After the recent announcements on restaurant floats and takeovers, it’s now the turn of hotels, catering and pubs, including the sale reported today of Amber Taverns. Mitchells & Butlers/Orchid Pub Company M&B is apparently nearing the acquisition of Orchid, having outbid competitors and entered exclusive talks to buy 180 of Orchid’s 220 pubs at a price suggested … [Read more...]
Archives for May 2014
Investec Food & Drink Entrepreneur of the Year announced
The search is now on for Britain’s first-ever Investec Food & Drink Entrepreneur of the Year 2014, seeking top food and drink entrepreneurs from the nation whose food is now the envy of the world. The Awards are partnered by Business is GREAT/The GREAT Britain Campaign which showcases the very best of what Britain has to offer. Small or large, producer or … [Read more...]
Amber Taverns sold to MxP Partners for £80 million
Legal & General Capital (“LGC”) has sold Amber Taverns, the operator of 95 community pubs in the North of England, to funds managed by MxP Partners LLP and their associates. MxP Partners, a founding shareholder of the business, has backed the existing management team, led by Clive Preston, James Baer and Bryan Wardman, valuing the Company in a transaction worth … [Read more...]
Everyone’s a winner with Great Hotels of the World
Great Hotels of the World, the London-based hotel sales and marketing alliance, has announced a year-long prize draw for its Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events (MICE) clients. Over the next year, Great Hotels of the World will be offering the chance to win four breaks. Each will be for two people including flights, transfers, a meal and a three-night stay in some … [Read more...]
Travelodge opens in Chertsey
Travelodge has opened its first hotel in Chertsey. The new 73-room hotel represents a £6 million investment, bringing the Company’s portfolio to 17 hotels in Surrey and 514 in total. This opening also marks the first branded value hotel opening in Chertsey and has created 13 new jobs within the community. Chertsey Travelodge is centrally located on Guildford Street and is … [Read more...]
Cooking up a challenge in NHS Scotland
The skills and imagination of hospital catering teams across Scotland are to be tested in a new competition to develop the best Scottish-themed patient meals. Recognising the hard work and dedication of catering staff across NHS Scotland, judges will be looking for healthy meals, using fresh local ingredients, which can be made and delivered in hospitals. Local health … [Read more...]
The Belmont Hotel in Llandudno on the market
Leisure property specialists Fleurets have been instructed by the Royal Blind Society (RBSoc) to market the long leasehold interest of the Belmont Hotel in Llandudno. Eileen Harding, the charity’s CEO, said of the announcement, “This was an extremely hard decision to make. Everyone at RBSoc understands that the hotel is a special place for many of our guests. The staff at the … [Read more...]
Holiday Inn portfolio for sale – and attracting early interest
A portfolio of 21 Holiday Inn hotels is up for sale, with specialist property adviser Christie + Co already experiencing great interest. The hotels stretch from Washington, Tyne & Wear to Portsmouth in the south — and many points between (full list below). Offers in excess of £70 million are sought for the whole group, although offers for small groups or individual … [Read more...]
New Director of Sales and Marketing at Grosvenor House
Grosvenor House has appointed James Wharton as Director of Sales & Marketing with immediate effect. With 13 years of experience in Australia and Asia, James will lead the Sales and Marketing team at the 494 bedroom Grosvenor House on Park Lane and drive sales strategy across all market segments. Stuart Bowery says, “James has a strong global lens that will support and … [Read more...]
‘Gluten-Free’ growing strongly in UK
Writing in the Technomic blog, Darren Ristano comments that at UK chain and independent pubs and restaurants tracked in Technomic’s Menu Monitor database, the number of dishes described as “gluten-free” has increased by more than 22% in the year from Q1 2013 to Q1 2014. Gluten-free continues to increase within manufactured foods, too. For example, Tesco now stocks many Udi … [Read more...]
Poor service and dirty table and glassware are ‘top restaurant turn offs’
Restaurants are losing out on income and customers by a combination of poor service and not cleaning and polishing their glasses, cutlery and crockery properly, a new study has found**. Over half of the 2,000 consumers surveyed by Miele Professional (52%) stated that dirty glassware was their ‘top restaurant turn off’, and a further third (32%) said that if they were to … [Read more...]
BrewDog’s worldwide expansion continues in Sweden
Scotland’s largest independent brewery, Brewdog has opened BrewDog Gothenburg, its second craft beer bar in Sweden and 17th worldwide. Situated at Kungsgatan 10, 411 19 Gothenburg, the new bar is BrewDog’s fourth bar launch of 2014, following openings in São Paulo, Tokyo and Sheffield. The brewery opened its first Swedish bar in Stockholm last May. BrewDog Gothenburg has … [Read more...]
Carlsberg UK launches ‘Crafted’ Portfolio of craft and speciality beers
Responding to year on year growth in craft beer sales, Carlsberg UK has launched a portfolio of craft and speciality beers under the ‘Crafted’ name to help Free Trade customers expand their beer offer. Portfolio of 28 beers The portfolio of 28 beers has been sourced across Carlsberg UK’s third party partners and the Carlsberg Group global portfolio. It includes beers from … [Read more...]
Accor purchases 97 hotels in Europe
Accor has announced that its HotelInvest business has agreed to purchase two real estate portfolios. Representing 86 and 11 hotels respectively (12,838 rooms) for a total consideration of about €900 Million. “These transactions send a strong signal of our capability to rapidly implement the strategy of restructuring the HotelInvest portfolio,” said Sébastien Bazin, Chairman … [Read more...]
Adande buoyed by results of customer satisfaction survey
Adande® has been buoyed by the results of a customer satisfaction survey into the performance of its patented refrigerated drawer systems. The company canvassed the opinions of customers who had been using Adande® refrigerated drawers for over a year. A representative cross section of end users in the food service sector were interviewed, including operators in fine dining, … [Read more...]