IN ASSOCIATION WITH
What are your thoughts on discounting? SR: It is back in the market and it feels as if it has increased. PizzaExpress is offering 40% off between Monday and Friday.
TK: Isn’t discounting a disease?
SR: It’s everywhere, but some outlets offer dis- counting using different mechanics. Fixed- price menus, for instance.
JY: Yes, it is at the perceived top end as well. It is being done without using the phrase “dis- counting”. You expect discounts only two or three times a year when business is slack and then there are the boom times such as Christ- mas and New Year, so business blends out.
MD: Fixed-price menus go back hundreds of years. Happy hours also stimulate business and mean restaurants hit the ground running. The problem is with an overt 50% off.
SR: We track it. Ed’s Diner is giving 50% off from Monday to Friday. I have not seen that level of discounting outside of January. How- ever, August was a bad trading month because of the weather and the train strikes and so on.
TK: TopTable [now OpenTable] has cheap- ened and changed the industry. It charges
www.thecaterer.com
“If we can create extra footfall to change the atmosphere for the people paying full price, it improves the experience for them” Jon Yantin
for administration and then gets more per booking. We don’t use it any more.
Matthew Phipps (MP): But restaurants using it must feel they are getting empty seats filled.
JY: The core of our concept is the vibe not just the food, so we need more people. If we can create extra footfall to change the atmosphere for the people paying full price, it improves the experience for them and it is padding for us.
Can you comment on the fact that some 77.7% of restaurateurs polled by The Caterer and law firm TLT expected to see an increase in the number of restaurants over the next 12 months? SR: People are dining out more. There are only
about 200 good high streets in Britain, but 500 branded openings every year. That is a lot of capacity.
MD: In three years, Bath has nearly trebled capacity, but the population has stayed the same.
MP: A lot of restaurants have gone into retail spaces in Bath.
TK: Location is key. Everyone was talking about Chiswick, but when established operations went there, it didn’t work. It only works there at weekends.
Property is a huge consideration for restaurateurs, with 47% saying they would consider acquiring leased sites to expand and 44% preferring freehold. What are your concerns? MD: The government has already destroyed pubs. Rates are escalating. If you can’t pass it on to consumers, the consequences are huge.
SR: Yes, property is the biggest challenge for operators. It might be the death of independent restaurants. Casual dining is growing, but independents can’t cope. Is that the Britain that people want?
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