UK restaurants · The 2026 cost squeeze

Busy every night. Losing money every month. Which one are you?

Food inflation is forecast to reach at least 9% this year. Wages rose again in April. Energy charges jumped with the grid change. On a 3–6% net margin, those three lines decide survival — and most owners find out at month-end, when it's already spent. Run the free 60-second triage on rough figures and see your 2026 position printed in black and white.

Run the free margin triage
≥9%FDF full-year 2026 food inflation forecast
£12.71/hrNational Living Wage from April 2026 (+4.1%)
3–6%Typical net margin, UK full-service restaurants

The 60-second margin triage

Monthly figures, roughly right is fine. Nothing is stored until you choose to unlock the full read-out.

Stress assumptions: food +9% (FDF 2026 forecast), labour +4.1% (NLW April 2026), energy +15% (illustrative, April 2026 grid changes). Benchmarks shown are indicative sector bands, not targets.

MYPROFIT TRIAGE
The Food Economist · Margin Desk

Enter your figures and the read-out prints here — set out like the till receipt your margin actually lives on.

Where this sits

Between the software you won't set up and the consultant you won't pay £2,000 for.

Costing software

~£129/month, per site
  • Powerful — once every invoice and recipe is loaded
  • Weeks of setup and ongoing admin
  • Tells you the numbers; doesn't tell you what to do

MyProfit written diagnostic

£95 + VAT fixed · 48 hours · from rough data
  • Send what you have — bank app screenshots, supplier invoices, a scribbled summary
  • A written verdict: where the margin is leaking, in £ per month
  • The three changes to make first, and what each is worth

On-site consultant

£75–£350/hour · ~£2,000 typical project
  • Excellent for full turnarounds
  • Needs site visits, meetings, weeks of engagement
  • Ten times the price of a written diagnosis
Engagements

Two ways to stop guessing

Tier 1 · Written triage

48-Hour Profit Triage Report

£95 + VAT
  • Send rough monthly figures — any format, no software, no call
  • Written report inside 48 hours: your true margin position
  • Where the leak is biggest, in £ per month
  • Your 2026 squeeze projection on real assumptions
  • The first three fixes, ranked by what each is worth
  • Credited in full against the Diagnostic within 30 days
Commission the Triage — £95 + VAT

£95 + VAT is the paid first step, not a cut-down consultancy fee. It is credited in full against the £395 + VAT Diagnostic within 30 days.

Reviewed by the Food & Trade Economist. Written economic analysis, not software output.

Delivered within 48 hours of receiving your figures

Tier 2 · Full engagement

Menu & Margin Diagnostic

£395 + VAT fixed fee
  • Everything in the Triage, plus your menu costed line by line
  • Dish-level margin map from your supplier invoices
  • Price pass-through plan: what to raise, by how much, and what to leave
  • Portion, waste and supplier negotiation points, costed
  • 12-month margin forecast under the 2026 cost assumptions
  • Written, board-and-bank-ready; 30 minutes of written Q&A after delivery
Commission the Diagnostic — £395 + VAT Prefer to talk it through? Book a prepared call

Built from your figures, supplier lines and menu structure. No software, supplier or broker commission is taken.

Delivered within 7 working days of receiving your data

Prepared call booking

A sharper conversation because the numbers are read first

MyProfit stays written-first. If a call will help, send the facts before booking; the analyst reviews the pressure points and uses the 15-minute call to talk through the decision, not to collect basics.

How the call works

The best result is still the written triage or diagnostic. The call is there when you want the prepared analysis talked through.

  1. Send the restaurant context and what you need decided.
  2. Choose one available 15-minute UK-time slot.
  3. You receive an email confirmation with a calendar file.
  4. If paid work is needed, checkout stays through the VAT-enabled Stripe links already shown above.

Book a prepared MyProfit call

Choose a UK-time slot

Proof of work

See what the £95 + VAT report actually looks for before you buy.

Redacted sample report

The sample shows the exact structure of the 48-hour triage: margin position, 2026 stress view, leak ranking, and first three actions costed in pounds.

  • Prime-cost pressure shown as food plus labour, not just headline profit.
  • Standstill price-rise estimate so the owner sees the real gap.
  • Three ranked fixes, each tied to monthly cash impact.
View the redacted sample

What the report is designed to reveal

Until live client case studies exist, the honest proof is the analysis method and the visible sample. These are the pressure points the written report tests.

  • Supplier lines rising faster than menu prices.
  • Labour-heavy shifts that look busy but erase margin.
  • Delivery/platform sales that grow revenue while weakening net result.
  • One or two menu items carrying a hidden monthly leak.

No invented testimonials are used. Named client outcomes should only be added after real reports have been delivered and permission is recorded.

For advisers, suppliers & finance teams

Your restaurant clients are in the squeeze. Hand them a lifeline with your name on it.

Refer a client and earn £50 per paid Diagnostic — or white-label the report under your own letterhead at a trade rate. Everything is handled in writing; your client relationship stays yours.

Use the sample report as the opener: send it to restaurant clients who are busy but cash-tight, then refer the ones who need a written margin check before the next cost rise lands.

Enquire as a partner

A dedicated partner page can be added after the EPR-first test path is complete.

Method & analyst

Food economics, applied to one restaurant at a time: yours

Every diagnosis starts from your actual figures — takings, supplier invoices, wage bills — however rough. The analysis is the same discipline used to model statutory costs for food manufacturers: cost incidence, margin mapping, scenario stress-testing against the 2026 inflation and wage assumptions, and price pass-through that protects covers rather than scaring them off.

This desk sells no software subscription, no EPOS, no supplier contracts, and takes no commissions from anyone it might recommend. The only product is a written, independent answer.

Everything is handled in writing. No site visits, no sales calls — unless you ask.

Godfred Frimpong
Food & Trade Economist

I apply the same cost discipline used to model statutory costs for food manufacturers to one restaurant at a time: yours. The goal is a clear written answer on where your margin leaks and what to fix first — not jargon, not software you'll never set up.

  • MSc Food Economics & Marketing, University of Reading
  • 30+ years in financial management and cost analysis
  • Specialist in restaurant margin and statutory cost modelling
  • Independent — no software, scheme or supplier affiliations
Questions

Asked before commissioning

My books are a mess. Can you still help?

Yes — that's the normal case, not the exception. Bank app screenshots, a folder of supplier invoices and your till summary are enough for the Triage. Part of the job is turning a mess into figures you can act on.

Is this a filing or records service?

No. This is independent economic analysis of your costs and margins. It works alongside your existing advisers — the report is written so you can hand it straight to them, or to your bank.

How is £95 + VAT enough to be serious?

Because it's a written triage, not a turnaround project. It finds the leak and prices the fixes. If your situation needs the deeper menu-level work, the £95 + VAT is credited in full against the £395 + VAT Diagnostic — so the triage costs nothing if you proceed.

Will you try to sell me software or suppliers?

No. The desk is independent by design: no subscriptions, no affiliate commissions, no supplier deals. If software would genuinely help you, the report says so and names neutral options — that's all.

Prefer to start with a question?

Everything is handled in writing. Send a message and you will get a written reply, usually within one working day.

Email the desk    WhatsApp (written)