The UK's high level of VAT, the slow processing of visa applications and Government red tape are the three major obstacles to growth in the hospitality industry, according to the British Hospitality Association's (BHA) chairman Christopher Davy.
The restaurant scene in Knightsbridge is to be hit by two new sites within a month as Kumo, a recently-opened Japanese sushi and cocktail bar, and Mari Vanna, a Russian restaurant set to open its doors next month, are within walking distance of each other.
Almost one in five hospitality businesses have encountered a pest problem in the past year, with a lack of effective cleaning and maintenance cited as the main cause for attracting rats, mice and ants.
The number of people enjoying a staycation in 2011 is on par with last year, with seven in 10 going to have taken a domestic break by the end of the year, according to new figures released today by national tourist board VisitEngland.
Latin American restaurants – in particular those serving Peruvian cuisine – are poised to take London by storm over the next year with a number of new openings in the pipeline.
Restaurant reservations and online marketing services company Livebookings has partnered with restaurant guide Square Meal enabling the guide's users to book more of the restaurants it features online.
Ollie Dabbous, former head chef at Texture in London, and Oskar Kinberg, former bar manager at the Cuckoo Club, are set to open their first solo venture - Dabbous restaurant and bar - in the heart of London’s West End in early 2012.
TripAdvisor is rolling out a new customer support phone number for registered business owners and managers in a bid to send a “strong message” about the review website’s commitment to customer care.
Hilton Worldwide has revealed that the eight former Mint Hotel properties it now operates are to fall under the DoubleTree by Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn brands.
Delays in processing business rate appeals are costing hotels in England over £13m per year, according to new research from business rate specialists CVS.
The Hotel Marketing Association (HMA) has revealed the categories for its prestigious annual 2011 Hotel Marketing Awards, recognising the best hotel marketing campaigns in the UK over the past year.
Reviews website TripAdvisor is again at the centre of controversy after an investigation has revealed an array of security loopholes that can be exploited at the click of a mouse.
With the year ahead packed full of iconic, once-in-a-lifetime events including the London 2012 Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, VisitBritain has received a welcome injection of £27m funding to help promote the UK.
John Campbell is to cut his ties completely with Coworth Park after reaching a 'mutual agreement' that his consultancy at the hotel's fine-dining restaurant should end.
Hotel operators throughout the UK are increasingly using professional recruitment companies to head-hunt management staff in an effort to avoid making costly recruitment mistakes.
Global Hotel Exchange (GHX), a new marketing and reservation service devised by Thomas Magnuson is set to be unveiled at the Annual Hotel Conference in Manchester tomorrow.
Sharon Glancy, director of People 1st Training Company, suggests how reception or front-of-house staff should handle guests and customers when systems fail and the situation becomes stressful.
The number of UK bars appointing administrators has more than doubled between quarters two and three, reflecting the deep-set, challenging trading conditions.
Karpo, a new all-day eating and drinking restaurant opposite London’s Kings Cross station, is set to open next month, offering customers an ‘urban dining experience’.
Restaurants, hotels and pubs across the UK including Tampopo and Trattoria Fanelli’s tell BigHospitality about special events and promotions they’re running to attract customers.
Frenchman Pierre Levicky had an empire of 147 Pierre Victoire restaurants before the group imploded in 1998. Three years ago he returned to Edinburgh and now operates two restaurants in the city.
Following Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide’s announcement of Aloft London Excel – the first UK hotel under the Aloft brand opening next year – the hotel giant’s senior vice president Michael Wale has revealed that Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester...
Von Essen’s the Greenway Spa Hotel in Cheltenham has been acquired by the Eden Hotel Collection to join its classic, country and town house hotels estate.
Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner and Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen are among the big-hitting newcomers to join over 500 UK restaurants signed up for a campaign to help raise money for the homeless in the build up to Christmas.
Roadside restaurant chain Little Chef is planning to install electric vehicle (EV) chargers at all 161 of its sites across the UK as part of plans to boost the brand.
Mass-market food concepts are smartening up their acts in customer service, design and food quality in an attempt to steal customers away from more expensive mid-market offerings.
Pan-Asian restaurant chain Tampopo is set to open its first central London site next month under the all-new East Street brand. And this is ‘just the beginning’.
Twenty-two restaurants in the UK are currently being considered for criminal prosecution after HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) issued a crackdown on tax dodgers.
Administrators at Ernst & Young, appointed to take over the running of nightclub operator Luminar last week, have decided to close 11 loss-making sites, leading to the loss of 300 jobs.
Food may have become the saviour of the British pub, but that doesn't mean that operators can get away with sticking a few classic dishes on a menu and hoping for the best.
Celebratory sparkling candle supplier Danmade is targeting the restaurant sector in the run up to the festive season with a heavy-weight sales and marketing campaign.
The relaunch of The Arts Club is just one of a long line of new openings for successful restaurateur Arjun Waney, as he explains in this exclusive interview with Restaurant magazine.
There's more to making food look good than squeezy bottles, tweezers and fistfuls of borage, as the November issue of Restaurant magazine shows in its guide to plating-up.
Greenleaf, a new Chinese restaurant and Karaoke bar, has opened in Holborn and, if successful, the owners could open a second site in London’s West End.
Chef and restaurant owner Malcolm John is launching an apprenticeship scheme which will see four teenagers gain first-hand kitchen experience at each of his South London restaurants, in a bid to give them a “sense of respect” following the August riots.
Anger against the reviews website TripAdvisor has grown among members of the industry following the airing of the Cutting Edge documentary Attack of the Trip Advisors on Channel 4 last night
The 2012 Roux Scholarship competition is now open for chefs to win a career-changing opportunity to work in a three-Michelin-starred restaurant anywhere in the world.
Hoteliers and B&B owners throughout the UK will be welcoming the news that VisitEngland’s bid for additional funding from the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) has been successful.
The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) and other industry trade bodies have succeeded in halting proposals for huge fee rises in the playing of music in UK pubs and nightclubs.