Round table participants


Mark Derry, director, Brasserie Bar Co


Restaurants round table: taking the


Tony Kitous, founder, Levant Restaurant Group


Steve Richards, chief executive, Casual Dining Group


industry’s pulse More than three-quarters of UK restaurateurs polled by The Caterer in a survey with law firm TLT believe the number of restaurants will rise over the next 12 months. But operators still face challenges, as our round table discussion between movers and shakers proved. Rosalind Mullen reports


Brandon Stephens, founder, Tortilla


Jon Yantin, commercial director, the One Group


What is the operator’s perspective of the restaurant industry at the moment? Steve Richards (SR): It’s mixed. Some res- taurant businesses seem to be sluggish. For instance, business is tough for Wetherspoon, so that tells us the high street is struggling – or maybe people are trading up because the economy is okay. Other bits are doing well; for instance, London is solid.


Julian Mant, partner, TLT


And there is change on the high street. There are more bespoke retailers, artisan breadmakers and so on, who live above the shop. There are eateries bringing life into our town centres again, as well as the other phe- nomenon of people moving to leisure parks.


Matthew Phipps, partner, TLT


Mark Derry (MD): In terms of choice, consumers have never had it so good. But operators are piling into locations and so their cake is being cut thinner. There is some interesting stuff going into country towns though.


Chair: Neil Gerrard, associate editor, The Caterer


8 | Insight Report


Jon Yantin (JY): The One Group operates in London and internationally. When Amer- icans come to see us in the UK, they are amazed by the offer and innovation on our high street and say we are ahead of the US. I agree consumers have never had it so good in terms of all the touchpoints, but is it sustainable?


I think London is getting smaller. Five years ago, Notting Hill was thriving and now it is not. The heart of the action is now in Zone 1, the City and the edges of Camden – and it is getting tighter. The footprint is shrinking.


Tony Kitous (TK): London is very different from the rest of the country. Customers are well travelled and understand the different cuisines. We only have a few sites outside London because the demographic is so dif- ferent. I was in Manchester the other day and was trying hard to find London brands, but I was struggling. It’s not as obvious as in London – for instance, around the Strand you have several Pret A Mangers.


Julian Mant (JM): Tim Bacon has secured a lot of the premium space in Manchester for Living Ventures. He has shown a skill in developing brands outside London and then moving them to London.


SR: Our operations at Casual Dining Group are in premium-mass areas, so our pricing in terms of customer aspirations and spend- ing power is the same. But there are bits of London – residential areas – where you can’t make money because the consumer is hand- ing it over to their mortgage companies.


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