Peter Backman
The trickle down view of eating out...
In hard economic times people forsake their ‘usual’ places to eat at, and instead they go to places that offer meals at lower prices. The...
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Peter Backman
- Nov 14
- 1 min
Are closures levelling the pre-Covid overcapacity?
News of hospitality and pub closures is painting a bleak picture and fuelling the impending sense of gloom that the industry is feeling....
Peter Backman
- Nov 6
- 1 min
Is declining confidence crushing eating out?
If you’re like the majority of the British public, then you’re less confident than you have ever been over the last ten or more years....
Peter Backman
- Oct 12
- 1 min
Is the foodservice sector suffering from long Covid
The sector has been through a period of thirty months during which operators have been assailed by far too many challenges. With a mix of...
Peter Backman
- Oct 6
- 1 min
A momentous week...
The impact of the budget on the foodservice sector is pretty clear. On the one hand, it will have some really hard impacts on consumers....
Peter Backman
- Sep 28
- 1 min
WFH continues to impact lunchtime trade
Despite consumer demand for formal and occasion wear rising, it seems that footfall for eating out is not correlating. In fact,...
Peter Backman
- Sep 12
- 1 min
The constant Queen
Amongst the many words that people have spoken about the Queen, I have been struck by a thread of comments about her constancy, the...
Peter Backman
- Sep 5
- 1 min
January 2023 will be a critical month
In May I drew attention to 1978 and how, at least in overall economic terms, we seem to have arrived back at that year. Some of the...
Peter Backman
- Aug 22
- 1 min
"Energy is going to cost more than rent..."
With the sobering realisation that energy is going to cost more than rent for many operators, I consider what this will mean for our...
Peter Backman
- Aug 15
- 1 min
What's the current state of delivery in the UK?
I haven’t written about delivery in my Weekly Briefing Report for a while, that’s because I cover the sector, at an international level,...
Peter Backman
- Aug 8
- 1 min
Meals down, sales up, costs up
A very long recession lasting from Q4 2022 to early 2024 will soon be on us. And, we all know from past recessions that this is bad news...
Peter Backman
- Aug 1
- 1 min
How inflation changes things - then and now
In this week’s issue of WBR I comment on the effects of inflation on buying behaviour. And Geof Collyer comments on the lessons to learn...
Peter Backman
- Jul 18
- 1 min
Andrew Guy, former CEO of The Restaurant Group shares his views
In this week’s WBR, Andrew Guy, former CEO of City Centre Restaurants (now The Restaurant Group) where amongst his responsibilities he...
Peter Backman
- Jul 11
- 1 min
In adversity, there is always opportunity
In this week’s issue of WBR, I feature the reflections of Ian Neill, serial foodservice innovator and entrepreneur and former CEO of...
Peter Backman
- Jul 4
- 1 min
Does money talk when it comes to hospitality?
I’ve heard several stories in recent weeks, and had my own experience too, where a sub-standard experience has been recompensed with a no...
Peter Backman
- Jun 27
- 1 min
Tony Hughes, former MD of Mitchells and Butlers shares his views
In this week’s WBR, I continue with learning the lessons from 1978. Tony Hughes shares the strategic imperative for pubs to grow topline...
Peter Backman
- Jun 20
- 1 min
Thoughts from Vic Laws MBE
A few weeks ago that I noted that the situation in which the foodservice industry finds itself pays more than a passing resemblance...
Peter Backman
- Jun 13
- 1 min
Fuel prices to impact spend on eating out
We have got to a point where consumers are now really feeling the increased, inflation-affected price of petrol. This will limit the...
Peter Backman
- Jun 6
- 1 min
Rising prices hit the foodservice sector in three ways...
In the latest issue of WBR, I look at the three ways rising prices hit the foodservice sector: as an increase in input costs; as a...
Peter Backman
- May 30
- 1 min
Our industry needs consistent, quality data
In the US, the government deems it worthwhile collecting timely and detailed monthly statistical information about the performance of the...