Caravan CEO: Hospitality faces ‘existential crisis’ as chain eyes Northern expansion

Caravan chief executive and co-founder Laura Harper-Hinton said surging operational costs mean that hospitality leaders are “taking a lot less risk” in terms of openings and innovations.

The restaurant group opened its first UK outpost outside of London in Manchester’s St John’s district in the summer of 2024.

“I knew it was going to be a challenging site where we were going to have to be big and bold and brave. But I would not take that risk again today because of the macro environment is so challenging,” said Harper-Hinton.

She said that hospitality operators today are competing to open in a dwindling number of “slam dunk sites” where they “know they can hit the ground running from day one” rather than opening in up-and-coming locations.

“It’s really a shame that that’s the place that we find ourselves, because it means people are taking less risks and being a lot less creative,” she continued. “We always take quite a lot of property risks at Caravan, and we really love doing that, but I’m not feeling that vibe in the current environment.”

Speaking at the NR&B 2026 trade show, Harper-Hinton said Caravan is set to open two more locations, one of which will be “further north” than its Manchester branch.

Harper-Hinton’s concerns about the cost of operating for hospitality businesses were echoed by UKHospitality chief executive Allen Simpson, who said at the trade show that soaring business rates and National Insurance taxes mean “really good businesses are full and still cannot turn a profit”.