Companies That You Expect to Disappear Soon

[Snow1964]

It seems another railway supplier, Solo Rail Solutions, that had Derby as a customer has issued notice of intention to appoint Administrators

A railway equipment supplier in Birmingham is facing an uncertain future, TheBusinessDesk.com understands.

Solo Rail Solutions, which has its headquarters in Nechells but also has a base in Saltley, has posted a notice of intention to appoint administrators via law firm The Wilkes Partnership. The move will protect Solo Rail Solutions from creditor action for a period of ten days while the company tries to find a way forward.

Solo Rail Solutions manufacturers and assembles interiors, seating, doors and ancillary products for trains. The firm was established in 1992 and one of its main customers has been Bombardier, which was bought by Alstom. The future of Alstom Derby plant is currently unclear after work dried up at the factory.

According to its latest available accounts, made up to 30 June 2022, Solo employ 92 people and has assets of just over £4.9m.

Earlier this month, Solo told Companies House it was extending the filing of its June 2023 annual results to include trading up to the end of last year.

Rail firm heading for the sidings as administrators alerted | TheBusinessDesk.com

The company has posted a notice of intention to appoint administrators as rail supply chain's struggles continue

www.thebusinessdesk.com

 

[johntea]

Aziz Tayub has seemingly now retired from running Poundstretcher and flogged the business to Fortress (a US investment firm), new operations team seems to consist of a few ex Morrisons management staff

Will be interesting to see if they can make a go of actually sorting the business out and making it a serious competitor in the (now extremely crowded!) discount retailer sector

Can Fortress unlock the potential within Poundstretcher?

After a 'choppy' few years of restructuring, store closures, and multiple CEOs, can Majestic Wine owner Fortress steady the Poundstretcher ship?

www.thegrocer.co.uk

After a ‘choppy’ few years of restructuring, store closures, and multiple CEOs, can Majestic Wine owner Fortress steady the Poundstretcher ship?

Fortress, the US investment firm that turned around Majestic Wine and was outbid for Morrisons by Clayton Dubilier & Rice, has a new challenge on its hands, having last week acquired Poundstretcher.

Out goes Poundstretcher owner Aziz Tayub, into retirement, having controlled the chain since 2008. In comes former Morrisons group commercial director Andy Atkinson as Poundstretcher CEO, while former Morrisons operating and finance chief Trevor Strain will join the board in a non-executive capacity once the transaction completes.

Tristan Phillips, who was appointed Poundstretcher CEO last year, will resume his former role as chief financial officer.

So what is in store for the new management? And for Poundstretcher and its staff?

 

[DelW]

Aziz Tayub has seemingly now retired from running Poundstretcher and flogged the business to Fortress (a US investment firm), new operations team seems to consist of a few ex Morrisons management staff

Assuming it's the same company, Fortress at one time owned the Florida East Coast railway. That was sold to new owners, but Fortress appears still to own Brightline, the only private high speed passenger railway in the USA, which operates between Miami and Orlando. That runs on new or upgraded tracks, partly along the FEC route.

 

[Iskra]

Premier Inn owner Whitbread to cut 1,500 jobs

The company plans to sell or close more than 200 restaurants and expand its hotel business.

www.bbc.co.uk

Premier Inn owner Whitbread is to cut 1,500 jobs as it closes restaurants and expands its hotel business.
It plans to cut its number of branded restaurants by more than 200 in favour of building more hotel rooms.
The job cuts, which are subject to consultation, will come from a total UK workforce of 37,000 employees.
The group's restaurant brands including Brewers Fayre and Beefeater.

It plans to sell 126 of its less profitable restaurants, with 21 sales already having been agreed.
It will also close 112 restaurants and convert the space into new hotel rooms.
A spokesperson said that teams were being told about the cuts on Tuesday, and Whitbread would not say at this stage which restaurants are closing or which brands will be affected.
Its catering brands also include Bar+Block, Thyme, Cookhouse+Pub, Table Table and Whitbread Inns.
Whitbread said the changes would add more than 3,500 hotel rooms across its estate.
Dominic Paul, Whitbread chief executive, said: "We recognise that our transition will impact some of our team members so we will be providing support throughout this process and we are committed to working hard to enable as many as possible of those affected to remain with us."
Whitbread said it would try to find "alternative opportunities" for affected staff "wherever possible" through new jobs created by its plans and through existing recruitment.
The cuts come after Whitbread's pre-tax profit rose 21% to £452m for the year to 29 February.
It said the 112 branded restaurants it plans to turn into hotel rooms made a loss of £19m in the year, while the 126 restaurants it is selling made a loss of £9m.
They were hit by fewer visits from non-hotel guests, Whitbread said.
The cuts will leave it with 196 branded restaurants, and 387 restaurants that are unbranded and part of the hotel.
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said that Whitbread's food and drinks business "is struggling so far this year, with sales 2% behind last year".

I wonder if we will see some of their brands disappear altogether? It does seem a little odd though, as one of the positive reasons for choosing Premier Inn over a competitor, is that even if it's in the middle of nowhere you know you can always get a reasonable meal and a decent breakfast. It's also a bit odd with the amount of profit that they made, that they are laying people off.

 

[Mojo]

Premier Inn owner Whitbread to cut 1,500 jobs

The company plans to sell or close more than 200 restaurants and expand its hotel business.

www.bbc.co.uk

I wonder if we will see some of their brands disappear altogether? It does seem a little odd though, as one of the positive reasons for choosing Premier Inn over a competitor, is that even if it's in the middle of nowhere you know you can always get a reasonable meal and a decent breakfast. It's also a bit odd with the amount of profit that they made, that they are laying people off.

There are some Premier Inns that don’t have a restaraunt or pub adjacent but which serve breakfast.

There’s a Beefeater and conjoined Premier Inn near my house but the Beefeater closed down a few months ago allegedly to convert into extra Premier Inn rooms. Despite local pubs being busy and a number of new eating establishments opening up on our High Street, the Beefeater was never very busy. The Premier Inn is one of the most expensive I’ve known that isn’t in central London, with rooms always being in excess of £120, even over a year in advance.

 

[Iskra]

There are some Premier Inns that don’t have a restaraunt or pub adjacent but which serve breakfast.

There’s a Beefeater and conjoined Premier Inn near my house but the Beefeater closed down a few months ago allegedly to convert into extra Premier Inn rooms. Despite local pubs being busy and a number of new eating establishments opening up on our High Street, the Beefeater was never very busy. The Premier Inn is one of the most expensive I’ve known that isn’t in central London, with rooms always being in excess of £120, even over a year in advance.

That's a good point.

That's interesting, where is that Premier Inn? I think Beefeater is a bit of a dying brand to be honest.

 

[D6130]

That's a good point.

That's interesting, where is that Premier Inn? I think Beefeater is a bit of a dying brand to be honest.

Yep....they're not too popular with the ever-increasing number of vegetarians and vegans. Perhaps they should be re-branded as 'Tofueater'?

 

[Iskra]

Yep....they're not too popular with the ever-increasing number of vegetarians and vegans. Perhaps they should be re-branded as 'Tofueater'?

Well last time I went (not my choice of eatery...) it was all just stuff you could cook at home for half the price and probably better quality.

On a personal note, I am doing a vegetarian week myself currently.

 

[cactustwirly]

The quality of food from Brewers Fayre is ridiculous, it's microwave food with gastro prices.

I am not surprised in the slightest, there is a lot of competition from Greene King, Mitchell's and Butlers and Stonegate offer a better product

 

[WolvertonWorks]

Clinton Cards may disappear by what I am lead to believe, https://www.theguardian.com/busines...o-close-a-fifth-of-stores-to-avoid-going-bust Clintons has gone into receivership a number of times, and the fact that other shops sell cards such as Card Warehouse etc for a fraction of the price its no surprise either, my guess is one day the finance houses will have had enough and the company will totally fold.

Walked through the central Milton Keynes shopping building last week and Clinton Cards had shut - it was still open very recently and no "closing down sale" visible at that time, it seems to have closed very suddenly.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I think Beefeater is a bit of a dying brand to be honest.

A bit more variety on their menu would help...

...and I don't mean the "stuff other than beef" joke either, before anyone replies with an adaption of the Two Ronnies "The Complete Rook" sketch...

 

[D6130]

The quality of food from Brewers Fayre is ridiculous, it's microwave food with gastro prices.

I am not surprised in the slightest, there is a lot of competition from Greene King, Mitchell's and Butlers and Stonegate offer a better product

It's much cheaper to employ a microwave operator than a cook....let alone a chef! (see the Wetherspoons thread).

 

[renegademaster]

The quality of food from Brewers Fayre is ridiculous, it's microwave food with gastro prices.

I am not surprised in the slightest, there is a lot of competition from Greene King, Mitchell's and Butlers and Stonegate offer a better product

Harvester and Brewers Fayre are basically the same restaurant, and Miller and Carter is just harvester with nicer decor and less kids

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Miller and Carter is just harvester with nicer decor and less kids

...and rather higher prices as well!!

 

[skyhigh]

There are some Premier Inns that don’t have a restaraunt or pub adjacent but which serve breakfast.

Which are a bit rubbish in my experience. I stayed at one recently that had an unbranded restaurant included mainly to serve breakfast. In the rooms were evening menus, there were no restaurants within walking distance and the prices were reasonable so went down to get something to eat and was told that the restaurant was "full". There were 2 tables occupied. The menu suggested that they'd deliver to the room but apparently the kitchen was at capacity so they weren't offering that service. We gave up and drove out to get something elsewhere. When we came back later there were still only 2 (different) tables occupied.

Either the restaurant was massively understaffed or they just didn't want custom. No wonder the food sales are down if that's how they treat the service.

 

[Andyh82]

Premier Inn owner Whitbread to cut 1,500 jobs

The company plans to sell or close more than 200 restaurants and expand its hotel business.

www.bbc.co.uk

I wonder if we will see some of their brands disappear altogether? It does seem a little odd though, as one of the positive reasons for choosing Premier Inn over a competitor, is that even if it's in the middle of nowhere you know you can always get a reasonable meal and a decent breakfast. It's also a bit odd with the amount of profit that they made, that they are laying people off.

Two key questions are

Are there any Whitbread restaurants that aren’t adjacent to a Premier Inn

And are there any Premier Inns that don’t have an on site or adjacent restaurant (either Whitbread or a third party) and hence don’t serve Breakfast?

 

[RuddA]

Walked through the central Milton Keynes shopping building last week and Clinton Cards had shut - it was still open very recently and no "closing down sale" visible at that time, it seems to have closed very suddenly.

Still have two in Norwich. Looks like they are moving to a slightly smaller unit in Chantry Place shopping centre, just a few metres away from their existing unit.

 

[75A]

There are some Premier Inns that don’t have a restaraunt or pub adjacent but which serve breakfast.

There’s a Beefeater and conjoined Premier Inn near my house but the Beefeater closed down a few months ago allegedly to convert into extra Premier Inn rooms. Despite local pubs being busy and a number of new eating establishments opening up on our High Street, the Beefeater was never very busy. The Premier Inn is one of the most expensive I’ve known that isn’t in central London, with rooms always being in excess of £120, even over a year in advance.

The Wife and I have just had the misfortune to stay 4 nights in a Premier Inn in Kettering.
The Hotel was ok although had the usual people parking in the Disabled Area without displaying a Blue Badge as requested.
The Restaurant on the other hand - Telford Lodge - Brewers Fayre, was something else.
Our Hotel booking included Breakfast so we had 4 visits, more of which later.
On our first night (Thursday) we had our Evening Meal there and I have to say I was impressed, the Steak in the Mixed Grill was exceptionally good, surprised to see that it was Cash Only though, fortunately they accepted Northern Irish notes.
On Friday & Saturday the event we were officiating at Santa Pod finished after 8pm so we had a meal on site.
Sunday was a washout and we were back in the Hotel by 2pm, so booked our Evening Meal for 16:30, looking forward to the advertised Carvery.
The lady that greeted us at the door explained how the Carvery worked and after she'd shown us to our table I joined the lengthy queue at the bar to order our meal/drinks. After around 5 minutes waiting the chap behind the bar announced in a loud voice that there was no more Carvery. Lots of moans & groans as people trudged back to their tables explaining the situation and taking revised orders.
Yesterday morning we go in for Breakfast and straightaway are told that there's no Chef hence no hot food, even though we'd paid for it.
So wouldn't recommend the Telford Lodge to anyone, our problem is we've got two more visits to the Hotel for a further seven nights.







































.

 

[Jimini]

The Wife and I have just had the misfortune to stay 4 nights in a Premier Inn in Kettering.


.

Fixed that for you

 

[75A]

Took me a while to work that one out!
Previously we'd stay in Wellingborough so Kettering's an improvement.

 

[jon0844]

Two key questions are

Are there any Whitbread restaurants that aren’t adjacent to a Premier Inn

And are there any Premier Inns that don’t have an on site or adjacent restaurant (either Whitbread or a third party) and hence don’t serve Breakfast?

Years ago we stayed at a Premier Inn to go to Peppa Pig world and it was apparently the only one that was joined to a restaurant owned and run by another company. It was terrible and hotel staff worked hard to point out it wasn't Whitbread.

I must admit that on many trips staying at a Premier Inn, because you know what you're getting, I've enjoyed the breakfast and even sometimes a meal in the evening - especially with their (again some years ago now) fixed price deal that got you both breakfast and a three course meal WITH an alcoholic beverage.

I don't know if they still do that, but it was actually a very good deal and from memory there were few items not included in the menu, so you weren't limited to a pathetic cut down menu and just one drink choice.

 

[cactustwirly]

I must admit that on many trips staying at a Premier Inn, because you know what you're getting, I've enjoyed the breakfast and even sometimes a meal in the evening - especially with their (again some years ago now) fixed price deal that got you both breakfast and a three course meal WITH an alcoholic beverage.

Do you?

Their hotels are very variable in quality and actually quite expensive. Some are quite run down and no better than a Travelodge.

Personally I prefer to stay in a Ibis or Holiday Inn Express.

 

[jon0844]

Do you?

Their hotels are very variable in quality and actually quite expensive. Some are quite run down and no better than a Travelodge.

Personally I prefer to stay in a Ibis or Holiday Inn Express.

I've never had a bad experience and people I know who have got refunds. For many years we've had family rooms that are often in a different part of the hotel or floor and therefore quiet (yes you might hear kids in the evening but not stag and hen parties stomping back at 4am).

I accept that post Covid and due to inflation etc, the experience may well have dropped. I haven't used Premier Inn more than twice in the last two years.

 

[75A]

Do you?

Their hotels are very variable in quality and actually quite expensive. Some are quite run down and no better than a Travelodge.

Personally I prefer to stay in a Ibis or Holiday Inn Express.

Always use the Holiday Inn Express in Northampton for Silverstone.

 

[johntea]

I suspect it may be down to how the pandemic has changed business travel quite significantly, previously they would have had many business people staying over who would probably have a meal at the hotel (and then claim it back on expenses of course!), now they just do their meetings over Zoom or whatever else, then you've got the likes of Deliveroo which a lot of people use these days as they can just get their favourite restaurant meals delivered to the hotel

 

[bspahh]

Do you?

Their hotels are very variable in quality and actually quite expensive. Some are quite run down and no better than a Travelodge.

Personally I prefer to stay in a Ibis or Holiday Inn Express.

I would always check some reviews, rather than trusting a brand name for a hotel. Personally, I don't care too much about the catering in a hotel, or a worn carpet, but I do about mould, damp and poor cleanliness. Any hotel can have noisy guests, but its good to see how the hotel handles it. Hotels that are rowdy on a Saturday night might be peaceful on a Sunday.

 

[Iskra]

I’ve stayed in a lot of Premier Inns as I used to work for Whitbread. I’d say 95% are good/at standard, which I’d say is a better % than my experiences at similar chains.

 

[GoneSouth]

Yep....they're not too popular with the ever-increasing number of vegetarians and vegans. Perhaps they should be re-branded as 'Tofueater'?

Don’t think I’d be visiting if they do this

As many have said, premier inns are popular because you know what you’re going to get, clean, comfortable, good value no frills room with an option for a decent breakfast. I’ve always used them over Travellodge because TL’s breakfast is usually terrible. If the attached pubs go and breakfast/evening meal option isn’t available at Prem Inns anymore I’ll be going elsewhere.

 

[Trackman]

I think Beefeater is a bit of a dying brand to be honest.

Beefeater were Berni Inns, Whitbread bought them out. 50 years ago it was like going to a 3 star Michelin restaurant!
Looking back, it was poor. There's more on internet if you want to read up.

 

[Statto]

I’ve stayed in a lot of Premier Inns as I used to work for Whitbread. I’d say 95% are good/at standard, which I’d say is a better % than my experiences at similar chains.

I stayed in a Premier Inn for a couple of nights when i went to the NFL game in London a couple of years ago, the hotel wasn't too bad, it was out by Heathrow (Cranford to be exact) but the hotel was soundproofed, & comfortable, i booked the room as it was only £28 a night for 2 nights (£60 all together with 48 hour wifi) so that wasn't bad either, there was a McDonalds (yes i know but i do like their breakfasts) & KFC nearby, glad i booked for the 2 nights rather than 1 night, as that was a long day at the NFL.