Investing to fight for independent hospitality businesses

Regency Purchasing Group is launching another recruitment drive to expand its nationwide network to help fight for the future of hospitality businesses.

Regency was formed with the aim of supporting and empowering independent, family-owned and multi-site operators, giving them the chance to enhance margins and compete with the larger chains and national brands.

Today, Regency supports some 10,000 members, including some of the UK’s leading sport, leisure and hospitality venues, but the commitment to support businesses of all sizes remains – and is vitally important for the survival of the sector.

Last year Regency created an additional 11 jobs and is now looking to take on a further 10 people to support a rapidly-growing member base.

Founder Alex Demetriou, who is also now CEO of Foodbuy UK&I, said: “We’re investing in our teams as a way of investing in our members’ businesses, increasing the level of support we offer.

“The new team members are mostly field-based procurement experts, backed up by office-based support and customer service staff; it’s vital that we’ve got the capacity to meet the demands of our members when they need us.

“Between July 2024 and June 2025, we welcomed more than 4,000 new members, all looking for ways to mitigate rising operating costs, so we are making sure that we can continue to support these businesses by further investing in our own team.”

He added: “Back in April, we saw the rise in employer national Insurance contributions and minimum wage, with continued increases in the price of utilities and charges from suppliers, it’s been an extremely challenging time for many hospitality businesses.

“We typically help our members save between £15,000 and £30,000; that may not be the deal-breaker in terms of whether or not a businesses can continue to be viable, but it does make the difference between whether or not the owners have to let some of their staff go or whether they can continue to work in our brilliant industry.”

While its own expansion, and need to create further jobs, is positive news for Regency, the purchasing group is determined to continue to champion the cause of the smaller, independent, businesses.

He said: “The genesis of Regency was for the support of the independent market, having started with our own estate which was a group of 15, we now support thousands of independent operators across the UK.

“After more than 20 years, we remain as dedicated and steadfast in supporting the independent sector as we have ever been. Our appetite for this is as strong as ever, and we are not stopping.

“This is a lifetime ambition, and we are going to continue to do everything we can to support and protect the hospitality industry.”

Alex began his own journey in hospitality cooking fish and chips on the seafront in Weston-super-Mare and, in addition to his work with Regency Purchasing Group and Foodbuy, he remains a director of the Old Thatched Cottage, the first restaurant his grandparents bought 66 years ago in the resort, as well as the town’s famous Grand Pier.