All Wagamama articles – Page 8
-
NewsWagamama sale cost £55m in admin expenses
The sale process of Wagamama to The Restaurant Group cost £55.2m in exceptional administrative expenses, newly released accounts reveal.
-
NewsRetailers’ Retailer full nominees list revealed
The finalists for MCA’s Retailers’ Retailer Awards 2020 have been announced, with the cohort reflecting a diverse and vibrant range of eating and drinking out operators.
-
NewsPret most admired brand for eleventh consecutive year
Pret has been crowned the ‘most admired brand’ by leading industry professionals for the eleventh consecutive year.
-
Analysis & InsightGoodbody on TRG
Restaurant Group will report a Q4 trading update in late January. At this point last year RTN gave full year LFL’s for the group and total sales. We forecast FY LFL sales growth of -0.8% in the Legacy business with LFL sales growth of 8.8% for Wagamama UK (implying a group FY LFL of just above 2%). As a reminder group LFL growth was +3.7% in the first 34 weeks.
-
Analysis & Insight2019 Consumer award winners Part 2: Spotlight on NPS and RI
After last week’s focus on the best in class quality, value for money and friendly service award winners, this follow-up analysis shines a spotlight on those out-performing operators topping the league tables at Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Revisit Intention (RI).
-
NewsImbiba backs Wireless Social with £1m
Imbiba, the specialist leisure investor, has backed hospitality tech business Wireless Social with £1m of funding.
-
NewsTRG appoints Chambers as leisure brands CEO
The Restaurant Group has appointed Mark Chambers to the new position of CEO of its leisure brands.
-
NewsBills promotes Berisha, Campbell and Hills depart
Bills Restaurants has announced Baton Berisha, managing director of The Ivy Collection, will take on management of Bills with immediate effect.
-
Analysis & InsightAnd the 2019 consumer award winners are…
While we are in the midst of the entertainment awards season it would be most neglectful not to extend this to the worlds of foodservice and hospitality.
-
NewsPatisserie Valerie makes senior appointments
Patisserie Valerie has appointed Kam Bains, formerly of Punch Taverns, as marketing director.
-
NewsHow can tech ease the customer journey?
Greggs, Leon and Wagamama are just the latest to join the self-ordering revolution, with the latter’s new grab and go concept Mamago one of the most hotly discussed openings of last year. To share their early exeperiences and more, MCA brought together marketing, IT and digital leaders from across the sector to consider how new technology can help, and sometimes hinder, the customer experience
-
NewsVeganuary operator offering round-up
Once again, Veganuary is upon us, and with the number of vegans more than doubling to 600,000 between 2016 and 2019, this year’s operator offering is bigger than ever.
-
NewsPastaio’s Stevie Parle: ‘People want in-your-face flavours’
The chef-owner of the pasta joint talks about expanding the Pastaio brand, his approach to menu development and why he’ll never compromise on quality.
-
NewsReview of the Year Part Two
When England achieved the impossible, and destroyed the indestructible All Blacks in the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup, it looked like it was going to be a bumper day for hospitality on the day of the final. The UK would wake up early and hit the pubs and bars first thing to watch England win the final, followed by trips to restaurants, followed by pubs, bars and clubs, before ending up slumped on the sofa trying to focus on the highlights and order a Deliveroo. All England had to do was win.
-
NewsFast-moving grown-up Coco di Mama ‘can do’
Carbs and caffeine is a formula that has fuelled Coco di Mama’s expansion well. The fast-casual brand has been deftly serving long queues of office workers just that since 2011. This sweet spot customer, the 25-35-year-old affluent City worker, was the genesis of the brand in Fleet Street. While this core demographic served Coco well in its early years, a new management team last year realised it needed to broaden its appeal if it was to continue its expansion into adulthood.
-
NewsM&A Review of the Year
It certainly hasn’t been a year in hospitality M&A for the faint hearted, but for those who have stuck with the sector and taken a long-term view, opportunity has knocked. Despite fears of an investor hiatus as a result of lingering uncertainty (ongoing Brexit delays certainly haven’t been helpful to M&A advisors!), the past 12 months has again proved the robustness of the M&A market in this sector, and points to further opportunities for 2020.
-
NewsDark kitchen boom throws-up licensing and regulatory concerns
Practically unheard of 18-months-ago, ‘dark kitchens’ is a phrase fast becoming common currency in the burgeoning food-delivery market. However, the very nature of them, coupled with the speed at which they’re being opened, is throwing-up a number of licensing issues, with some local authorities said to be playing catch-up when ...
-
NewsGunwharf Quays – Restaurant and retail therapy a plenty!
With more than 30 bars, cafés and restaurants (as well as over 90 shops) Gunwharf Quays offers an abundance of opportunities for plenty of remedial treatment. Supported by its impressive waterfront location, attractive design and assorted leisure-related reasons to visit, Gunwharf Quays is one of the UK’s finest outlet shopping centres. So amongst some Christmas shopping, I was keen to see how it is using its extensive assortment of Food & Beverage purveyors to both restore weary shoppers as well as to act as a footfall driver in its own right. But also, and more critically, I was keener to see some something new and surprising.
-
NewsThe Highs and Lows of Promotions
In recent weeks I have looked into various elements of economising behaviour by consumers, including targeting low prices and more spending at weekends as opposed to weekdays, today’s focus is on the widely prevalent, yet potentially damaging, practice of promotional activity. Key questions asked include whether its usage is rising, who’s buying into the offers the most and what are the most popular promotion types. The core focus area is the key dinner day-part within the chain restaurant sector and the source of answers is MCA’s consumer tracking service, the Eating Out Panel.
-
NewsA successful restaurant story – Nando’s
How about this for a straightforward, five point recipe for scalable restaurant success? Step 1, target the highest eating out frequency demographic with a highly affordable offering. Step 2, develop a distinctive proposition that avoids imitating any direct competitor. Step 3, keep the product offer tight to support consistent product quality. Step 4, develop a format strategy that works across multiple locations while not overpaying for sites. Step 5, work hard on building loyalty and repeat custom.