NoHo Partners is commencing new co-operation negotiations and will provide further information on how restrictions on restaurants will impact its business

NoHo Partners Plc

STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 29 September 2020 at 21:05

NoHo Partners is commencing new co-operation negotiations and will provide further information on how restrictions on restaurants will impact its business

NoHo Partners Plc is commencing negotiations in accordance with the Act on Co-operation within Undertakings in order to adapt its Finnish operations to the strict restrictions on the restaurant industry put in place by the Finnish Government. The purpose of the negotiations is to minimise the financial impacts caused by COVID-19 and to adjust the Group’s costs to match the decline in volume due to restaurant restrictions.

The co-operation negotiations concern all of the Group’s employees, totalling approximately 1,300 employees in Finland. The restrictions on restaurants also indirectly impact the approximately 2,000 people working for the Group as leased staff.

The negotiations will commence on 5 October 2020, and they are estimated to last six weeks. The negotiations may cause changes in the organisational structure, part-time or full-time temporary layoffs, changing full-time employment relationships to part-time ones or terminations. Possible terminations as part of the negotiations concern primarily administrative tasks at different levels of the organisation.

Previously, NoHo Partners announced that it had prepared for three different scenarios concerning the development of its operations during the exceptional situation. Since early June, the company’s business has operated according to its basic scenario in which sales are approximately 70–85 per cent of the previous year’s level. Due to the restrictions on restaurants put in place by the Finnish Government, the Group estimates it will transition to conducting its business according to the low scenario, in which sales are at approximately 50–70 per cent of the previous year’s level.

CEO Aku Vikström:

“Today, the Finnish Government issued a decision that restaurants must stop serving at midnight nationwide. In areas where the pandemic is in the acceleration phase serving must stop at 10 p.m. These Government restrictions will have a considerable impact on our restaurant operations, and we are forced to begin immediate adjustment measures, which concern up to thousands of jobs.

It is clear that we will have to learn to live with this virus still for some time because no one can say how long the pandemic will continue. In light of recent public discussion regarding social responsibility, what I ask of the Finnish Government is transparency and decision-making based diverse perspectives as we try to strike a balance between protecting people’s health, the economy and jobs. If the terminations are implemented, the worst case scenario is that the restrictions will cause unemployment and exclusion for tens of thousands of people in the industry. In Denmark and Norway, where we also operate, restrictions on restaurants have been strict but, at the same time, the governments have continuously supported restaurant business, which has had a considerable impact on the employment situation in the industry.”

On 13 March 2020, NoHo Partners announced it was starting co-operation negotiations regarding fixed-term layoffs. On 15 May 2020, the Group announced the start of negotiations to extend those layoffs.

More information available from:
Aku Vikström, CEO, NoHo Partners Plc, tel. +358 44 011 1989
Jarno Suominen, Deputy CEO, NoHo Partners Plc, tel. +358 40 721 5655

Distribution:
Nasdaq Helsinki
Major media
www.noho.fi

NoHo Partners Plc is a Finnish group established in 1996, specialising in restaurant services. The company, which was listed on NASDAQ Helsinki in 2013 and became the first Finnish listed restaurant company, has continued to grow strongly throughout its history. The Group companies include some 250 restaurants in Finland, Denmark and Norway. The well-known restaurant concepts of the company include Elite, Savoy, Teatteri, Yes Yes Yes, Stefan’s Steakhouse, Palace, Löyly, Hanko Sushi, Friends & Brgrs and Cock’s & Cows. In 2019, NoHo Partners Plc’s turnover was MEUR 272.8 and EBIT MEUR 30.6. Depending on the season, the Group employs approximately 2,100 people converted into full-time workers.

NoHo Partners corporate website: www.noho.fi/en
NoHo Partners consumer website:www.ravintola.fi/en