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Brakes suffers £234m loss as Covid clobbers hospitality market
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By Lyndsey Cambridge2021-04-12T11:38:00+01:00
Hospitality venues will welcome back customers to dine al fresco today, 12 April, observing the rule of six as coronavirus restrictions continue to ease in England
Brakes has seen a surge in orders in the past week as its hospitality customers welcome back al fresco diners from today.
The national foodservice wholesaler said its customers were reporting a strong demand for both advanced bookings and continued takeaway services.
It is also expecting a busy shopping period in towns and cities as non-essential retail reopens, which it said would drive footfall and aid the return of pubs, restaurants and cafés in otherwise quieter-than-usual town centre hubs. A relaxation of the rules on additional dining spaces has also boosted bookings, according to the wholesaler.
By Lyndsey Cambridge2021-02-25T12:27:00+00:00
The contract will see the wholesale rivals delivering millions of testing kits and PPE to schools every week
Wholesale giants Bidfood and Brakes are teaming up again to deliver millions of coronavirus test kits on behalf of the government to senior schools across Great Britain from 8 March, The Grocer can reveal.
It is the second government contract won by the rival businesses during the pandemic, following the completion of the £208m food box scheme which saw 4.7 million parcels of essential goods distributed to the ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ during the first lockdown.
The Grocer understands this latest deal will see the wholesalers deliver 15 million lateral flow kits a week to more than 30,000 senior schools, forming a key part of the government’s strategy to ease lockdown.
James Bielby, CEO, Federation of Wholesale Distributors
“Wholesalers have asked the prime minister for clarity and confidence and he’s partly delivered the first of those. However our members’ experience of previous lockdowns and u-turns means they’ll be cautious about investing ahead of each scheduled opening date. Those who distribute to the hospitality sector can’t afford to foot the bill yet again for government dithering.
“We saw several times last year how short-notice changes disproportionately impact wholesalers, who have to stock up in advance of demand. What we need from government is at least two weeks’ notice if it has to deviate from the roadmap at any stage, or if that’s not possible, a consideration for the cost of the excess stock that will go to waste as a result of the late changes.
AN EMPLOYEE of food distribution company Brakes has been awarded an MBE for services to vulnerable people during the pandemic. Working with the Government, Brakes, in partnership with Bidfood, conceived and launched a service to deliver food boxes directly to those who most needed them in only nine days. Richard James Sercombe, known as Ricky, was integral in ensuring the initial data collected by the company was collated into a meaningful and workable plan, overcoming issues with its accuracy, consistency and timeliness, working round the clock to ensure that deliveries could be made to the shielded vulnerable population. Speaking about receiving his award, he said: “I couldn’t believe it when I got the email and four weeks later it hasn’t truly sunk in.
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