Friday Five: the week's top news

By Sophie Witts

- Last updated on GMT

Friday Five: the week's top news
We round-up the top hospitality stories you might have missed this week

- Chef Tommy Banks and his family have confirmed plans to open a restaurant in York​. The team, who run the Michelin-starred Black Swan at Oldstead, will launch Roots this autumn. 

- The Polpo group has announced the closure of its Spuntino restaurant​ in Bristol. It comes four months after the company shut its sister Polpo site in the city, as well as a pub in London and restaurant in Exeter. The group says it is focusing on plans to expand Spuntino in to airports going forward.

- Tom Kerridge has been keeping busy as always - the chef has launched an outside catering and events business​ in partnership with Brand Events. Lush by The Hand and Flowers will see the team at his two Michelin-starred pub of the same name offer bespoke catering for dinner parties, street food festivals and more.

- TGI Friday's is facing the first strike over tipping practices​ in the UK. It comes after the chain proposed redistributing 40% of all waiter's tips received on credit or debit card to back-of-house staff. The Unite union claims TGI's is using the tips to top up wages of kitchen workers instead of giving them a pay rise, something the chain has denied. 

- Craig Johnston, the 2017 MasterChef: The Professionals champion has joined judge Marcus Wareing's restaurant​ ​Marcus at The Berkeley Hotel as senior chef de partie. Johnston was just 21 when he triumphed in the BBC show, making him the youngest winner in its ten-series history. Wareing was left "speechless" when tasting his winning menu in the series finale, which aired in December.

For more of this week's news, click here.

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