Monday 15/6/15
Propelinfonews.com: City Pub Company wins rare new Cambridge city centre drinks licence: City Pub Company has won a rare new Cambridge city centre licence – but plans for a terrace on the roof of its proposed site have been dropped. The company has won a licence to open new premises at the former Howes Cycle Shop in Regent Street, which would be its third pub in the city. The city council’s environmental health team and neighbouring Downing College argued against the roof terrace, which stands within 50 metres of student residencies – and overlooks the college master’s private garden. A representative of City Pub Company told a licensing meeting that food accounted for around 50% of sales at its Cambridge Brewhouse – one of its other premises in the city – and that food sales at this new venue were more likely to be in the region of 60%. A planning application for the building is being prepared. The site currently has permission for change of use to a restaurant.
Insidermedia.com: Buyer sought for £6m Shropshire hotel and golf club: A country hotel and golf club in Shropshire has been placed on the market with a price tag in excess of £6m. Hawkstone Park Hotel & Golf Club is set in approximately 400 acres of grounds that include two 18-hole championship golf courses, a purpose-built six-hole academy golf course, and the famous The Follies tourist attraction which attracts more than 30,000 visitors per year. Specialist leisure property adviser Christie + Co in Birmingham has been instructed on the sale. Director Gavin Wright said an opportunity exists to further enhance Hawkstone Park’s profile as a leisure resort through the development of a new spa and leisure facility. He added: “Hawkstone Park has a number of outbuildings and houses within its grounds which offer potential purchasers a range of development, sale or asset management opportunities to further enhance the business, such as the development of a new spa facility. “This property presents an opportunity to become part of a hotel group or private ownership and build on its long standing reputation as a leading golf hotel.”
Tuesday 16/6/15
Propelinfonews.com: Cask Matters reports cask ale growth: New figures for the first quarter of 2015 obtained by Cask Matters show continued growth for cask ale, particularly premium cask ale. This comes on the back of figures for 2014 that revealed cask ale was in growth despite the slow down in on-trade beer sales, with total sales of cask ale amounting to 2,204,000 barrels in 2012, 2,223,000 in 2013 and 2,248,000 in 2014. Sales for the first quarter of 2015 show the following: Premium cask continues to be the success story with sales this year up against the same time last year by 1.7% in January, 5.1% in February and 1.8% in March; standard and premium combined is up by 0.8% on Q1 2014. This shows that cask is standing up well as total on-trade beer sales have continued to decline, down by 2.4% in the first quarter of 2015.
Propelinfonews.com: Byron set to open in Bury St Edmund’s: The better burger chain Byron is set to open in Bury St Edmund’s, Suffolk, later this year. The company, founded by Tom Byng, is currently fitting out a unit at the Arc shopping centre, opposite Carluccio’s. A spokesman told the Bury Free Press: “Every Byron’s design is unique – at Byron Bury St Edmunds, the design will feature contrasting greens, whites and browns alongside a feature herringbone clad wooden wall. The open kitchen will provide a focal point, complemented by timber and polished concrete flooring, reclaimed doors and windows, and a mixture of vintage and contemporary furniture.” Byron, which has more than 50 outlets in the UK, is aiming to open ten new sites in 2015 after total turnover passed £50m last year.
Propelinfonews.com: Orange Tree Group markets The Obar in Leicester for £450,000 after outgrowing site: Orange Tree Group, the East Midlands-based independent pub company, is selling The Obar in Leicester after outgrowing the site. The company, started and developed by best friends Ben Hings and Gareth Smith in 1995, has instructed property specialists Fleurets to market the freehold, with offers sought in the region of £450,000. This is in line with the most recent year’s sales, which were £450,677. The Obar, a three-storey building in Braunstone Gate, was originally developed in 2001 as a late-night bar. In November 2013 Hings and Smith used it to launch their pop-up smokehouse restaurant, which traded so well they made it a permanent feature in March last year. Hings said: “We’re now outgrowing this site and feel that the specialist craft beer/smokehouse barbecue soul food concept works really well together. We’re keen to continue it in new bigger premises.” The property includes a ground floor bar, smokehouse restaurant and dining area on the first floor and three-bedroomed accommodation with private access. It also has a premises licence until 2am Sundays to Thursdays and 4am on Fridays and Saturdays.
Wednesday 17/5/15
Morningadvertiser.co.uk: Industry fights back on business rates
By Emily Sutherland, 17-Jun-2015
Trade leaders and licensees have rallied for urgent reform of the business rates system after it emerged England’s pubs are paying a staggering £500m more than their fair share.
http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Legal/Legislation/Industry-backs-BBPA-call-urgent-business-rate-reform
Propelinfonews.com: Castle Rock Brewery secures 21st site: Castle Rock Brewery, the East Midlands based brewer and publican, has taken over the operation of The Embankment Social Club at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. It becomes the 21st pub in its East Midlands and Yorkshire heartland and its 12th in Greater Nottingham. Colin Wilde, Castle Rock’s managing director, said the newly renamed Embankment will drop its club image and, after a comprehensive refurbishment, become a classic Castle Rock-style pub. He added: “We’ll make sure it’ll be fit for the Meadows area of the city it serves, but have wider appeal to the conurbation and to visitors to the nearby cricket and football grounds. And by retaining all its fascinating features; its oak panelling, stained glass windows and fine décor, we’ll pay homage to its former life as a chemists’ shop and social club for employees of the Boots company.” The leasehold premises have been acquired by The Beer Consortium Ltd, an EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme) company set up in late 2014. It is the Beer Consortium’s second acquisition for Castle Rock this year following the purchase of The Horse and Plough pub in Bingham in March.
Northampton Chronicle & Echo: New Department of Meat & Social Affairs restaurant aims to ‘bring something different’ to Northampton town centre: A new burger and ribs restaurant has opened in Northampton’s Bridge Street, creating up to 25 jobs. The Department of Meat & Social Affairs has opened its doors this week following a major refurbishment. The venue has been transformed from a bar and nightclub into an 85-seat restaurant specialising in locally sourced meat and homemade ice creams. General Manager Tino Pezzillo said: “We want to do something different in Bridge Street and show people there’s more to it than bars and clubs. We’re focusing very much on the daytime and early evening crowd so people can come for a really nice lunch or a bite to eat before heading out. “It’s a modern day burger bar offering the ultimate comfort foods, served with a smile in a sociable and comfortable setting. People can have a drink if they want, obviously, but it’s all about the food for us.” The venue has been given a new look with an outside ping-pong table and BBQ area and a wall decorated with retro cassettes.
Thursday 18/5/15
Propelinfonews.com: Work on first ever stand-alone Wetherspoon hotel delayed by archaeological dig: Work on the first ever stand-alone new-build Wetherspoon hotel, due to be built next to a new pub in Huntingdon, has been delayed to allow an archaeological dig on the site. Wetherspoon is converting the former Post Office and George Hall in George Street into a pub. Previously, Wetherspoon has either acquired pubs with letting bedrooms or converted upstairs space – for the first time the company is building a hotel, with 22 bedrooms, in a separate building. A spokesman for Wetherspoon said the archaeological dig was being carried out as part of a planning condition for redeveloping the site. He said the start of work on the new pub would depend on how quickly Huntingdonshire District Council agreed the completion of the archaeological condition and whether anything was found. He added: “Hopefully, it won’t be too long, but it is difficult to say. At this stage there are no on-site or opening dates.”
Morningadvertiser: Licence revoked: Man dies after downing whiskey from bottle
By Oli Gross, 17-Jun-2015
A Birmingham lessee had his licence revoked yesterday (16 June) following the death of a customer who reportedly drank half a litre of whiskey in 20 seconds.
http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Legal/Licensing-law/Gunmakers-Arms-pub-Birmingham-licence-revoked-after-man-dies
Friday 19/6/15
Propelinfonews.com: Five Guys submits Leicester application: Five Guys has put in a planning application to turn the former Santander branch in Leicester’s Cheapside into its fourth restaurant in the Midlands, with branches already in Nottingham, Birmingham and Solihull. The building, opposite the Highcross shopping centre, has been empty since January 2014 and is on a prominent corner, close to the Clock Tower. In documents sent to Leicester City Council, the chain’s agents said: “Five Guys is an originally family run burger restaurant which has been operating for 29 years. Since it was first set up in 1986 in Washington DC it has become the fastest growing ‘fast-casual’ restaurant with 1,200 locations and 400 stores in development globally.” The planning application states that Five Guys has been voted number one burger for the last 11 years in the United States in the Zagat Fast Food Survey, as well as being named best burger in the US Market Force Consumer Study in 2012.
Propelinfonews.com: Wasabi opens latest restaurant in Cambridge with first 25 customers receiving free sushi for a year: Wasabi launched its latest restaurant in Cambridge yesterday (Thursday, 15 June) with the first 25 customers through the doors receiving free sushi for a year. The company has opened the 80-seat venue in the Petty Cury pedestrianised shopping street, a few feet from rival YO! Sushi. A Wasabi spokeswoman said: “With its large student population and vibrant business community, plus a busy tourist destination, Cambridge city centre was an ideal location to expand the Wasabi’s offering.” The company, led by Dong Hyun Kim, operates more than 30 sushi and bento outlets in central London, and also has stores in shopping hubs outside the capital, including Kent, Essex, Leeds and even New York.
Propelinfonews.com: Executive head chef takes 50% stake in Oaklands Hall Hotel in Lincolnshire: Oaklands Hall Hotel executive head chef Steven Bennett has taken a 50% stake in the Lincolnshire venue, which he has played a major role in transforming after it was bought out of administration four years ago. The operations director has bought out John and Caroline Lawson, of Sotby Farming Company, Market Rasen, one half of the consortium that rescued the hotel in February 2011 for an undisclosed amount. They transformed the property in Laceby, near Grimsby, into a quality independent hotel, launching the Comfy Duck as a public restaurant within the 19th century premises. The entire property, besides three rooms, has also now been revamped. Bennett told the Grimsby Telegraph: “I have been here for three-and-a-half years, and we have brought it from the ashes, it was in administration. The Comfy Duck was the first thing we did, and the biggest thing we had to do, in terms of creating trade.” The Lawsons said: “The time was opportune for Steve to take on our 50% share of the business, ensuring with his enthusiasm and ambition that the hotel will continue to progress.” Bennett and remaining partner Nigel Underwood plan further improvements including refurbishing the junior suite and adding two further bedrooms.