The business, which operates restaurant brands including Bill’s and The Ivy Collection, had written to suppliers on 3 June saying that it would be applying a 2.5% discount on supplier accounts at point of payment.
Signed by Jeremy Evans, the company’s head of indirect and beverage procurement, the letter, seen by Restaurant, said the move was “to ensure our businesses can remain strong” and was “in response to the current increased cost of trading”.
“We are asking all of our supplier partners to work with us as we support each other through this difficult period,” it added.
Speaking to the Times, Caring said that the letter should not have been written in the manner that it was and that it was “incorrect”.
“I had not seen it and certainly had not approved it,” he said. “I want to apologise to our suppliers for the letter, which is totally incorrect.”
“I want to make it clear that at no time would we put this into operation without the full agreement of each supplier and at no time should we have suggested a mandatory positioning.”
The apology comes as Caring looks to sell a significant portion of his UK hospitality empire. The restaurateur is understood to be in advanced talks with an entity controlled by the Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan in a deal worth around £1bn.