Record sales, new store openings and a new sporting ambassador - Laura Trott - for healthy food to go brand pod. The 22-strong London-based group has reported its best ever financial results for 2015 with revenue increasing to £17.3m, a L4L revenue increase of 9.1%, while Corporate EBITDA has almost doubled to £631k for the year. This positive performance has continued into … [Read more...]
Archives for May 2016
Students win 17 medals at Wessex Salon Culinaire competition
Eastleigh College recently sent seven Hospitality and Catering students to the annual Wessex Salon Culinaire Competition hosted at Central Bedfordshire College in Dunstable, picking up a staggering 17 awards. The Wessex Salon Culinaire is one of the UK’s largest live culinary competitions, and is held in association with The Craft Guild of Chefs and World Skills UK. The … [Read more...]
New Chef Cooking Up a Feast of Ideas
Gateshead Council has appointed its very own MasterChef to help take its school meals to the next level. After working with some of the top restauranteurs in the region, professional chef Marek Blonski has joined Gateshead’s School Catering Service as it’s first-ever Development Chef to help put a bit of pep and panache into Gateshead’s school meals. He will be … [Read more...]
Birmingham’s international visitors pass the million mark
Birmingham achieved a record-breaking one million international visits last year. This is more than ever before, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The research highlights that the city is the fourth most visited place in the UK by global guests with an increase of 163,000 visitors (17.3%), up on the figure for 2014 (944,000). For … [Read more...]
New tasting experience at Hotel Café Royal’s dessert restaurant
A new tasting experience will be launched in Hotel Café Royal’s dessert restaurant, with sweet plates designed by Executive Pastry Chef, Sarah Barber, and savoury bites created by Chef de Cuisine, Armand Sablon. The dessert restaurant, which first opened in March 2016, is situated in The Café of the iconic Regent Street hotel, and Sarah Barber’s contemporary and playful … [Read more...]
The Arch London appoints Tugend Demir as Restaurant Manager
Tugend Demir has been appointed Restaurant Manager of the five-star boutique hotel, The Arch London in Marylebone. In his new role, Tugend will oversee the running of Hunter 486 restaurant, plus all other F&B operations within the hotel including in-room dining, afternoon tea and private functions. Tugend brings to The Arch London vast experience from working in some … [Read more...]
Smashburger announces five UK openings over the next 12 months
Smashburger, one of the US’s fastest growing restaurant concepts, has announced the acquisition of a further five UK sites following the launch of the very first Smashburger restaurant at the Kingston Centre retail park in Milton Keynes this May. The UK franchised company has now acquired further locations in Brighton, Newcastle, Glasgow, Bath and Wednesbury. First to … [Read more...]
Carve – Redefining the Carvery with Fast, Casual, Cashless Dining
Euphorium Bakery founder, Daniel Bear and hospitality finance director Atif Amin (Chilango, Hakkasan, Ping Pong), will launch their first fast casual and cashless modern carvery concept on Tooley Street, London this summer. The unique licensed carvery will serve high-protein meals in the form of ‘carvepots’, from breakfast through to dinner. Impeccably sourced fish, meat and … [Read more...]
Theo Randall to host exclusive Keynote at Commercial Kitchen 2016
Award winning chef and restaurateur Theo Randall will be sharing insights into his favourite kitchen designs and equipment at next month’s Commercial Kitchen trade show, taking place on 7-8 June at the NEC Birmingham. Randall, a regular guest chef on the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen, recently celebrated the tenth anniversary of the opening of his eponymous Italian restaurant ‘Theo … [Read more...]
Meet the Butcher at 1269 Restaurant, Bar & Grill
Local livestock and whisky specialists 1269 Restaurant, Bar & Grill will launch a new epicurean experience this month: Meet The Butcher. The latest in culinary cool, award-winning executive Head Chef, Dean Crews will provide a private preparation and hands-on tutorial demonstrating his ingredient selection, unique butcher-style and authentic fire-based cooking … [Read more...]
Recipe of the Week from Great Italian Chefs by Viviana Varese
'Pop' – marinated mackerel with leek, potato and katsuobushi broth. Viviana Varese infuses fantastic flavour into her Italian starter recipe by creating a smoked mackerel oil from the charred bones, which is used to season the finished dish and create the delicate white shards on top. Katsuobushi is the Japanese term for bonito flakes, dried and fermented tuna which adds a … [Read more...]
Best Western celebrates best ever TripAdvisor scores
Best Western Great Britain is celebrating almost half of the brand’s properties having received Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence awards, including all the new soft branded BW Premier Collection hotels for 4 star properties and above. Rob Payne, CEO of Best Western Great Britain said: “Over the last three years Best Western’s hotels in Great Britain have collectively … [Read more...]
Amadeus retail team break records at Genting Arena concert
Amadeus have exceeded the £140k till revenue target by 14% at Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds concert, held at the Genting Arena on Friday, 29th April. The final figures for the night totalled £159,664 making it a record breaking evening. The figure is even more impressive given that at 7pm the team had only reached £30k, meaning that when the bar closed a little over 3 … [Read more...]
Feefo Welcomes Barclays Feedback Economy Report
In a recent report from Barclays, it has been suggested that improvements to customer feedback management can boost hospitality revenue by £3.2 billion. Businesses should be putting structures in place to manage reviews, as they become part of a long term strategy to improve business operations. The Barclays Feedback Economy report polled 2,000 consumers, finding that the … [Read more...]
A revamp for West Dulwich beer garden
The garden at south London pub The Rosendale has seen a recent renovation in time for the spring bank holiday. The handsome West Dulwich pub is one of seven sites owned by Three Cheers Pub Co, which was set up in 2003 by childhood friends Tom Peake, Mark Reynolds and Nick Fox. Beer Garden Co.’s Ross Clarke, who worked on the extensive renovation of the beer garden at … [Read more...]