HOTELS


How many people does our industry actually need?


PETER DUCKER is chief executive of the Institute of Hospitality


Stelios poised to float easyHotel


Te founder of easyJet, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou is set to push a high- profile listing for his easyHotel company in a bid to raise up to £60m on London’s alternative investment market to fund expansion. It is not yet clear how big a stake


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f the industry’s workforce is to expand, productivity levels need to increase. One of our industry’s most publi- cised aims – repeated last week at the


British Hospitality and Tourism Summit – is to create 300,000 new jobs by 2020. Tat’s some 43,000 new jobs every year for the next seven years. How feasible is this? Even in the heady period of economic


growth between 2000 and 2008 the UK accommodation and food service workforce only grew by an average of 22,200 per year. Could this period of expansion be repeated and even doubled in the next seven years? In the last few years of high unemploy-


ment, disproportionately amongst the young, it is easy to understand the reasons behind stating such goals. But would such growth even be desirable for the industry? Labour is the greatest cost item in every


hospitality business and it is again on the rise, particularly in light of new auto-enrol- ment pension obligations. No employer is going to create a job simply for the sake of it. Successful businesses are therefore con-


tinually striving to achieve higher levels of productivity. It is the golden thread that sep- arates success from failure. Statistics show that productivity varies massively in our industry. Research highlighted in our new publication Hospitality Digest 2014 shows that in the hotel sector, sales revenue var- ies between £2.14 and £18.44 for every £1 spent on labour. David Battersby’s article contains indispensable tips on how every business can boost its productivity. In the rush to be active in job creation,


little mention is ever made of the industry’s productivity levels. Can we really create so many new jobs when there is a big ques- tion mark over how efficiently employers use their existing staff? According to People 1st, there are some 400,000 hospitality staff (20 per cent of the workforce) who do not have the full range of skills required. If the existing workforce is working at


only 80 per cent capacity or less, as the evi- dence suggests, recruiting more and more workers will not make the industry more efficient, which must be the ultimate aim if profitability is to be maintained.


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the company is looking to sell in this initial public offering, or what it hopes to be valued at, but the funds raised are to fuel growth across European cities, as well as to repay a loan to easyGroup. Te announce- ment comes as the latest in a flurry of IPO rumours and activity around the leisure sector in recent months. Following Merlin’s public listing at the back


Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s ‘easy’ brand covers a number of firms


end of last year, there have been rumours of a float for Prestbury Investments – the property company which owns a number of Merlin’s real estate portfolio. Tis was followed by the lat- est speculation in the long-running saga over whether Virgin Active will go public, with a £1bn-plus deal apparently in the offing. “EasyHotel is raising money to accelerate


growth at a much faster rate than I could have grown it as a private company, whilst enabling me to spend more time on my diversified port- folio of other investments,” said Haji-Ioannou.


“I will retain a significant minority stake post- IPO, and I am delighted to hand over to a strong board with a clear growth strategy to take this company to become one of the best known hotel brands in the world.” Te chain – which is fully-owned by easy-


Group Holdings – was launched in 2004 and has 20 hotels, 17 of which operate as franchises. Seven of these are in London, with two more in Scotland and the remainder spread across Europe, Johannesburg and Dubai. It is one of the many firms under Haji-


Ioannou’s “easy” brand, including easyGym. Details: http://lei.sr?a=w4M8K


De Niro’s Nobu Hospitality hits Shoreditch


Nobu Hospitality – a chain famous for its Michelin-starred sushi, celeb- rity partners including Robert de Niro, and its glitterati clientele – is planning to open its first hotel in Europe. Te site, located in the Shoreditch


area of London, will be built in the chain’s signature ‘east meets west’ style. London-based Ben Adams Architects and Californian Studio PCH are col- laborating to formulate a concept for the overall design of the project. Te hotel, currently under construc-


tion, is due to open in Q1 of 2016. It will feature 156 rooms, a state of the art fitness centre and a large selection of meeting and banqueting spaces. Trevor Howell, chief executive of


Nobu hotel will feature a triple height restaurant and bar


Nobu Hospitality noted this would be the company’s first European hotel and that the chain is “continuing to expand its global hotel footprint with a robust development pipeline, while working with the best strategic partners.” Architecturally, Nobu Hospitality is aiming


to reflect its values within the new construc- tion. Five stories will be stacked on top of each other with fractured beams overhanging


Read Leisure Opportunities online: www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/digital


each level, attempting to create a ‘fun-luxury experience’ as well as keeping the brand’s cool persona at the forefront of the design. Te site has sparked some controversy as its


previous designer Ron Arad, who was replaced by Ben Adams Architects aſter the initial plan- ning stage, said he “shocked” when he saw the latest designs, claiming that major elements had “undoubtedly” came from his original plans. Details: http://lei.sr?a=r9D2q


Twitter: @leisureopps © CYBERTREK 2014


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