Brasserie Blanc opens second hotel restaurant

Raymond Blanc has opened a second hotel restaurant under his Brasserie Blanc brand.

The French-style group has launched at the Manchester Airport Marriott Hotel. It comes a year after the brand made its hotel debut at the Marriott Bournemouth Highcliff in 2017.

Hotel groups are increasingly turning to established chains to handle their food and beverage operations, while restaurants are using the partnerships as a means to expand amid rising rents and rates on the high street.

Carluccio’s has opened in three Marriott hotels since 2016, while both Jamie’s Italian and Aubaine have launched in Hilton sites over the past four years.

The new Manchester Brasserie Blanc is open seven days a week and serves a breakfast buffet from 6.30am, as well as lunch, dinner and a full children’s menu.

Mark Derry, CEO of Brasserie Blanc’s parent company Brasserie Bar Co, told BigHospitality last year that hotels were a “great fit” for the group going forward amid tough trading conditions.

"The landlords, on the whole in places like shopping centres, are more avaricious and more difficult to deal with and there are more and more restaurants going into those things as retail moves off the high street and onto the internet, so you must have a property strategy that differentiates you from other people if you’re going to make progress,” said Derry.

Brasserie Bar Co, which also includes the White Brasserie gastropub group, saw turnover rise 14% to £46.8m in the year to July 2017.