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IMPROVE PROFITS & SALES With 30 years DEMONSTRABLE experience, we can certainly improve your Profits:
• ANALYSING & EXPLAINING TO YOU WHY YOUR BUSINESS MIGHT BE UNDERPERFORMING • GIVING YOU A WORKABLE PLAN TO CORRECT IT • ONE-TO-ONE OR COLLECTIVE PROFITABILITY TRAINING FOR YOU, FOR GMs & HEAD CHEFS • IMPROVING YOUR PROFITS AND SALES Call David Hunter now to talk it through: Phone: 01628 487613 Mob: 07831 407984 www.bowdengroup.co.uk (Est 1984) Download the new “Bowden GPCalculator” iPhone App make costing and pricing easy
COPING WITH THE NEW £7.20ph LIVING WAGE From April 2016, all Hotel, Restaurant and Pub businesses will have to pay any staff members who are over 25 years old the new “Living Wage” which starts at £7.20ph!!! THIS WILL BE COMPULSORY - whereas the current “Living Wage” is NOT! This will be extremely difficult for all of our industry’s businesses and FATAL for some! • PERHAPS NOW IS THE TIME TO GET SOME HELP AND START PLANNING FOR THIS CHANGE • WE CAN HELP YOU BY REVIEWING YOUR OVERALL WAGES STRUCTURE NOW, AND HELP YOU THROUGH ANY NECESSARY CHANGES Call David Hunter now to talk it through: Phone: 01628 487613 Mob: 07831 407984 www.bowdengroup.co.uk (Est 1984) Download the new “Bowden GPCalculator” iPhone App make costing and pricing easy
Product Portfolio
www.catererlicensee.com
April 2016
Issue 187
Outdoor Spaces
Design and Refit
Property and Professional
Pages 21 - 23
Pages 24 - 27
Pages 28 - 30
Warewashers Pages 18 - 20
Majority Of B&B And Independent Hotel Owners Surveyed Say ‘Yes’ To Brexit Page 16
A SURVEY by online booking partner eviivo has revealed that just under half of independent hotel owners and bedand-breakfast providers are strongly in favour of Britain, leaving the EU. The survey reveals that 49.9% of the 1,050 owners who took part in our study said they were strongly in favour of the UK leaving the EU, 37% said we should absolutely stay, 12% were undecided and 1% do not care either way. The forthcoming June referendum to decide whether Britain will stay in or leave the EU is the most contentious debate of this generation, in particular since recent polling has been very close, with each side “seesawing” ahead and behind almost on a weekly basis .However polling of the independent sector of the hospitality industry by eviivo appears to be quite conclusive. The survey contrasts with a recent ABTA report in which three leading travel organisations have said that Britain leaving the EU would be 'disastrous' for the tourism industry.Monarch Group, Mediterranean specialist tour operator Esplora, and award-winning Belfast travel agent Knock Travel have expressed serious concerns that a Brexit would be negative for UK travel believing it would inevitably lead to increased costs for the customer. The survey also revealed of those who plan to vote in favour of Brexit, 33% believe leaving the EU will make the UK stronger economically; in contrast 41% were of the opinion that the UK will be in a better shape economically should we actually stay. Those wanting to leave the EU also believe that it will reduce the amount of red tape for UK businesses (31%), and help to reduce immigration (26%) however, the remaining ‘Stay’ voters expressed the wish to see reform for the EU from within (31%), whilst nearly one in five
(18%) were concerned regarding a period of uncertainty that would follow leaving the EU as it will have a direct negative impact on their bottom line. Michele Fitzpatrick, eviivo's CEO, commented: "The fact that both camps cited a strengthened UK economy as their number one reason to explain their voting intentions clearly highlights one thing – that there still is a great deal of confusion around the referendum and that what it will eventually mean for UK businesses remains unclear. "What our research also tells us is that Brexit has very much become an emotional debate as opposed to a rational one, which isn't something you'd expect – nor want – with so much at stake. But it is clear that subjective considerations are now outweighing objective ones. "Testament to that is the fact that when asked which politician they felt would do the best job of managing the transition should we leave the EU, both sides opted for Boris Johnson. And yet both sides also had Mr Johnson as their first pick for EU president should we opt to stay." The 'Leave' campaign currently wins by a wider margin in urban (51%) and seaside (56%) areas, and when breaking down the survey results by property type, eviivo was able to establish that small hoteliers (61%) and pub or inn owners (56%) are the more strongly inclined to leave the EU – compared to B&B (49%) and self-catering property (49%) owners. Mrs Fitzpatrick, said: "Overall, this desire to leave Europe is unexpected, especially when considering that we're talking about an industry that has seen 81% of its visitors and 64% of its revenue for 2014 come from EU countries. Yet it seems that as far as small business owners are concerned, they've had enough and are ready for a change – some will call it a gamble, based on the lack of hard evidence that opting out will make a positive difference to our economy," she concluded.
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