and why the brand wants to “own the customer experience” through building its own tech stack
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NewsPub Conference: Book your discounted early bird tickets before April deadline
MCA’s Pub Conference, on 26 June, boasts a full line up of sessions from the biggest and best in the industry, from Loungers, Urban Pubs & Bars and Stonegate to Punch Pubs, RedCat and Nightcap
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NewsJoe & the Juice appoints chairman
Jeffrey Lawrence brings over 25 years of experience in building digitally-enabled hospitality and consumer brands and previously spent two decades at Domino’s Pizza,
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InterviewsSides to appoint UK MD and target 14 UK stores
The QSR brand launched as a cloud kitchen concept in 2021, now operates six brick-and-mortar sites and aims to reach 14 by the end of the year, CEO Robin Mehta tells MCA