• Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • Log In
  • Sign Up
  • Data Privacy
  • Send a Release
Cision PR Newswire: news distribution, targeting and monitoring
  • News
  • Products
    • Overview
    • Distribution by PR Newswire
    • Cision Communications Cloud®
    • Cision IR
    • All Products
  • Contact
    • General Inquiries
    • Request a Demo
    • Editorial Bureaus
    • Partnerships
    • Media Inquiries
    • Worldwide Offices

Searching for your content...

No results found. Please change your search terms and try again.
  • News in Focus
      • Browse News Releases
      • All News Releases
      • All Public Company
      • English-only


      • News Releases Overview
      • Multimedia Gallery
      • All Multimedia
      • All Photos
      • All Videos


      • Multimedia Gallery Overview
      • Trending Topics
      • All Trending Topics


  • Business & Money
      • Auto & Transportation
      • All Automotive & Transportation
      • Aerospace, Defense
      • Air Freight
      • Airlines & Aviation
      • Automotive
      • Maritime & Shipbuilding
      • Railroads and Intermodal Transportation
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Transportation, Trucking & Railroad
      • Travel
      • Trucking and Road Transportation


      • Auto & Transportation Overview
      • Business Technology
      • All Business Technology
      • Blockchain
      • Broadcast Tech
      • Computer & Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Components
      • Electronic Design Automation
      • Financial Technology
      • High Tech Security
      • Internet Technology
      • Nanotechnology
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Semiconductors


      • Business Technology Overview
      • Entertain­ment & Media
      • All Entertain­ment & Media
      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television


      • Entertain­ment & Media Overview
      • Financial Services & Investing
      • All Financial Services & Investing
      • Accounting News & Issues
      • Acquisitions, Mergers and Takeovers
      • Banking & Financial Services
      • Bankruptcy
      • Bond & Stock Ratings
      • Conference Call Announcements
      • Contracts
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Dividends
      • Earnings
      • Earnings Forecasts & Projections
      • Financing Agreements
      • Insurance
      • Investments Opinions
      • Joint Ventures
      • Mutual Funds
      • Private Placement
      • Real Estate
      • Restructuring & Recapitalization
      • Sales Reports
      • Shareholder Activism
      • Stock Offering
      • Stock Split
      • Venture Capital


      • Financial Services & Investing Overview
      • General Business
      • All General Business
      • Awards
      • Commercial Real Estate
      • Corporate Expansion
      • Earnings
      • Human Resource & Workforce Management
      • Licensing
      • New Products & Services
      • Obituaries
      • Outsourcing Businesses
      • Overseas Real Estate (non-US)
      • Personnel Announcements
      • Real Estate Transactions
      • Residential Real Estate
      • Small Business Services
      • Socially Responsible Investing
      • Surveys, Polls and Research
      • Trade Show News


      • General Business Overview
  • Science & Tech
      • Consumer Technology
      • All Consumer Technology
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Blockchain
      • Cloud Computing/Internet of Things
      • Computer Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Consumer Electronics
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Gaming
      • Financial Technology
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Multimedia & Internet
      • Peripherals
      • Social Media
      • STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math)
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Wireless Communications


      • Consumer Technology Overview
      • Energy & Natural Resources
      • All Energy
      • Alternative Energies
      • Chemical
      • Electrical Utilities
      • Gas
      • General Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Oil & Energy
      • Oil and Gas Discoveries
      • Utilities
      • Water Utilities


      • Energy & Natural Resources Overview
      • Environ­ment
      • All Environ­ment
      • Conservation & Recycling
      • Environmental Issues
      • Environmental Policy
      • Environmental Products & Services
      • Green Technology
      • Natural Disasters


      • Environ­ment Overview
      • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing
      • All Heavy Industry & Manufacturing
      • Aerospace & Defense
      • Agriculture
      • Chemical
      • Construction & Building
      • General Manufacturing
      • HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning)
      • Machinery
      • Machine Tools, Metalworking and Metallurgy
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Paper, Forest Products & Containers
      • Precious Metals
      • Textiles
      • Tobacco


      • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing Overview
      • Telecomm­unications
      • All Telecomm­unications
      • Carriers and Services
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Telecommunications Equipment
      • Telecommunications Industry
      • VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
      • Wireless Communications


      • Telecomm­unications Overview
  • Lifestyle & Health
      • Consumer Products & Retail
      • All Consumer Products & Retail
      • Animals & Pets
      • Beers, Wines and Spirits
      • Beverages
      • Bridal Services
      • Cannabis
      • Cosmetics and Personal Care
      • Fashion
      • Food & Beverages
      • Furniture and Furnishings
      • Home Improvement
      • Household, Consumer & Cosmetics
      • Household Products
      • Jewelry
      • Non-Alcoholic Beverages
      • Office Products
      • Organic Food
      • Product Recalls
      • Restaurants
      • Retail
      • Supermarkets
      • Toys


      • Consumer Products & Retail Overview
      • Entertain­ment & Media
      • All Entertain­ment & Media
      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television


      • Entertain­ment & Media Overview
      • Health
      • All Health
      • Biometrics
      • Biotechnology
      • Clinical Trials & Medical Discoveries
      • Dentistry
      • FDA Approval
      • Fitness/Wellness
      • Health Care & Hospitals
      • Health Insurance
      • Infection Control
      • International Medical Approval
      • Medical Equipment
      • Medical Pharmaceuticals
      • Mental Health
      • Pharmaceuticals
      • Supplementary Medicine


      • Health Overview
      • Sports
      • All Sports
      • General Sports
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Sporting Events
      • Sports Equipment & Accessories


      • Sports Overview
      • Travel
      • All Travel
      • Amusement Parks and Tourist Attractions
      • Gambling & Casinos
      • Hotels and Resorts
      • Leisure & Tourism
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Passenger Aviation
      • Travel Industry


      • Travel Overview
  • Policy & Public Interest
      • Policy & Public Interest
      • All Policy & Public Interest
      • Advocacy Group Opinion
      • Animal Welfare
      • Congressional & Presidential Campaigns
      • Corporate Social Responsibility
      • Domestic Policy
      • Economic News, Trends, Analysis
      • Education
      • Environmental
      • European Government
      • FDA Approval
      • Federal and State Legislation
      • Federal Executive Branch & Agency
      • Foreign Policy & International Affairs
      • Homeland Security
      • Labor & Union
      • Legal Issues
      • Natural Disasters
      • Not For Profit
      • Patent Law
      • Public Safety
      • Trade Policy
      • U.S. State Policy


      • Policy & Public Interest Overview
  • People & Culture
      • People & Culture
      • All People & Culture
      • Aboriginal, First Nations & Native American
      • African American
      • Asian American
      • Children
      • Hispanic
      • Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual
      • Men's Interest
      • People with Disabilities
      • Religion
      • Senior Citizens
      • Veterans
      • Women


      • People & Culture Overview
      • In-Language News

      • español
      • português
      • Česko
      • Danmark
      • Deutschland
      • España
      • France
      • Italia
      • Nederland
      • Norge
      • Polska
      • Portugal
      • Россия
      • Slovensko
      • Suomi
      • Sverige
  • Overview
  • Distribution by PR Newswire
  • Cision Communications Cloud®
  • Cision IR
  • All Products
  • General Inquiries
  • Request a Demo
  • Editorial Bureaus
  • Partnerships
  • Media Inquiries
  • Worldwide Offices
  • PR Newswire: news distribution, targeting and monitoring
  • Send a Release
    • ALL CONTACT INFO

      Contact Us

      888-776-0942
      from 8 AM - 10 PM ET

  • Send a Release
  • Sign Up
  • Log In
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • News in Focus
    • Browse All News
    • Multimedia Gallery
    • Trending Topics
    • Send a Release
    • Sign Up
    • Log In
    • Resources
    • Blog
    • Journalists
    • RSS
    • GDPR
  • Business & Money
    • Auto & Transportation
    • Business Technology
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Financial Services & Investing
    • General Business
    • Send a Release
    • Sign Up
    • Log In
    • Resources
    • Blog
    • Journalists
    • RSS
    • GDPR
  • Science & Tech
    • Consumer Technology
    • Energy & Natural Resources
    • Environ­ment
    • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing
    • Telecomm­unications
    • Send a Release
    • Sign Up
    • Log In
    • Resources
    • Blog
    • Journalists
    • RSS
    • GDPR
  • Lifestyle & Health
    • Consumer Products & Retail
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Health
    • Sports
    • Travel
    • Send a Release
    • Sign Up
    • Log In
    • Resources
    • Blog
    • Journalists
    • RSS
    • GDPR
  • Policy & Public Interest
    • Send a Release
    • Sign Up
    • Log In
    • Resources
    • Blog
    • Journalists
    • RSS
    • GDPR
  • People & Culture
    • People & Culture
    • Send a Release
    • Sign Up
    • Log In
    • Resources
    • Blog
    • Journalists
    • RSS
    • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign Up
  • Log In
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Overview
  • Distribution by PR Newswire
  • Cision Communications Cloud®
  • Cision IR
  • All Products
  • Send a Release
  • Sign Up
  • Log In
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • General Inquiries
  • Request a Demo
  • Editorial Bureaus
  • Partnerships
  • Media Inquiries
  • Worldwide Offices
  • Send a Release
  • Sign Up
  • Log In
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • RSS
  • GDPR

A Premium Way to Ride Out the Recession


News provided by

The Orchid Group

Oct 03, 2011, 06:30 ET

Share this article


LONDON, October 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- The Orchid Touch Helps PBR Bloom

Latest figures from Orchid's Premium Bars & Restaurants question the recession with strong trading figures showing a year on year sales increase of 3%.  Since 2009 Orchid has invested over £3m transforming 16 businesses.  The results are clear to see with Invested businesses delivering 20% greater LFL sales compared to the un-invested businesses.

36 Premium Bars & Restaurants were acquired in December 2009 made up of The Living Room and Ultimate Leisure bars and nightclubs.  In just under two years since Orchid took the reins, a host of changes have been implemented and as a result, the division is thriving.

The main focus has been to enhance the customer experience through focussing on investment, offer development and by creating a culture where employees are passionate about working for PBR, something that had been lost when the business was in administration.   The net result of this has been improved sales and profitability driven by a dramatic reduction in discounting and voucher led offers which had become a mainstay in both UL and TLR businesses.

Central buying coupled with benefits from Orchid's approach led to improved retail standards around stock and controls with managers and teams all helping to drive profit. Orchid works on the belief of 'sanity over vanity' - that you should protect the profit line (sanity), rather than driving the sales line at any cost.  This is exemplified by strong food margin performance with a YTD performance of up 4% from when Orchid acquired the business.  This growth is testament to Orchid's approach to purchasing and commodity tracking and is on the back of VAT increases and prolific annualised UK food inflation in-excess of 8%.

The introduction of a new payroll system Fourth Hospitality has resulted in efficiencies in wages with a saving of over 4% versus 2010.   The saving has not hindered service with Retail Eyes showing the Living Room matching the likes of Pret on NPS (net promoter score) with 53.8% YTD.

Orchid is very proud of its award winning internal training & development programmes. Since 2009 Steps to Excellence has seen 11 Managers being internally promoted through to general manager positions.

The Living Room

  • 8 investments have been carried out from Liverpool to London with a total spend (since 2010) of just £1.5m (meagre by modern standards). The Living Room Manchester has achieved a 14% YOY sales increase as a result of its £150,000 investment, Liverpool 28% and Leeds 10%.  Prohibition at St Katherine's Dock, London was also repositioned to a Living Room bringing the total number bars to 14.
  • Staff turnover has fallen by 28% and there has been an increase in training with 98 Management Development Programme modules completed over the past 12 months.
  • Redefining the menu - In 2009 over 60% of all menu items were bought in.  This figure is now less than 20% with a greater than ever focus on freshness.  Orchid has ensured dishes are now about quality, provenance but cooked simply to let their flavours shine.  There's a new Express menu, more premium ingredient's and support for small producers such as Callestick Farm Cornish dairy ice cream.  The Living Room works with Callestick to develop new flavours each season.
  • Award winning PR & CSR campaigns: From 'The Suit Amnesty' to 'Music Magpie', The Living Room is known for its high profile press campaigns coupled with a strong corporate social responsibility ethic.  The Suit Amnesty has been shortlisted for a Pride of Britain award which takes place this November.
  • New website - built with the latest HTML5 technology, http://www.thelivingroom.co.uk marries social networking with data capture mechanisms. Investment in the database management system helps centralise and enhance control.  The Living Room now has over 500,000 customers in its database, a 40% increase on 2009. Website traffic is increasingly coming from mobile devices so The Living Room is set to launch a new mobile website this November allowing customers to book tables, view menus and search for restaurants nearby.
  • Proud to recommend - Orchid has invested heavily in a new customer experience scheme to ensure consistent quality and reward staff members who excel.  Customer experience is currently running at 84% YTD with NPS at 53.6% (industry leading).

Ultimate Leisure

  • Ultimate Leisure 2011 YOY sales performance is sector leading at 4.8% (contrasting sector rivals including Luminar's c20% decline).
  • 8 venues have seen capital investment ranging from £50,000 to £250,000. YOY sales at Riverside in Newcastle increased by 239% in the following 12 months post investment.  Other examples include Cotton Factory (Huddersfield) +44% YTD and Halo/Quilted (Leeds) +57%.
  • Differentiated and compelling reasons to visit - Orchid has reinvigorated the sector, injecting new ideas from Champagne beds to the latest audio visual effects.  Bambu in Newcastle re-launched with a host of new features including the 'Party Pods' concept - a unique style of Karaoke booth where you can record yourself singing as a memento of your night.  The venue has seen a sales increase of 28% compared to pre-investment.
  • Digital & Data - Prior to Orchid acquiring the PBR business Ultimate Leisure had absolutely no online presence. UL was tracking way behind its competitors, outdated, unloved and without a digital strategy.  Orchid has launched new websites for every bar and club and social media channels are now gathering momentum.  Web traffic for Ultimate Leisure stands at 25,000 visitors a month with over 60,000 fans on Facebook.  A database of 60,000 18-30s has been created from a zero start; this will grow to well over 100,000 by the end of 2011.
  • ULOVE IT privilege card - driving guest loyalty and repeat visits, already 15,000 people have signed up to the scheme.
  • National format entertainment activity - successful events securing topical acts have seen sales soar.  For example BCM's at Beach, Belfast (the famous club from Majorca) drove incremental footfall of 380 customers on the night. Tapping into the rise of reality TV stars has also worked - the September TOWIE tour during fresher's week drove 400 incremental admissions at Halo in Leeds and saw a 100% sales increase at the Cotton Factory in Huddersfield.
  • Trialling new food propositions - live in three sites so far, a new pizza offer has led to an increase in food sales opening up the late night snacking market as well as driving daytime trade.
  • Investing in people -Managers incentives, support, training and regular roadshows, forums and workshops. 
  • Close knit team - members of the Ultimate Leisure team have just completed the Great North Run together, raising £3000 for children's charity, Get Kids Going.
  • Unique CSR ideas - Ultimate Leisure's 'Bra Bank' campaign won national acclaim and collected 20,000 bras which were distributed to women in rural Africa as well as being recycled to raise hundreds for Breast Cancer Care.

Simon Dodd, Orchid's People & Commercial Director comments, "We're very proud of how far Premium Bars & Restaurant has come in just two years under Orchid's care. The division fits in perfectly with our existing portfolio and our shared learning and skill-sets have been mutually beneficial across the business."

He continues, "It goes to show that with strong management and evolution, it is possible to do well despite the current economic situation."

For more information on the Orchid Group visit http://www.orchidgroup.co.uk, follow Orchid on Twitter @orchid_group or Facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/Orchidpubsanddining. 

Contact: Katherine Sparkes, +44(0)1179739019, E - [email protected]

SOURCE The Orchid Group

Modal title

    Contact Cision

  • Cision Distribution 888-776-0942
    from 8 AM - 9 PM ET

  • Chat with an Expert
    • General Inquiries
    • Request a Demo
    • Editorial Bureaus
    • Partnerships
    • Media Inquiries
    • Worldwide Offices

    Products

  • Cision Communication Cloud®
  • For Marketers
  • For Public Relations
  • For IR & Compliance
  • For Agency
  • For Small Business
  • All Products

    About

  • About PR Newswire
  • About Cision
  • Become a Publishing Partner
  • Become a Channel Partner
  • Careers
  • COVID-19 Resources
  • Accessibility Statement

    • Asia
    • Brazil
    • Canada
    • Czech
    • Denmark
    • Finland
    • France
    • Germany
    • India
    • Israel
    • Italy
    • Mexico
    • Middle East
    • Netherlands
    • Norway
    • Poland
    • Portugal
    • Russia
    • Slovakia
    • Spain
    • Sweden
    • United Kingdom

    My Services

  • All New Releases
  • Online Member Center
  • ProfNet

Contact Cision


Products


About


My Services
  • All News Releases
  • Online Member Center
  • ProfNet℠
Cision Distribution Helpline
888-776-0942
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Information Security Policy
  • Site Map
  • RSS
  • Cookie Settings
Copyright © 2021 Cision US Inc.