The hospitality business and restaurants have had a hard time of it during the pandemic.
Hit with loss of revenue and lockdown, followed by chronic staff shortages and an imminent rise in VAT to 20 per cent from the temporary 12.5 per cent, few areas have been hit harder.
The tribulations in the sector make a quote from a famous chef seem very appropriate.
“If anything is good for pounding humility into you permanently, it’s the restaurant business” – that quote came from late leading American chef Anthony Bourdain, reminding us to stay humble and treat every day as an opportunity to learn something new.
A recent survey shows the UK restaurant market is set to recover to 94 per cent of its 2019 value in 2022.
Restaurants look set to continue to grow their businesses, with the top 10 branded restaurants predicted to surge ahead of the 2019 figures.
That means extra work and many restaurants have heeded that famous quote. Learning lessons from the pandemic means they are acting with humility and can treat every day as an opportunity to learn something new.
This means embracing a new normal. In many cases, this means customising and adapting to maintain consumer choice, even with reduced menu sizes, while still offering the best service available.
Figures show:
- Chain restaurant menus had an average of 64 dishes in 2021, a decline of 20 per cent compared to 2019.
- Operators are retaining simplified and reduced menus to mitigate challenges around staff shortages and supply chain disruption.
- The greater customisation has allowed operators to continue to offer personalisation and wide choice, despite running reduced menus.
Adapting to changed circumstances in this way is also an opportunity for accountants and their partners to give added support to their clients, not just in the hospitality sector of the economy, but right across industry, as the recovery gathers pace.
To continue the food theme, accountants can offer a comprehensive menu of advice on new strategies that will help their clients deal with the post-COVID-19 challenges, like the imminent arrival of Making Tax Digital for VAT.
They can advise and help them to integrate the new cloud-based technology that will have to be used for filing tax returns.
These new strategic advisory roles can also help accountants not only attract top-quality employees, but open up a career path for existing staff, who wish to progress within their company.
Again, that can be facilitated by outsourcing to experts like GI, who can not only take some of the everyday compliance tasks on board, but act in a similar way to how accountants are now advising their clients.
This again would involve GI’s marketing operation and IT experts planning strategically with accountant clients. This would involve discussing how the future integration of software can be achieved, and identifying the most appropriate apps that will suit them and in turn their clients.
They can assist with the purchase, implementation and tailoring of technology and deliver ongoing training. This allows accountants to focus fully on the long term health of their clients. A win-win situation for all concerned.
Contact our UK-based team of account managers today to find out how we can help your firm.
