DEBATE
PLENTY OF FOOD FOR THOUGHT FOOD & HOSPITALITY
IN ASSOCIATION WITH:
PRESENT: Neil Bullows
Whitehall Hotel Distillery Lindsay Campbell
Campbell and Rowley
Debbie Chinn Boost
Zera Dawson-Gerrard Laila’s Fine Foods
Malcolm Ireland Harrison Drury Solicitors
Andrew Leeming Boost
Ellis McKeown Fairham Gin
Maria Moriarty Marketing Lancashire
Rachel Ratcliffe Pudalicious
Liam Stemson Fairham Gin
Suzi Wynne Wynne Business
Paul Williams Choc Amor
These are turbulent times for food and drink and hospitality businesses. Together with Boost Business Lancashire we brought representatives from across the county to the Tickled Trout Hotel to discuss the mounting challenges and how they can be met
Malcolm Ireland
One of the things about hospitality in the county is that it’s diverse and different businesses in different places have been affected in very different ways in the current climate, even in similar locations.
If you have a bar in Preston city centre that is
largely servicing students and is value and wet-led it has very different challenges to somewhere that is more high end, food-led and is relying on white collar business. And their challenges will be entirely different to a rural country pub.
It is not all doom and gloom, some people are doing very well and everybody in the sector at the minute has their challenges in some way. The ongoing ones are fairly well documented. There are some you can control to a degree and others like energy prices that you can’t. When it comes to supply chain costs you can manipulate your menu and drinks offering but the things you can do are finite.
Inflation is affecting every business at the moment. Food and non- beverage inflation is going in the right direction but is running nearer to 20 per cent than 10 per cent. Putting the rate of VAT back up was a missed opportunity, it is short sighted. Without support we’ve got problems. The tax contribution from hospitality last year was £53bn.
Rachel Ratcliffe
I’ve been in business ten years but I’ve changed it massively. The last 18 months, I’ve been running almost a different business.
I’ve grown because I’ve taken that different direction. I supply direct to consumers at farmers’ markets and food festivals, events like that. I also supply a couple of farm shops and
that is the direction I want to go in, possibly small supermarkets as well. I haven’t put the price of my product up since before Covid because it is a luxury item.
People are only going to pay so much for a fruit crumble though the cost of my main ingredients has gone through the roof. Energy is a big concern. I’m just much more organised and careful. I do as much prep as I possibly can before that oven is turned on. You have to be as efficient as you can be. When it comes to the cost of products I’m really very passionate about supporting local but it’s tough.
My egg supplier lost all their hens through bird flu so they are struggling. They supply lots of hotels so have cut off all their smaller customers. So I have to go to the cash and carry. It doesn’t feel right when I live on a farm.
LANCASHIREBUSINES SV
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