Enhancing staffing and talent for new hotel and restaurant openings

「Specifically, we will formulate and embed our own new personnel system centered on a multi-track career-path program that does not limit advancement to uniform promotion into management positions and instead evaluates outstanding expertise in fields such as cuisine and service as an independent criterion, enhanced training and education systems suited to each career path, compensation at the highest level in the industry, and expanded support programs for employees seeking independence. In addition, we will use HRMT STAGE, scheduled to open in February 2026, as a talent-development hub where young talent can learn directly from chefs active on the front lines.」

「Rather than adhering to uniform promotion into management positions, we will formulate and embed our own new personnel system centered on a multifaceted career-path program that treats outstanding expertise in areas such as cuisine and service as an independent evaluation criterion, enhanced training and education systems tailored to each career path, industry-leading compensation and expanded support programs to encourage independence.」

「We implemented a base-pay increase for all employees as a strategic investment in talent.」

「In terms of earnings, operating losses were lower than planned due to the effect of higher revenue, but losses increased year on year because of the impact of higher personnel expenses resulting from workforce expansion carried out since the previous fiscal year.」

「Regarding “workforce sufficiency,” we welcomed 88 new employees and strengthened our onboarding structure, including by expanding talent-development programs, as part of efforts to prevent early attrition. We are also proceeding with recruitment of new graduates for the following fiscal year.」

「We will make investment in talent a priority by treating the development of a sufficient workforce through recruitment, development and retention as our most important issue in creating corporate value.」

「For restaurant operations, we will reinvest in our locations, talent and marketing, refine our cuisine and service, and fundamentally improve the value of the customer experience.」

「To improve customer satisfaction after resuming restaurant operations, we made effective use of the temporary closure period by connecting locations nationwide online and conducting company-wide training that could only be carried out during this period, including leadership training and staff education. We continue to strengthen our talent base to maximize the business value of our group as a whole.」

「In addition, to secure personnel, we have entered into contracts with multiple recruitment agencies for the mid-career hiring of highly skilled talent and are working to secure personnel reliably.」

「Taking these factors into account and looking ahead to the planned openings in Kyoto and Karuizawa, we are strengthening our marketing and sales structure by hiring multiple people with experience in the hotel industry and seeking improvements through changes to our online sales initiatives.」

「In terms of earnings, in addition to the decline in gross profit due to lower revenue and the resulting increase in non-regular employment as we secured personnel to address labor shortages, costs increased because we made proactive expenditures on capital investment and talent development associated with advancing the hotel business. As a result, operating income and ordinary income fell below the same period of the previous year.」

「Our group has established a new training framework to develop executive employees, including chefs and general managers, as well as craftsmen in various fields, and is strengthening talent development.」

「株式会社ひらまつ総合研究所 is responsible for talent development essential to the growth of our group, based at Restaurant Hiramatsu Hiroo. It has produced chefs, general managers, maîtres d’hôtel and other personnel at equivalent levels, and this talent-development framework has played a major role in recent hotel openings. Going forward, with the support of 株式会社ひらまつ総合研究所, we will use this restaurant as a new talent-development hub for the Kansai region and areas west of it, while developing Japanese cuisine and service for further business expansion.」

「Capital expenditures associated with advancing the hotel business and higher personnel expenses resulting from workforce expansion」

「In addition to the decline in gross profit due to lower revenue, operating income and ordinary income fell below the same period of the previous year because we made proactive expenditures on preparations for the opening of THE HIRAMATSU HOTELS & RESORTS Ginoza, which opened on 14 July 2018, as well as branding and talent development.」

「In addition, we provide regular training at restaurants under partner brands and conduct study visits to restaurants in Japan and overseas, focusing primarily on future executive employees. Through these initiatives, we keep abreast of developments at the world’s leading restaurants and apply them to our own restaurant operations.」

「As we shifted toward intensifying proactive investment for future growth, including preparations for the new hotels already announced, Okinawa (scheduled to open in July 2018), Kyoto (winter 2019), Karuizawa (spring 2020) and Nasu (summer 2020), advertising and promotional activities to strengthen brand equity, and the strengthening and development of talent, profit margins declined from the same period of the previous year.」

「Capital expenditures associated with advancing the hotel business and higher personnel expenses resulting from workforce expansion」

「Our group has established a new training framework to develop executive employees, including chefs and general managers, as well as craftsmen in various fields, and is strengthening talent development. In addition to ensuring sufficient talent for new businesses, we will use this framework to strengthen each location in our existing businesses.」

「On the cost side, profit margins declined and profit decreased year on year due to higher raw material costs, increased staffing in preparation for the future expansion of the hotel and restaurant businesses, the burden of opening costs for new locations, and the recognition of extraordinary losses, including a payment for the founder's services.」

「During the second quarter of the current consolidated fiscal period, we established a new talent-development system centered on Restaurant Hiramatsu (Hiroo) as part of the “Talent Development” framework under the medium-term management plan, “Hiramatsu’s New Challenge,” formulated at the end of the previous fiscal year.」

「We strengthened both the quality and number of employees for the hotels and restaurants scheduled to fully open from the second quarter onward.」