70%
 

That's the proportion of our 'costs' that are spent on our team.

I've plenty sympathy for businesses managing a fleet of coaches or floors of bedrooms, you will likely look enviously at our overheads. Walking tours tread lightly on laundry and fuel! (Though our Blair Street Underground Vaults certainly sink money into its underground depths...)

However there's no doubt that it's become harder, frankly more expensive, to invest in our team. The NI and Real Living Wage increases have hit Mercat proportionally harder compared to businesses with a lower (and getting lower) headcount. And so the question...

People - cost or investment?

As our Leadership Team heads into our latest strategy planning phase, trying to fathom out the furor and keeping a steady heid, one thing I'll always hold as a North Star.....

People are our product (and also make the best birthday party, a per the pic below)

Mercat is here for good