Event Review

The coveted annual Savoy lecture welcomed members and friends of Arena, both old and new, together with many food suppliers to enjoy an evening of insight and networking.

The evening opened with the CEO of UK Hospitality, Kate Nicholls OBE, who opened the event with an insightful update on the foodservice and hospitality sector.

Representing everything in eating and drinking out of home and entertainment, from independent pubs, to large national hotel chains, the organisation has become the voice of the industry since it was formed in 2018, when Kate first joined a Savoy lecture as the newly appointed CEO.  With 750 member companies operating over 150,000 outlets across the UK and a vibrant supplier and affiliate associate membership, UK Hospitality is uniquely positioned to lobby Government to help the industry’s business thrive and survive, as well as working with the food suppliers and food manufacturers on issues such as calorie and allergen labelling.

Kate stressed that despite the turbulent years, which has seen a margin erosion of 40-50% since 2018, the challenge now is to look forward to the signs of optimism. Whilst there’s sadly no white knight, she shared, as she put it ‘Reasons to be cheerful’.

Global travel and tourism

Global travel is coming back a little stronger than anticipated. The latest figures saw it get to 96% of pre COVID levels of volume and value in real terms.  In 2024, international visits to the UK were up 5%, giving us 40 million visits and spend was up in 7% in real terms at £35bn.

We’re seeing anticipation, and forecasts show - Trump adjusted - we’re expecting to get back to pre-COVID levels of volume and value by the end of this year.  Crucially, some of our major markets may return to the UK as a result of Trump’s trade wars, such as the Gulf states and China, which is our most valuable market and is yet to return, since Covid.

Decreasing intention to travel to the US from foreign visitors creates opportunities for the UK and currently, we’re seeing no tail-off of American visitors who account for 40% of foreign visitor spend. And, crucially there is positive sentiment towards the UK.

New tourism minister, Chris Bryant, is developing a new tourism strategy that includes business events, music events and sporting and cultural activity. This is the first time a UK tourism strategy has captured this element of our sector.  The ambition is to get to 50 million visits a year by 2030, so within the next four years, we're going to add 10 million extra visitors.

Consumer confidence is fickle

Whilst consumer confidence is a fragile, fickle market, consumers haven’t yet noticed the two tax cuts in the form of NICs and two successive cuts last year. Although the national living wage is painful for our businesses, it’s putting more money in consumers’ pockets, as are the real wage increases in the public sector.

Discretionary spend is out there and recent UK Hospitality research found that 90% of consumers are eating out at least monthly and 75% say that eating and drinking out and socialising with family and friends is their top priority once they get some discretionary spend.

When they have money in their pockets eating and drinking out and socialising is the first place they’ll spend it, followed by a holiday in the UK and a short break. Over the last couple of years, holidays abroad overtook holidaying in the UK, but holidays in the UK are coming back quite strongly.

When confidence is there, spend will follow and 87% are saying they want to come back out and spend. And, interestingly, when people feel uncertain, fuelled by geopolitical uncertainty, they want to spend in the experience economy rather than buying goods.

Positive signs from the government

Whilst there are no big ticket items from the government, there are some signs that it is starting to formulate an economic plan where it may look at some of the small scale areas, where we've got regulation holding us back, or where we've got creative ideas that might drive growth and recovery.

When it comes to Trump and tariffs, the government's got an industrial strategy that it's working on but it focuses on all the sectors of the economy that are disproportionately impacted by tariffs.

The government's top priority is generating economic growth. Its second is 80% employment, and its third is investment in the High Street and regeneration of our high streets.  Consequently, UK Hospitality is mapping out what the industry needs, the challenges the industry faces against those objectives, to be able to demonstrate how we can help.

The Government is having to pivot from things that are long term investments in advanced manufacturing and energy to something that will deliver immediate results. And UK Hospitality is positioning the industry as the solution.  At 3.2 million people and 140 billion pounds of revenue, the industry can have a lot of impact on the economy and on economic growth if there were just some small changes to the conditions.

Finally, there is a big piece of work that's being done around business rates and UK Hospitality is continuing to work with the government to get a permanent lower multiplier through for hospitality businesses, a better reset for the other businesses in the sector that are less on the high street but are still undoubtedly affected by business rates, and a code of conduct and a code of practice on commercial rents.

Following the enlightening speech from Kate, Karl Atkins, CEO of Foodbuy Group and Alex Demetriou, CEO of Foodbuy UK & Ireland, were welcomed to the stage by Lorraine Wood, Director of Arena to deliver the annual Savoy lecture.

Karl has held a variety of roles across procurement and supply chain, before moving into commercial leadership roles with Coca Cola, Britvic and Compass. Formerly the COO of Foodbuy, his current position as CEO is about ensuring the company delivers great procurement solutions to its clients. In 2019, he achieved his MBA and he's also a huge Exeter Chiefs rugby fan.

Alex's career began at a young age when he worked in kitchens within his family's catering businesses.  Hospitality has always been a big part of Alex’s life and he continues to operate several hospitality and event businesses, including Regency Purchasing Group, which he founded in 2003 and Foodbuy Group acquired in 2022. He delivered the first ever mobile vending contract at the 2012 London Olympic Games and maintains an active role as director of the Old Thatched Cottage, the first restaurant his grandparents bought 65 years ago, in Weston-Super-Mare, as well as the Grand Pier. Now as CEO of Foodbuy UK and Ireland, Alex is responsible for all purchasing businesses operating within the division of Foodbuy Group.  Outside of work, Alex enjoys spending time with his family and maintains a small farm where they live.

During the fascinating, engaging lecture, they shared reflections on Foodbuy as a business, what it does and the journey its been on, together with some of their thoughts on what they’re seeing in the industry. Both have an abundantly clear and down-to-earth passion for hospitality and how it connects people.  They stressed the importance of relationships and the need for optimism and innovation.

Opening the lecture, Karl shared his thoughts on growth, talent and the inherent responsibility of leaders to nurture businesses throughout the industry to not only help them accelerate their own plans, but to benefit the whole supply chain.

Here’s some of the key takeaways:

“We shouldn’t be ashamed to talk about growth”

Growth sits at the heart of the future and he shared how important it is to be open and honest about growth and ambition.  Fundamentally, it not only creates jobs, but it helps to build a vibrant people culture where people want to work. And, of course, a great place to work, attracts talent.

Coupled with growth is an intrinsic need to collaborate.  The ‘we’re all in it together’ philosophy has never been more on point.  It’s a whole supply chain approach and strength of relationships is everything.  It’s more important than ever before.

Collaboration is a central philosophy at Foodbuy. 

“All of the challenges, that we all face, are somewhat easier when we come together and collaborate.”

Thanks to a series of very high-quality businesses joining, they’ve “moved the needle quite significantly”.  The company now has a really broad and resilient group of businesses that operate across a wide range of sectors, from senior living in care, casual dining and QSR, independent hospitality hotel and travel, together with an emerging education business.

Karl spoke of the ‘amazing’ 450-strong talented team and that, through the acquisitions they’ve made, they’ve been able to keep founders, management teams and businesses intact, building on expertise, rather than diluting it:

“They are experts in the local markets and it's not our job to change that. It's our job to try and create something more powerful by coming together.”

Karl highlighted that there are three parts of his business that really motivates him - feeding children, the NHS and our military – as they are critical to our national infrastructure and identity.

That focus on community and collaboration is extended further, to social enterprises, with Foodbuy now working with forty-four different enterprises. He views it as a business responsibility to nurture those businesses and champion the exceptional innovation that they’re generating.

“I think it’s an obligation to nurture those businesses and help them accelerate their plans.”

He strongly believes that they have the opportunity to help more businesses and when it comes to the industry as a whole, he believes there is a collaborative responsibility to champion it; to attract the very best talent.  The variety and diversity, together with the progression and opportunities make it an ‘optimistic’ place to be.

Proud of the business he and the team have created, Karl closed his introduction by hinting there’s a lot more to come, suggesting it’s a case of ‘watch this space’ to see what comes next.

“We are very, very proud of the business we’ve created, but feel like we’re just getting started.  I think we found a purpose and a mission that we didn’t have before.”

Karl then handed the platform to Alex who echoed themes of collaboration and opportunity, also touching on convenience and his passion for the independent.  Growing up, cooking fish and chips on Weston seafront he is an operator through and through.

Echoing Karl’s views on attracting talent, Alex, , shared what a special industry hospitality is, as somewhere for people to harness confidence and to learn life skills that are transferable.

“It's still a great place to grow talent, and the UK will be a much poorer place if we do not get young people to work and engaging in our industry. I believe that passionately.”

He went on to share his views on opportunity and optimism.  Underlining the volatility and movement in the market, he shared how there’s a real need from customers, for the support of a group purchasing organisation, positioning it as a time for he and the team at Foodbuy to “lean in”.

On the topic of opportunity, he echoed Kate’s words on the experience economy highlighting the event space as a sector that will keep on winning, advising the room to be smart, by aligning with the winners.

“People want that one off experience. They want the photo. They want to say that they did that for their children, because the three takeaways a month won't be remembered, but that photo at the Taylor Swift concert will be.”

Food halls, juice bars, dessert cafes and experiential spaces like Flight Club are all driving growth and optimism.  He highlighted that there’s investment and positivity when it comes to spaces.

“Some people are continuing to invest, and we've just got to align with those winners.”

Alex shared how the power and influence of the independent should never be underestimated, because it “always starts with one”.  Whilst a brand might start with two or three, if it’s brave enough to put a couple of sites in, it always starts with one.  He explained how they grew Regency as a result of the independent nature of its business and now has 8,000 independent operators.

Convenience is king and is another reason to be optimistic, whether it’s in technology or creating a frictionless working environment. Whilst some people have money to spend and others don’t, it seems everyone is aligned on one thing: “The whole world has decided they have no time.” 

Interestingly, people are saying that they don’t have disposable income, yet they find it for convenience. So, the opportunity for Foodbuy, is to make the world convenient and to make it easy for us to work with.

When it comes to talent, Alex believes it’s non-negotiable; “we’ve got to attract talent”.  For him, it’s the most enjoyable industry that he’s ever seen and worked in. “There’s a reason why we all work the hours that we work. It’s challenging, but we still do it because we love it.”

And, on the subject of leadership, Alex underlined the responsibility of individuals with influence to inspire and motivate talent and really think about the way younger people make their decisions, which has changed.

“I refer to it as the Messi and the Ronaldo effect.  People used to want to work for companies, they're now going to work for individuals, because they're seeing brilliant leaders.”

He also reminded the audience to never forget or ignore that all-important “gut feel”.  Whilst data and AI are the hot topics at the moment, which they rightly should be, there will always be a place for gut feeling.  He acknowledged that AI will be a wonderful tool, but also reminded guests that to predict the future, all it will do is take what’s happened before and try to predict the future without that human insight or knowledge that money and technology just can’t create.

“It’s not as simple as that. Sometimes it's to the left and to the right of you, rather than just off centre. We all fall into the trap of becoming comfortable in two areas as human beings; habit and copying.  Habit, doing what we've always done because its comfortable and copying, just doing what somebody else is doing. But what that doesn't actually give you is the opportunity to innovate.”

Alex concluded the 2024 Savoy lecture with: “We are a customer-centric business and I want to solve problems for our customers.  I choose to work here in this industry, surrounded by brilliant people, because I've not had more fun doing anything else.”  

A series of questions from the audience followed and conversation continued during the drinks and canapé reception, before guests were invited back to the Ballroom to take their seats for dinner and here is what some of the guests had to say about the event:-

"Events like these are also a powerful reminder of the importance of stepping out of the day to day, sharing knowledge and promoting collaboration" - Sam Page, MD, Simply Lunch

"Grateful for the insight and energy in the room – and a reminder of the power of bringing our industry together to share, reflect, and plan ahead" - Anita Murray, CEO, William Murray PR & Marketing

"Beyond the stage, it was all about great conversations, new connections, shared ideas — and a wonderful atmosphere.  Events like these remind us why hospitality isn’t just an industry – it’s a community" - Andrea Deutschmanek, Marketing Uk & Germany, Oliehoorn

Huge thanks go to the headline sponsors for their support, in making the event possible. 

Nestle Professional, for the Nescafé and Starbucks coffee and Refreshers

Délifrance for the focaccia which was used to create the canapés, plus the bread rolls served alongside the starters

Unity Wines & Spirits for the wine and prosecco

Britvic Soft Drinks for the soft drinks and mineral water 

La Compagnie des Desserts for the dessert which formed part of the evening’s menu offering

HRC, which many of the guests either visited or exhibited at recently.

Thanks also go to the event supporters; Heineken for the beers and ciders, Susa Comms for the social media, Gather for use of its feedback platform and IGD for sponsoring the roundtable which preceeded the main event.

Thanks to guests’ generosity, £3730 was raised for Springboard and Hospitality Action in the charity raffle.