Gary Neville gets green light for restaurant

Former Manchester United footballer Gary Neville could be about to follow fellow England stars Ashley Cole and Steven Gerrard into the hospitality industry after getting the green light to build a restaurant on the site of a former social club in Lancashire.

Signature Developments, the company owned by the footballer and his father Neville Neville, was granted planning permission by Salford City Council last week to demolish Folly Lane Social Club in the town of Swinton and replace it with a 4,000 sq ft two-storey 100-cover restaurant.

The company had been forced to re-submit amended plans for the restaurant after residents expressed concern about increased traffic and disruption in the area.

Signature Developments dropped the number of covers by 75 and increased the number of parking spaces to 17 for the second application, which was granted permission on 18 August.

No other plans for the restaurant, which will open from noon to 11pm Monday to Saturday and to 10pm on Sundays and Bank Holiday, have yet been revealed.

Footballers turned restaurateurs

Neville, who retired from professional football in February of this year, will follow fellow footballers Ashley Cole and Steven Gerrard into the restaurant arena.

Gerrard went into business with Southport hotelier Paul Adams last year to open the Warehouse Kitchen & Bar in Southport while last month BigHospitality wrote about Cole's plans to open a restaurant in London with rapper Jay-Z.

The restaurant will be an extension of Jay-Z's luxury sports lounge bar and restaurant chain 40/40 which he owns with business partner Juan Perez in the US.