SSP (Upper Crust) cuts jobs - effect on station catering?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From Sky News

Coronavirus: Upper Crust owner SSP to announce 5,000 UK^▸ (United Kingdom) job cuts

The redundancies to be announced on Wednesday equate to more than half of SSP’s UK workforce, Sky News learns.

A high proportion of station catering is run by SSP ... many of us have used / been using the Bite card which (I think) is purely their promotion, if that helps some readers identify which outlets may be effected.  Gonna be hard to keep them all open and trading the same hours with 5,000 less staff.

[IndustryInsider]

A high proportion of station catering is run by SSP

Indeed, easily the majority I would say.  As well as Upper Crust, they operate many other station outlets including Caffe Ritazza, Burger King, Starbucks, YO! Sushu, and (surprisingly to some) M&S Simply Food halls.  Not to mention the RG (formerley Rail Gourmet) on board catering that some GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) trains have.

[ray951]

And they run catering outlets at Airports as well.

So my guess would be that these people are being made redundent now because the furlough scheme will probably end before these stores can re-open and they dont want to keep paying some or all of the wages while they have no or little income.

And if these stores reopen this year or next year then they will readvertise the jobs.

[didcotdean]

Also from next month they start to become liable for an increasing proportion of the furlough costs. They would start the redundancy process sometime in advance of that as a properly run exercise takes some weeks.

[grahame]

From the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers)

RMT slams major UK^▸ (United Kingdom) rail caterers for pressing ahead with station outlet redundancies after soaking up taxpayer furlough cash

RAIL ‎UNION RMT today demanded that rail catering company SSP - owners of Upper Crust, Rail Gourmet, Burger King rail outlets and a range of other well-known brands - pulls back from the brink and stops pressing ahead with redundancies of station outlet staff under the guise of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company has chosen to not open the overwhelming majority of outlets and are keeping units closed based on the unsubstantiated view that there is little or no demand for them to open. The decision to keep the units closed was taken prior to any increase in passenger numbers or easing of restrictions.

The company has indicated they may open some units up in time but have refused to guarantee offering redundant staff their jobs back, a position that RMT finds outrageous.

RMT has put forward counter proposals to the company and not even received the courtesy of a response.

This decision has been taken in spite of the fact that the company is awash with money after soaking up taxpayer furlough cash. RMT says the scandal yet again exposes the brutal, profit-driven ‎nature of outsourcing on the railway and reinforces the call for work to be brought in-house.

RMT research shows that in 2018 & 2019, SSP Group made a total profit of £416m, profit from UK operations was £191m, and it paid out a total of £346m in dividends to shareholders.
The numbers show that the company was making and stockpiling huge money pre-covid but has now chosen to throw its workers under the bus rather than providing job security at a time of national crisis, highlighting again the scandal of privatisation on the railways.

RMT has also pointed out that SSP furloughed a large proportion of its staff, drawing funds from the joint HM Treasury and Bank of England Covid Corporate Financing Facility and got rent payment holiday for outlets at Network Rail managed stations – soaking up substantial public funds and benefits and yet still ploughing ahead with redundancies to keep company shareholders happy.

What catering demand would you (forum members) expect there to be at stations in a month, and in a year?

The view presented above is written by the RMT, no view in the article from the SSP Group. Do you think they are right to be closing many outlets for [some period longer period] and perhaps taking on fresh staff when they do so, or is there some or a lot of opportunism being taken here?  I'm trying not to express any view but get a flavour of what members think.   May be an interesting poll?

[GBM]

I anticipate certain members now going on the Union attack road 

[Sixty3Closure]

I was at Paddington last week and most of the food outlets were closed which surprised me - mainly as I was quite hungry. Ended up with something from a 2/3rds closed Prett.

I expected some to be open but with reduced staff/counter space etc. I'd imagine if they're closed people will get use to them being closed and stop using them.

[TaplowGreen]

Probably worth the Union reflecting that whatever the rights and wrongs of SSP's decision had it not been for the Government Furlough scheme, SSP would simply have made them all redundant months ago, so at least those staff have had 6 months pay that they otherwise wouldn't have received.

I fear they will not be the only ones in this position over the next few months.

[Bmblbzzz]

I was at Paddington last week and most of the food outlets were closed which surprised me - mainly as I was quite hungry. Ended up with something from a 2/3rds closed Prett.

I expected some to be open but with reduced staff/counter space etc. I'd imagine if they're closed people will get use to them being closed and stop using them.

I'd imagine that with the recent Greencore coronavirus outbreak, people might become wary of packaged cold food. (I don't think Greencore supply Pret but they do supply most supermarkets).

Anyway, I guess it's easier to lay staff off now then hire again when/if business picks up than carry on paying the same number and end up going bust.

[eXPassenger]

Probably worth the Union reflecting that whatever the rights and wrongs of SSP's decision had it not been for the Government Furlough scheme, SSP would simply have made them all redundant months ago, so at least those staff have had 6 months pay that they otherwise wouldn't have received.

I fear they will not be the only ones in this position over the next few months.

I also note that 5,000 staff on a 30 hour week at £11 ph amounts to £102M with a 20% uplift for NI, pensions etc.  The RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) state a UK^▸ (United Kingdom) profit of £191 M over 2 years without stating the UK turnover.

They will have calculated that demand for food will be at or below 50% of historic levels for the medium term future and are adjusting their business model accordingly.

[IndustryInsider]

I fear they will not be the only ones in this position over the next few months.

Yes, I see Pret have announced several thousand today, and there will be many more thousands when the furlough scheme ends.  Fair enough that the union should try and back up the workers, but there is very little they can actually do for them.

[didcotdean]

Taking a look at the latest trading statement, SSP Group overall made a loss in the six months up to the end of March of £32.7M after tax, compared with a profit of £39.3M in the same period the year before (the half-year including the summer is normally the more profitable one). They cancelled their interim dividend amongst other measures, such as raising new equity capital. This would only have a few weeks of the European Covid-19 closures factored in.

As to past performance it is the case that the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) profit in 2018 and 2019 financial years was £191M but to be clear this is adding the two years together, not an annual figure made in each year, and is before taxes and finance costs which are not presented at the country / division level.