Restaurant Openings

Park Plaza on the River is offering special Diamond Jubilee packages in their five-star suites overlooking the Thames

IDEAS FROM YOUR PEERS

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Special: What's your business doing?

By Luke Nicholls

To celebrate The Queen's Diamond Jubilee next month, BigHospitality has spoken to restaurants, hotels, pubs and bars from across the UK to find out about the Jubilee-themed special offers and promotions they're running to capitalise on the increased...

The Coffer Peach Business Tracker revealed the negative effects of April's wet weather on pub and restaurant sales

Cold and wet April hits pub and restaurant sales

By Luke Nicholls

April proved to be a washout for the eating and drinking-out market as unusually cold and wet weather hit like-for-like sales, according to this month’s Coffer Peach Business Tracker.

UK hotels post 'exceptionally strong' April results

UK hotels post 'exceptionally strong' April results

By Peter Ruddick

Hotels in the UK posted April results that PKF Hotel Consultancy Services described as 'exceptionally strong' with a stronger performance compared with the same month in 2011 when the industry was boosted by the Royal Wedding. 

MWB Groups financial update admits that the hospitality industry remains 'extremely challenging'

‘Challenging’ times for MWB as revenues flatten and RevPAR falls

By Luke Nicholls

Malmaison and Hotel du Vin owner MWB Group has today admitted that trading for the first quarter has been ‘challenging’, with room occupancy and F&B revenues across both brands levelling out, and a ‘slight reduction’ in Malmaison’s revenue per available...

MWB's Bistro du Vin restaurants in Soho and Clerkenwell generated a loss of £330,000 in the 18 months to June 2011

MWB sells Bistro du Vin restaurants

By Luke Nicholls

MWB Group, the company behind Hotel du Vin and Malmaison, has today confirmed the sale of two Bistro du Vin restaurants in London to the owners of the Burger & Lobster brand for £1.2m.

Rossopomodoro will open restaurants in Camden, Hoxton, Wandsworth, Swiss Cottage and Watford over the coming eight months

Rossopomodoro hits Camden, four more UK sites to follow

By Luke Nicholls

Italian restaurant chain Rossopomodoro, which has three venues in London and one in Birmingham, is set to unveil UK site number five in Camden tomorrow, with a further four to follow in the next eight months. 

Michelin-starred chef Alain Roux on life at The Waterside Inn

Alain Roux on three Michelin stars: Things are never for life

By Peter Ruddick

Alain Roux took over as chef patron of Bray's The Waterside Inn in 2002 and as the restaurant nears its fortieth birthday BigHospitality caught up with him to talk about the pressure of holding three Michelin stars and his passion for nurturing talent.

Meliá Hotels predicts strong 2012 performance in UK

Meliá Hotels predicts strong 2012 performance in UK

By Peter Ruddick

Meliá Hotels International has predicted it will experience a 'strong' performance in the UK in the third quarter of the year driven by the Olympics and the opening of ME London as the Spain-based operator reported increased profits and revenue...

Alcohol minimum pricing: Scotland seeks 50p a unit

Alcohol minimum pricing: Scotland seeks 50p a unit

By Peter Ruddick

The Government in Scotland has confirmed it will push for a minimum price per unit of alcohol of 50p if its proposed legislation to introduce minimum pricing north of the border is approved by the Scottish Parliament.

René Redzepi, chef and co-owner of Noma, believes restaurant no-shows are still a 'mega problem' for the industry

René Redzepi reignites restaurant no-shows debate

By Luke Nicholls

Following last month’s restaurant no-shows podcastand follow-up news article,Noma's René Redzepi has told BigHospitality that it is still a ‘mega problem’ for the industry, and that diners should ‘respect a restaurant reservation like a trip to the...

Eighty-nine per cent of diners claim that a slow payment process has 'ruined' their dining experience

Restaurants leave customers playing the waiting game

By Luke Nicholls

More than half of UK diners believe that speed of payment is now a more important issue for a restaurant to address than the quality of food, with 89 per cent claiming that slow payment has ruined their evening.

Cozy Pubs' directors aim to have a total of 12 venues in their portfolio in the next five years

Cozy Pubs continues Essex expansion

By Luke Nicholls

Cozy Pubs has increased its foothold in rural Essex with the acquisition of The Saracens Head Hotel in the market town of Great Dunmow.

Le Cercle Lounge Restaurant is launching a flower menu to celebrate the Chelsea Flower Show

IDEAS FROM YOUR PEERS

Flower Power at Le Cercle and Champagne Experience at Wynyard Hall

By Luke Nicholls

Restaurants and hotels including Le Cercle, Royal China, Artichoke, Wynyard Hall and The Park Inn tell BigHospitality about some of the special offers and promotions they're running to help attract more customers.

BrewDog used its online influence to urge craft beer fans to make their views clear to Diageo

Diageo debacle provided great media potential, says BrewDog PR

By Luke Nicholls

A major row between Scottish-based independent brewer BrewDog and global drinks giant Diageo provided ‘great media potential’ for the pub group, with its Twitter followers able to escalate the issue into a global trend overnight.

InterContinental Hotels Group results show profits rise

IHG profits rise, UK market remains 'resilient'

By Peter Ruddick

InterContinental Hotels Group has revealed revenue per available room (RevPAR) in the UK grew in the first three months of the year and described the market as resilient as profits surged across the business.

Hospitality Action Week has already seen a number of key industry faces and big businesses pledging their support

Hospitality Action Week 2012: How to get involved

By Luke Nicholls

The entire UK hospitality industry, from five-star hotels and country pubs to catering colleges, restaurants and industry workers, is uniting to take part in Hospitality Action Week from 14-20 May. 

Wear Inns receives £10m investment to fund expansion

Wear Inns receives £10m investment to fund expansion

By Peter Ruddick

The northern pub chain Wear Inns has received an investment of £10m from the Business Growth Fund (BGF) and NVM Private Equity (NVM) to fund expansion plans for the company, which expects to make new acquisitions in the next few months.

42°Raw has a total of 90 covers, with a pared down Scandinavian approach to design

Raw food café concept launches in Mayfair

By Luke Nicholls

42°Raw – a healthy, raw food café concept serving plant-based dishes all cooked under 42° - has opened within the site of The Royal Academy of Arts in the heart of London’s Mayfair.

Leeds-based Stew & Oyster opens second site

Leeds-based Stew & Oyster opens second site

By Emma Eversham

Stew & Oyster, the pub concept in Leeds which serves craft beers alongside a selection of stews and oysters, has opened its second site just outside the city.

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