HOSPITALITY


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Hospitality now the UK's fifth largest industry


Oxford Economics study demonstrates the importance of our sector to the economy


L The restaurant chain will roll out across the UK during 2011


Giraffe to open 10 new eateries Chain announces ambitious target of having 50 sites


By Tom Walker The Giraffe restaurant group, chaired by Luke Johnson and backed by Risk Capital Partners and 3i, is to open at least 10 restaurants by the end of 2011. The move is set to take the


chain, an all-day restaurant con- cept based on global food and drink, to more than 50 sites across the country and represents an acceleration in its roll-out plans, building on both organic growth and previous strategic acquisitions. A Giraffe restaurant has just opened in Blackheath, London


and further openings at the end of this year will take place at the Touchwood shopping and entertainment complex in Solihull, West Midlands, and at Horsham in West Sussex. Next year, the group – led


by Russel and Juliette Joffe, with partner Andrew Jacobs – will open restaurants in Bath, Somerset, and Chelmsford, Essex, and at up to ten other locations including the new Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, east London. The additional sites are


expected to lift group revenues to more than £50m annually.


Hoteliers operating in the UK are to experience continued growth heading into 2011, according to the latest industry analysis by business advisory firm Pricewater- houseCoopers (PwC). A "revival" in the business


travel market helped boost trading for the third quarter of 2010, with hotel operators both in London and the regions reporting results above expectations.


© Cybertrek 2010


UK hoteliers set for continued growth Growth is now set to


continue heading into 2011, although PwC has warned that the strong performance during 2010 could lead to a slower rate. PwC UK leader for


hospitality and leisure Robert Milburn said: "There are risks of course, not least the economic uncertainty and London supply concerns, but it's been a remarkable growth story in 2010.


ast month, the BHA commissioned Oxford Economics to quantify the contribution of hospitality to the


UK economy. Generously supported by key partners – American Express, Barclays, LG, Nestlé Professional, Philips ansd Santander – the research positions hospitality as Britain's fifth largest industry, directly providing 2.44m jobs, and contributing more than £34bn in gross tax revenues. The study – Economic Contribution


of UK Hospitality Industry – also provided detailed scenarios, based on achieving two objectives laid down by Prime Minister David Cameron in his speech on tourism this August. The first is for Britain to be one of


the top five destinations in the world in terms of revenue from inbound tourism – we are currently seventh. Meanwhile, the second is to increase the proportion of what


UFI IBRAHIM is chief executive of the BHA. Leisure Opportunities is a member benefit of the BHA, for your free copy call 01462 471932


British people spend while on holiday in the UK to 50 per cent of total tourism expenditure. Our analysis showed that, given the right framework, the


industry can create a further 236,000 jobs by 2015. This growth is dependent on an active partnership between industry and government on a broad front – from tax and regulation, infrastructure and planning through to education. If we can effectively couple the entrepreneurial enterprise and the vast experience of the industry to a positive partnership with government, we will be able to propel the industry forward. In the same month, the BHA published its 2010 edition of


British Hospitality: Trends and Developments, which highlights the fact that more than 100 new hotels will have opened in 2010 by the end of the year, with even more planned for the future. The publication shows that hotel and restaurant sectors have successfully survived the recession without incurring the widespread damage that many had predicted at the outset. The publication under-pins the importance of the hospitality


industry to the UK economy and provides the kind of intelligence and data on which sound policy decisions – commercial and public – can be made, The BHA is thus providing the facts and figures that decision-makers can use to formulate the policies that will drive the industry forward. By understanding the realities of the sector, we will be able


to take the right steps as we seek our objective of creating jobs and prosperity for Britain – in other words, sustainable growth.


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