News Bites
Lidl NI invests £455m in food industry
Lidl Northern Ireland has bought a record £455m worth of goods from the local agri-food industry in the last financial year, according to its annual Supplier Impact Report. The report also found that of the £455m, £390m worth of goods were exported globally through Lidl’s international store network. Ivan Ryan, Regional Managing Director at Lidl Northern Ireland said: “I’m very proud of the positive contribution Lidl Northern Ireland continues to make to the local food and drink industry.”
Poor weather “good news” for the managed restaurant sector in August
Widespread cool weather made sure consumers stayed indoors during August, making it a great month for the managed restaurant sector, where like-for-like sales finished 8.6% ahead of August 2022. The Coffer CGA Business Tracer has been in year-on-year growth for 11 months in a row but the overall figure for managed pubs, restaurants and bars is at its lowest point since March.
Visitor levy ‘incredibly worrying’ without upper limit, says UKHospitality Scotland
UKHospitality Scotland has warned that a cap on the number of nights a visitor levy can be charged in Scotland should be set to avoid the “real risk” of losing tourists. The Scottish Parliament published a ‘tourist tax’ bill back in May that proposed to give councils the power to impose a levy on overnight accommodation. Leon Thompson, executive director at UK Hospitality Scotland said:” Some of the proposals are incredibly worrying, with major implications for competitiveness and costs for our business.”
New employment programme launched with government
UKHospitality has joined up with the government to create a new employment programme designed to fill vacancies in the hospitality sector. The scheme has been launched in Liverpool to upskill and match jobseekers with roles to earn an industry-recognised ‘Hospitality Skills Passport’. UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said: “Hospitality is a fantastic sector that offers a diverse variety of career opportunities, which is why it’s so well suited to helping people back into work.”