Casual Dining

Best Western achieves highest sales growth following ad campaign

10-Aug-2010 By Becky Paskin

Best Western hotels has achieved its highest ever sales increase following the group’s first TV advertising campaign

Cantina Laredo to expand across 35 UK restaurants

10-Aug-2010 By Becky Paskin

Cantina Laredo, the US-based upmarket Mexican restaurant chain, has opened its first restaurant in Europe, in the St Martin’s Courtyard development in London’s Covent Garden, and stated that it intends to open a total of 35 sites across the UK and Ireland

Ask the Experts: How do I choose the right suppliers?

09-Aug-2010 By NULL

BigHospitality puts one reader’s question about choosing suppliers to David Read, chief executive of Prestige Purchasing

Food prices to soar following Russian wheat ban

06-Aug-2010 By Becky Paskin

Food prices are set to soar in the UK after Russian Prime Minister Valdimir Putin yesterday banned the exportation of wheat following a severe drought

Penn Street Taverns markets four pub sites

06-Aug-2010 By Becky Paskin

Birmingham-based pub group Penn Street Taverns is marketing four of its 15 freehold pubs in the West Midlands, for £95k to £155k

Semi-finalists named for Sud de France Sommelier competition

05-Aug-2010 By Becky Paskin

Wine brand Sud de France has announced the 10 sommeliers through to the semi-finals of its annual competition

Pizza-pasta chain Vapiano takes second UK site

05-Aug-2010 By Mark Stretton

Vapiano, the fast-casual pizza-pasta chain from Germany, has secured its second UK outlet at London’s Bankside development

Public sector cuts will hurt but not stop the hotel recovery, say experts

05-Aug-2010 By Chris Druce

Heavy cuts to the UK’s public sector this autumn will slow rather than kill-off the hotel recovery, according to new research

Park Plaza buys Leeds and Nottingham hotels

04-Aug-2010 By Chris Druce

Park Plaza Hotels has purchased Park Plaza Leeds and Park Plaza Nottingham in a multi-million pound deal

Restaurants urged to help fund Pakistan flood relief effort

04-Aug-2010 By Becky Paskin

Action Against Hunger has launched an emergency response to help the 2.5m people affected by severe flooding in Pakistan, and is asking British restaurateurs and diners for their help

Fire closes Rainer Becker's Roka restaurant

04-Aug-2010 By Chris Druce

A fire has closed Rainer Becker’s original Roka restaurant in London’s Charlotte Street, with the Soho venue not due to reopen for at least a month

Yates's operator Town & City 'delighted' with performance

04-Aug-2010 By Mark Stretton

Town & City Pub Company, the owner of Yates’s, saw its sales grow by almost 10 per cent in the year to 28 February 2010

Harvest Pale named Camra Beer of Britain

04-Aug-2010 By Becky Paskin

Camra has announced Castle Rock brewery’s Harvest Pale as the Champion Beer of Britain at the British Beer Festival at Earls Court

Orient-Express Hotels receives millions in damages

04-Aug-2010 By Chris Druce

Orient-Express Hotels has received more than £3m in damages from the owners of the former Cipriani restaurant in London’s Mayfair, according to its latest results

Marston's sees improved performance from its pubs

04-Aug-2010 By Mark Stretton

Pub company Marston’s Taverns has seen improved trading at its pubs, although it remains cautious about consumer spending in the coming months

Pub and bar rent reviews slow during economic downturn

03-Aug-2010 By Gemma McKenna

The economic downturn has meant a slowdown in the number of rent reviews being carried out, according to property agent Fleurets

David Miliband launches campaign to save British pubs

02-Aug-2010 By Becky Paskin

Labour leadership hopeful David Miliband hopes to give tenants the choice to opt out of the beer tie and reinstate a pubs minister under a new campaign to save the British pub

World Cup boosts beer sales but supermarkets benefit more than pubs

30-Jul-2010 By Chris Druce

Good weather and the World Cup boosted beer sales in the three months to June, but supermarkets rather than pubs were the main beneficiaries

Cross-country cooking with El Pirata de Tapas and medieval menus with Peckforton Castle

30-Jul-2010 By Becky Paskin & Joe Lutrario

Restaurants, hotels and pubs, including El Pirate de Tapas and Peckforton Castle, tell us about the extra activities they're planning to make their businesses more appealing

How to turn a single outlet into a chain: Top ten tips

30-Jul-2010 By Becky Paskin

We asked a selection of experts and operators for their top tips on how to turn a single restaurant, pub or hotel into a chain of two or more sites.

How to turn a single outlet into a chain: Design

29-Jul-2010 By Becky Paskin

Most people rarely get things spot on first time around, and setting up a restaurant, pub or hotel business is no exception. But if you don’t get the design and branding on your second or even third site perfect, you’re in trouble of damaging your business.

TGI Friday's UK bought out in £30m-plus deal

29-Jul-2010 By Chris Druce

Carlson, the US-based hotel and restaurant chain, has acquired the remaining 60 per cent stake in TGI Friday’s in the UK for $50m (£31.96m)

Eating out market set to reach £40.5bn this year

29-Jul-2010 By Martyn Leek

A new report from Allegra Strategies suggests that the UK informal eating-out market will grow by 1 per cent to reach £40.5bn by the end of the year, despite growth being pegged back by recession

Herpes outbreak devastates Kent oysters

29-Jul-2010 By Joe Lutrario

An outbreak of herpes has devastated Pacific oyster stocks off the Kent coast at Whitstable and Faversham

Edinburgh's Chop Chop restaurant to grow to 12 sites

29-Jul-2010 By Joe Lutrario

Edinburgh-based Chinese restaurant Chop Chop has announced plans to grow to 12 sites over the next three years

Four Seasons Hotel near London's Baker Street for sale

28-Jul-2010 By Chris Druce

The Four Seasons Hotel near Baker Street in London has been placed on the market for £9m

How to turn a single outlet into a chain: Property

27-Jul-2010 By Chris Druce

If you have funding in place to grow your single restaurant, pub or hotel into a chain, the current economic uncertainty presents an opportunity to gain a foothold in the property market and start along the road to building your empire.

How to turn a single outlet into a chain: Finance

26-Jul-2010 By Chris Druce

With many a bank notoriously reluctant to lend to the hospitality sector in the past, how do you pay for expansion and who is likely to lend and help you build your restaurant, pub or hotel empire?

Pearls of Wisdom: Rufus Hall

23-Jul-2010 By Becky Paskin

The chief executive of Orchid Group, the biggest start-up the pub industry has seen, saw his company fall into and subsequently emerge from administration to become the largest food-led pub operator in the R200 list

Moshi Moshi puts flagship site up for sale

22-Jul-2010 By Hamish Smith

Moshi Moshi, Britain’s first sushi conveyor belt operator has put its flagship London restaurant Soseki up for sale

World Cup boosts trade for Enterprise Inns

20-Jul-2010 By Martyn Leek

The World Cup and recent spate of good weather has given a boost to trade at Enterprise Inns (ETI), the leased and tenanted pub operator revealed this morning

Food Standards Agency survives government cull

20-Jul-2010 By Becky Paskin

Following speculation last week that the Food Standards Agency would be axed, the government has today announced the industry body will continue running, but without its responsibilities for nutrition and labelling

Faucet Inn buys 20th pub

19-Jul-2010 By Gemma McKenna

Faucet Inn Pub Company has purchased its 20th venue, Battersea gastropub the Prince of Wales

Two hospitalised after Hilton Glasgow ‘norovirus’ outbreak

19-Jul-2010 By Becky Paskin

Almost 40 people have fallen ill after a suspected outbreak of the norovirus at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow

Clapham House sees profits soar 50 per cent

19-Jul-2010 By Becky Paskin

Gourmet Burger Kitchen operator Clapham House Group has reported a 50 per cent increase in profits, although it expects trading to remain ‘challenging’ for the rest of the year

London hotels on track for double digit growth

16-Jul-2010 By Hamish Smith

London Hotels are on track to achieve double-digit growth for 2010, while the regional sector recorded modest results for the first two quarters

Starwood Capital’s Louvre Hotels to sell 18 UK properties

16-Jul-2010 By Hamish Smith

Starwood Capital’s Louvre Hotels is to sell its group of 18 UK hotels for £70m, which comprises of 17 Campanile sites and one Première Classe property

Drake & Morgan secures fourth London site

15-Jul-2010 By Mark Stretton

Drake & Morgan, the London bar-restaurant operator, is to open a fourth venue named The Folly in October

Travelodge acquires 52 hotels from Mitchells & Butlers

15-Jul-2010 By Becky Paskin

Travelodge has acquired 52 budget hotels from restaurant and pub operator Mitchells & Butlers for £91m, boosting its estate to 452 UK properties

American restaurant chain Denny’s eyes UK market

15-Jul-2010 By Martyn Leek

Denny’s, the American-based fast-casual dining chain, is to become the latest US import to the UK restaurant sector

How to run a multi-site restaurant business post-recession

14-Jul-2010 By Becky Paskin

A selection of R200 members and industry experts, including Jo Barnes from Sauce Communications and Steven Pike from the Mystery Dining Company, give their advice on running a multi-site operation post-recession

JD Wetherspoons unveils sales growth

14-Jul-2010 By Martyn Leek

Pub group JD Wetherspoon (JDW) has unveiled recent sales growth and has reported that the performance of its latest openings have been ‘encouraging’.

Half of hotels mislead guests with eco-friendly claims

12-Jul-2010 By Becky Paskin

Over half of accommodation providers are misleading guests by using ambiguous terms to relate to green policies that aren’t in place

Pub insolvencies fall by a third

12-Jul-2010 By Martyn Leek

The number of pub companies collapsing into insolvency dropped by a third in the second quarter of this year, according to a new study by PricewaterhouseCoopers

Ask the Experts: How should my business handle the next VAT rise?

12-Jul-2010 By NULL

BigHospitality puts one reader's question about how his business can handle the expected rise in VAT next year to 20 per cent to Martin Couchman, deputy chief executive of the British Hospitality Association

Greene King picks up former Whitbread site

09-Jul-2010 By Chris Druce

Whitbread has sold a former Brewers Fayre in Nottinghamshire to pub operator Greene King, as it concentrates on co-located Premier Inn and pub/restaurant locations

Chefs behind British Larder purchase Cherry Tree pub in Suffolk

09-Jul-2010 By Chris Druce

The chefs behind food website The British Larder have bought a Suffolk pub, securing a physical home for their recipe heavy site

Social media both a threat and an opportunity for hotel operators

08-Jul-2010 By Chris Druce

The growth of social media is making it harder than ever to achieve a consistent brand message, according to a new report by advisory firm Deloitte

Bruce Bar acquires eighth pub in Hackney

07-Jul-2010 By Becky Paskin

Bruce Bar, the multiple pub operator run by Michael Nicholas, has acquired the Pub on the Park in Hackney as its eighth venue

Southwold Pier owner scraps hotel plans and sells up

06-Jul-2010 By Becky Paskin

After announcing plans last week to build a £5m hotel on Southwold Pier, owner and restaurateur Stephen Bournes has decided to sell the Suffolk attraction after failing to secure development funds