Casual Dining Group set for more hotel restaurants

Casual Dining Group (CDG), the owner of brands including Café Rouge and Bella Italia, has signed a deal to further expand in to hotels.

The company, which runs nearly 300 sites, has entered franchise agreements with London Town Group (LTG) to run the food and beverage at two UK properties.

Under the first deal CDG will create a “premium” offering for Hotel Indigo in London Paddington, refurbishing its existing London Street Brasserie restaurant and introducing new staff and menus.

CDG is also set to launch a Bella Italia restaurant at the newly-built Holiday Inn in Wigston, Leicester in June.

It comes after the company signed its first UK franchise deal to open its Belgium-themed Belgo restaurant at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Bloomsbury in 2016.

Other restaurant groups including Carluccio’s, Jamie’s Italian and Aubaine have all opened sites in hotels since 2014.

“We’re a very diverse business with a range of specialist skills that have been honed over decades operating high street restaurants,” says Mark Nelson, managing director of concessions and franchising at CDG.

“Calling on this knowledge, we have taken our key learnings and offered help to adjacent industries like the hotel trade, with putting together a food and beverage offer that absolutely drives sales.”

CDG has also signed separate management contracts to look after operations at both sites.

The company recently launched its Cafe Rouge spin-off delivery brand Stack + Grill focusing on burgers and grilled sandwiches in selected UK locations.