Friday Five: the week's top news

By Sophie Witts

- Last updated on GMT

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

- Gordon Ramsay is to close his London restaurant Maze​ and relaunch the site as a new concept in 2019. The decision was confirmed as the chef's wider restaurant group reported pre-tax losses of £3.8m in the 12 months to 31 August 2017. Maze opened in 2005 and lost its Michelin star in 2015 after nine years.

- Carluccio's is the latest high street chain to propose launching a company voluntary agreement (CVA)​, which could see a third of its 103 restaurants close. It follows a strategic review of the business which concluded that "urgent action" was needed to save the brand.

- Jamie Oliver has dropped of the Sunday Times Rich List​ for the first time in eight years following a turbulent few months for his restaurant business. The chef, whose net worth was estimated at £150m in the 2017 list, has closed 12 of his 37 Jamie's Italian sites since January.

- A survey of more than 600 London restaurant operators has found that over three quarters say they will have to close or leave the capital​ if rents and business rates continue to rise at the current rate. Over 80% polled described their current costs as "high" or "unsustainable" and just 16% said they could continue trading as normal if rents and rates continued to rise.

- The future of Gaucho's CAU steak and burger brand remains in doubt after the group appointed KPMG to consider its options. M Restaurants founder Martin Williams, a former Gaucho MD, has indicated he could make another bid to buy CAU​ after he approached its owner Equistone Partners in late-2017.

For more of this week's news click here.

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