More eateries but staff elusive and big fast food names stay away

Sunday, 2 September 2018

Canterbury's hospitality industry is one of the fastest growing in New Zealand, but its eateries and bars are struggling for staff.

The latest Restaurant Association of New Zealand's hospitality report shows Canterbury had the second highest growth rate for new hospitality outlets but the lowest rise in employee numbers. 

The number of Canterbury hospitality outlets grew by 5.1 per cent to 2166 during 2017. This was made up of 339 businesses opening, offset by 243 closures.

Numbers for 2018 are not in the report, but Christchurch has seen regular new openings of premises this year, plus quite a few closures.

The number of Cantabrians employed in the industry increased by 400 to 16,100 from 2016 to 2017, growth of 2.5 per cent which was the lowest in the country. The report said Canterbury business owners found it 'extremely challenging' to fill job vacancies. 

Hospitality investor Max Bremner, whose ventures include Fat Eddies and The Bog, said the proliferation of new places in the city had made it hard to get staff.

'It puts pressure on quality staff, and that pushes up the wage costs, because you want to keep your good staff.'

Bremner said Christchurch was currently seen as a boring place to live for many hospitality workers in their mid-20s. 

Getting quality staff was not as hard at the moment, but only because some outlets had shut down or run into financial trouble, Bremner said. 

He said more and more outlets opening, the chances of success were less, with those who were inexperienced generally struggling more. 

Finding hospitality staff was not a challenge unique to Canterbury, according to the report, which singled out a lack of skilled employees as the national industry's top challenge.

It noted there were concerns about proposed legislation changes, 'particularly the prospect that Government will clamp down on employers' ability to access overseas labour'.

Canterbury hospitality sales for the year end March 2018 reached nearly $1428 million, an increase of 1.5 per cent on the year before. The earnings were below the national average increase of 3.6 per cent, which was driven by strong growth in the North Island and Otago. 

While restaurants and bars are keen on central Christchurch, large fast food chains such as McDonald's and Burger King are still keeping away.

Before the earthquakes, McDonald's, Burger King and KFC shared the block of Colombo St between Hereford and Cashel streets, but none have returned to the central core after the quakes.

McDonald's spokesman Simon Kenny said current foot traffic and 'other considerations' meant a restaurant in the CBD was not commercially viable, but McDonald's 'regularly review the area with a view to the right time to re-open'.

Kenny said they were building four suburban restaurants in Woolston, Yaldhurst, Marshland and Ravenswood, while expanding their Rolleston restaurant  - a total investment of $20m. 

A Burger King spokesman said the company's strategy was to invest in standalone drive-through restaurants as it 'provides the best returns'. He said the nature of sites in the CBD was  not conducive to a drive-through restaurant so 'by default' Burger King had not developed in these areas.

Nationally in the year to the end of March, Kiwis spent more than $11 billion at cafes, restaurants, bars, pubs, clubs, takeaway outlets, and on catering services – a rise of 3.6 per cent.

That was well below the 9.7 per cent and 8.5 growth reported over the two previous years.

Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois said cafes and restaurants continue to be the 'rock stars' of the sector, accounting for half of spending. 

She believed increasing tourism would help bolster hospitality incomes if the economy faltered.