Friday Five: the week's top news
- The struggling Byron burger chain has admitted it could need an additional cash injection to stay afloat if it is unable to improve struggling sales. The group, which has closed 17 restaurants this year, warned if conditions didn't improve there was "significant doubt" over its ability to trade as a going concern.
- Burger & Lobster is launching a spin-off concept that will combine elements of its original brand with its more informal Smack Lobster format. Shack by Burger & Lobster will open in London's Camden in September and will be inspired by the restaurants of New England.
- The owner of Hakkasan Group is still in talks to sell the restaurant and nightclub operator after a $1bn merger with SBE Entertainment group fell through this year. Bloomberg reports the company, which runs three Michelin-starred London restaurants, has attracted interest from Spanish nighclub operator Pacha Group and investment firm Certares.
- Construction has begun on transforming the former US embassy site in London in to the capital's second Rosewood hotel. The £1bn project will feature five restaurants and 137 rooms when it opens in 2023.
- A former restaurant owner has been fined £1,200 for putting a boy's life at risk by serving him a dessert containing nuts. It comes after a four-year-old spent eight hours in hospital after being served an ice cream with a hazelnut wafer at Seasons Restaurant in Eastbourne. The business is now under new management.
For more of this week's news, click here.
