Saving Britain’s pubs and restaurants as Covid tiers the heart out of hospitality

Michelin starred chef Tom Kerridge; David Page, Chairman of Franco Manca owner The Fulham Shore; Andrew Fishwick, Group CEO of The PEPPER Collective and Sabah Meddings, Business Reporter at The Sunday Times in conversation with Hudson Sandler’s Alex Brennan.

As one of the UK’s biggest industries, the hospitality sector has also been one of the biggest business losers during the tragic pandemic. Sociable businesses during a time of social distancing have been disrupted, devastated and decimated. So how can an industry devoted to delivering good times survive these bad times? Fair & Square invited a panel of experts to offer their thoughts in discussion with Alex Brennan, who oversees Hudson Sandler’s Consumer Industries franchise.

Tom Kerridge

Tom Kerridge is one of Britain’s most loved and highly regarded chefs. Tom worked as a chef in restaurants across Britain before deciding to set out on his own and take over a rundown pub in the quiet Buckinghamshire town of Marlow. He opened The Hand & Flowers with his wife Beth in 2005, and it went on to become the first (and only) pub in the world to acquire two Michelin stars.

In 2014 he opened a second pub in Marlow, The Coach, which was followed by The Butcher's Tap. Most recently, he and his core team launched Kerridge's Bar & Grill, which is housed in the Corinthia in London. As well as running his hugely successful restaurants, Tom has written numerous best-selling books, many of which became best-sellers. Tom’s latest book published by Bloomsbury celebrates 15 years of the iconic, double Michelin starred Hand and Flowers.

His latest television series on the BBC is Saving Britain’s Pubs With Tom Kerridge.

Andrew Fishwick, CEO of The PEPPER Collective

Andrew is a hospitality sector entrepreneur. The PEPPER Collective is a hospitality and leisure business that harnesses partnerships to create exciting new customer experiences. Founded in 2019 and led by Andrew Fishwick, serial hospitality and leisure CEO, and former Nando’s Director and Benugo CEO Handley Amos, The PEPPER Collective works with like-minded people, businesses and enterprises to create new customer experiences that challenge the market, delight consumers and celebrate the very best talent.

David Page, Chairman of The Fulham Shore

David is one of the most experienced restaurant industry professionals in the UK today. David has been Chairman of the Fulham Shore since its incorporation in 2012. The company listed on the AIM market 2014 and today owns and operates the highly successful and popular The Real Greek and Franco Manca restaurants businesses. Previously he was chief executive of PizzaExpress and then chairman until it was acquired by a private equity house in 2002. Following the sale of PizzaExpress David founded and was chairman of The Clapham House Group PLC, which owned Gourmet Burger Kitchen and Bombay Bicycle Club.

Sabah Meddings, The Sunday Times

Sabah is the Senior Business Reporter at The Sunday Times and one of the most highly regarded media voices on the leisure sector. She writes extensively on the leisure industries including restaurants and pubs. She previously wrote for the business pages at The Daily Mail where she covered a broad range of sectors including leisure and hospitality.

With COVID-19 challenging the world, the term sustainability has a new feel to it. A number of those in the resources sector have simply been unable to sustain operations with mines being closed down or production suspended due to the spread of the virus.

In this episode of Fair & Square, Charlie Jack, Hudson Sandler’s Head of Natural Resources speaks to prominent miners and developers, who share their insights on ESG - what investors are demanding, and how the industry must position itself for the next generation of millennial investors.

We also hear from the World Gold Council, Mining Journal and The Bishop of Birmingham, the latter playing a key part in the Church of England’s role in driving change in the sector. They share their thoughts on the fast evolving and accelerating ESG imperative in mining.

There is a perception that pubs, bars and clubs have been having a tough time and that hundreds of closures have contributed to the decline of town centres. But is this true?

Are people really going out less than before? And how can businesses which operate in the night-time economy retain and attract new customers? For this edition of Fair and Square we

are delighted to have two of the most experienced operators in the leisure sector, Peter Marks, Chief Executive of Deltic, the UK’s largest operator of nightclubs and Ralph Findlay, CEO of Marston’s, one of the UK’s largest pub operators.

Together with Nick Lyon, who runs Hudson Sandler’s leisure practice, they explore the ever changing challenges and opportunities within the night-time economy.

Over recent years, fewer industries in the UK have faced greater political, public and media scrutiny than gambling. On an almost daily basis media reports on the impact of gambling on people and society. Gambling operators are often presented as irresponsible, immoral corporations that benefit from the pain of customers. On the latest edition of Fair & Square, we have assembled a panel of industry experts including David Zeffman from CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang, Alice Hancock from the Financial Times, and Bruce Garrow from Investec who discuss what the future holds for this challenged but dynamic industry. Joining this panel is Alex Brennan, who heads up Hudson Sandler’s Consumer Industries practice.

The second episode of Hudson Sandler’s Fair and Square podcast starts to look at the overarching challenge and opportunity that the increasing focus on ESG performance presents to businesses around the world. With pressure coming from government, regulators, NGOs and civil society, customers, media and consumers, companies have never been under greater pressure to demonstrate responsibility and transparency. It’s a business-critical issue that is becoming progressively politicised and increasingly urgent. In this first podcast on a subject to which we will return regularly, we introduce some of the communications challenges arising from ESG and the importance of getting it right for all audiences, not least investors and the financial community.

Welcome to the first episode of ‘Fair & Square’, a Hudson Sandler podcast about the world that revolves around business and communications.

This episode, hosted by Adam Batstone, features Andrew Hayes, Managing Partner of Hudson Sandler, in conversation with Kirsty Bashforth discussing her new book ‘Culture Shift: A Practical Guide to Managing Organizational Culture’. Based on her extensive experience, Kirsty speaks about what it takes to tackle the topic of culture in an organization. Kirsty spent 25 years of her career at BP, ending up as Head of Effectiveness, following the Deepwater Horizon disaster. She now runs her own consultancy QuayFive Ltd, advising CEOs on change, organizational culture and leadership, and is a Non-Executive Director on the boards of Serco, Kier and PZ Cussons.

Next episode: Rebecca Gudgeon, Head of Sustainability at Hudson Sandler, talks to Vladimir Zaluzhsky, Head of the Communications and Investor Relations Department at Severstal, one of Russia’s largest steelmakers, Rupert Krefting, Head of Corporate Finance and Stewardship at M&G Investments, discuss the hot investment topic of ESG.