After the pandemic the industry had high hopes for 2022. Unfortunately, operators were presented with challenges that prevented them from realising their potential. From a recruitment crisis to spiralling costs and festive strike action, we look back on the year that wasn't
Corbin & King is no more
In January Minor International, the major shareholder of Corbin & King, placed the company in administration and called in debts following a dispute with esteemed co-founder Jeremy King over the group's direction.
At the time King described the move as "power play" and vowed to buy it out of administration. However, his bid was unsuccessful and in April Minor International took total control of its nine standalone restaurants including the Wolseley, the Delaunay, Brasserie Zédel and Colbert.
Come June Minor International changed the business's name to Wolseley Hospitality Group, removing reference to King and his co-founder Chris Corbin, and set out its intention to expand both in the UK and internationally.
Oli Williamson is Fat Duck head chef
Fresh from being announced the winner of the 2021 Roux Scholarship, Oli Williamson was promoted to head chef at the Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire. The 31-year-old took over the reins at Heston Blumenthal's three-Michelin-starred restaurant less than two years after joining the team in December 2020.
Williamson told The Caterer: "It's exciting and a bit surreal. I'm super-grateful and humbled to be at this point in my career where I can take on a restaurant as prestigious as this."
Michelin sprinkles its stardust
Simon Rogan's L'Enclume in Cartmel, Cumbria, was promoted from two Michelin stars to three in the 2022 Michelin Guide for Great Britain and Ireland in February.
L'Enclume, currently celebrating 20 years in operation, earned its first star in 2005 and its second in 2013. The guide said: "In that time, it has never stood still... an enormous amount of time and creativity goes into every superbly crafted, stimulating dish, which makes eating at this highly accomplished restaurant a truly memorable experience."
The announcement also saw Gareth Ward's Ynyshir in Machynlleth, Powys, become Wales' first two-Michelin-starred restaurant. Also receiving two stars were Ikoyi in London's St James's, Chapter One and Liath, both in Dublin, and Clove Club in London's Shoreditch.
Invasion of Ukraine
In February Russian forces invaded Ukraine bringing war to Europe. Many operators, including the Jamie Oliver Group, McDonald's and foodservice group Compass were quick to pull their businesses out of Russia in the following weeks.
The hospitality industry also rallied round to support Ukraine and the refugees fleeing the conflict, with a Lunch4Ukraine fundraising event in April raising more than £176,000 for the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine Appeal.
The war has affected international markets and seen energy and food prices increase dramatically. Some restaurateurs, including Mitch Tonks, have removed cod from menus, while thefts of cooking oil increased dramatically as prices hit record levels.
Spencer Metzger takes the GBM crown
The Ritz London's head chef Spencer Metzger was named Great British Menu Champion of Champions 2022. The chef received the accolade after getting both his fish course and main course to the banquet, which celebrated 100 years of British broadcasting.
Nathan Davies, chef-patron of Michelin-starred SY23 in Aberystwyth served the banquet starter, while chef de cuisine Chris McClurg of Paul Ainsworth at Number 6 won the dessert course.
The Pig hotel ready for expansion
Private equity firm KSL Capital Partners acquired the parent company of the Pig Hotels in April, in partnership with its co-founder Robin Hutson. It acquired a significant stake of the business, buying out shareholders including Jim Ratcliffe.
Hutson retained a stake and continues to run the business as chairman, while Tom Ross, previously group operations director, took on the role of managing director.
It was said the investment would allow the Pig, which was founded in 2011 and runs eight boutique hotels in southern England, to further expand throughout the UK.
Martyn Nail leaves Claridge's
Claridge's hotel confirmed that executive chef Martyn Nail had left the five-red-AA-star hotel alongside head chef Adam Peirson, in April.
Nail and Peirson had worked at the hotel for 36 and 22 years respectively. Nail joined Claridge's as a third commis chef under maître chef des cuisines Marjan Lesnik in 1988. He would go on to be named Hotel Chef of the Year (more than 250 covers) at the 2011 Hotel Cateys.
In the same year Peirson received an Acorn Award, which recognises the 30 brightest prospects under 30 in the hospitality industry.
It was later confirmed that Nail would be joining the Dorchester hotel in London's Park Lane as culinary director, with Dmitri Magi stepping into the same role at Claridge's.
Farewell Jurys Inn
In April it was announced that the Jurys Inn name was to be retired after almost 30 years, with all its hotels relaunched under its sister Leonardo brand later in the year. All 35 Jurys Inn properties made the transition as part of a wider expansion plan for the business.
Jurys Inn was merged with Leonardo Hotels in 2017 when Israeli-based Fattal Hotel Group and Swedish investment company Pandox acquired the portfolio for £800m.
Pontins examined on equality
Britain's equality watchdog launched a formal investigation into Pontins holiday parks in May due to concerns about continued discrimination against Gypsy and Traveller families.
Pontins owner Britannia Jinky Jersey Limited, a subsidiary of Britannia Hotels, had entered a 12-month legal agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) following allegations that the company operated a discriminatory booking policy.
Alleged practices included using an ‘undesirable' guest list of common Irish surnames as part of a policy of refusing or cancelling bookings by Gypsy and Traveller families to its parks. On launching its investigation the EHRC said Pontins had not taken "the required steps to prevent unlawful race discrimination".
In November Greene King paid "substantial" damages and undertook staff training after admitting 12 people were removed from one of its venues for being Irish Travellers.
Wetherspoon sells off its pubs
In September JD Wetherspoon put 32 pubs across England on the market in what it said was a "commercial decision". Two months later a further seven venues were offered for sale.
The pub chain had seen like-for-like sales during the period that were 9.6% higher than the previous year and 0.4% up on 2019.
But in an update to investors, the company warned that costs of labour, food and repairs were "substantially higher" than previous years.
Cateys 2022 celebrates the greats
Celebrated restaurateur Jeremy King and accessibility champion and hotelier Robin Sheppard took the top accolades at the 2022 Cateys. King was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of a career spent creating some of the capital's most-lauded restaurants alongside long-term business partner Chris Corbin.
The Special Award went to Robin Sheppard, who has done more than anyone of his generation to drive forward the accessibility agenda.
Caterer Thomas Franks was recognised with two awards, taking both the Best Employer award and the Foodservice Caterer award, while the Chef Award went to Lisa Goodwin-Allen of Northcote in Langho, Lancashire, and Hélène Darroze received the International Award.
Tributes to Queen Elizabeth II
In September an outpouring of tributes followed the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Those who served the country's longest-reigning monarch, be it at state banquets, garden parties or in less formal settings, shared their thoughts and memories with The Caterer.
The Queen was patron of the Gold Service Scholarship award for young front of house professionals, and presented the award in person at a ceremony at Claridge's in 2016.
Edward Griffiths, trustee of the Gold Service Scholarship and former deputy master of the Royal Household, said: "With her unwavering belief in striving for excellence, and with her appreciation of service, the Queen has blessed us in the Gold Service Scholarship with her gracious patronage over the past decade, and together with all the trustees of the scholarship, we will greatly mourn her loss."
A government in chaos
September had also marked the beginning of the premiership of Liz Truss, the final prime minister invited to form a government by Queen Elizabeth II. Truss would resign from the post after just 44 days, during which her and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng sent the markets into freefall.
September's chaotic ‘mini budget', which included £45b of unfunded tax cuts, saw the value of Sterling plummet and ultimately cost both Truss and her chancellor their jobs.
In October Rishi Sunak took on the top job and shortly afterwards he and chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivered a plan designed to steady the ship. However, once again the delayed Autumn Statement held little good news for hospitality, with no details of energy support continuing beyond March 2023, no mention of the relaxation of immigration rules, and confirmation that the VAT threshold will be retained until at least March 2026.
All change at Le Manoir
In November Gary Jones stepped down as executive head chef at Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in Oxfordshire after more than 20 years in the role.
It was later confirmed that 2018 National Chef of the Year and 2017 Roux Scholar Luke Selby would be returning to the two-Michelin-starred Oxfordshire restaurant, where he began his career, to take up the executive head chef post.
Selby will be joined by his brothers Nathaniel and Theodore, with whom he ran Michelin-starred Soho restaurant Evelyn's Table. Raymond Blanc will continue as chef patron at Le Manoir while Benoit Blin MCA will remain as chef pâtissier.
Blanc said: "I'll be working with Luke, Nathaniel and Theodore and we're in complete symbiosis. What we're doing is preparing the future and at the same time keeping the heart of Le Manoir."
Strikes, strikes, strikes
As this issue went to press rail strikes were threatening to throw a spanner in what should have been one of the busiest weeks of the year for hospitality businesses.
The ongoing dispute between the government and members of the RMT Union has repeatedly seen the rail network grind to a screeching halt through 2022 and brought major disruption to the industry with it.
UKHospitality predicted strike action had cost the hospitality industry some £1.5b in sales before the Christmas walk-outs and warned that a third disrupted festive season in a row would have serious implications for operators.
The staffing crisis takes its toll
An industry-wide staffing crisis held back hospitality's post-Covid rebound throughout 2022, with many businesses forced to slash opening hours or cap room sales.
In July a survey of business leaders in London's West End suggested measures bought in to allow teams to cope with shortages had led to a 20% reduction in average revenue. So severe was the situation that Jason Atherton reported that a third of positions across his group were vacant and suggested if improvements were not seen he could be forced to close sites in the New Year.
Despite lobbying and a petition calling for a hospitality worker visa scheme receiving more than 17,000 signatures, there has been no action from the government to offset the impacts of Covid-19 and Brexit on the workforce. Towards the end of the year there have been signs the situation is easing slightly, but in November one in nine hospitality positions remained vacant, according to a CGA survey.
No bright future for energy bills
Spiralling energy costs have dominated news coverage in the second half of 2022 and have already claimed several casualties after operators' received eye-watering quotes from providers.
In September 80% of respondents to a survey by The Caterer said rising energy prices had wiped out their profits, while 60% feared their business may not survive the next 12 months without sufficient government support.
The majority of operators said their bills had risen by more than 100%, while 22% had seen a rise of over 300%, and another 22% said their costs had increased by over 400%.
One wrote: "If there is no reduction [in energy bills] or financial support we will close by next summer as reserves are low. We will be homeless and jobless; government should act now before it's too late for so many."
The chancellor has placed a unit price cap on businesses energy bills until March 2023 and suggested some support will continue for the worst-affected industries beyond this point, although details of what this may be are not expected until the New Year.
Cost of living shuts down businesses
Energy bills are not the only costs to have increased this year with an uptick in food prices and spiralling inflation impacting both operators and consumers.
As early as February chefs were warning that they would need to increase prices and adapt menus to include cheaper cuts and fewer premium products in a bid to cut costs. Huge hikes in oil costs in particular saw many restaurants reduce the number of fried options on menus. The situation was exacerbated in April when VAT returned to 20%. A petition was launched in response to the hike, to no avail.
As well as struggling with their own costs and needing to support their teams through tough times, operators are anticipating that cash-strapped consumers will look to cut back on socialising and eating out.
Several operators including Suffolk's Hog Hotel, the Dining Room restaurant in Abersoch and Michael Caines' Harbourside Refuge in Cornwall have decided to pull down the shutters this winter and reassess the market come spring. Fingers crossed some shoots of recovery will be seen by then.
Obituaries
In 2022 the industry paid tribute to hospitality greats, including:
- Enam Ali, restaurateur and founder of Spice Business Magazine and the British Curry Awards
- Willy Bauer, hotelier
- Pierre Bellon, founder of Sodexo
- Jerry Brand, entrepreneur and founder of catering firm Russell & Brand
- Pat Chapman, founder of the Curry Club
- Gregory De La Peña-Hall, director of equality, diversity and inclusivity at catering company BM
- Andrew Edmunds, restaurateur
- Elizabeth Gadsby, former director of the Hotel and Catering International Management Association
- Alain Lhermitte, restaurateur
- Alastair Little, chef
- Joyce Molyneux, chef
- Richard Shepherd, chef
