Monday 13/4/15
Propelinfonews.com: Prosecco sales overtake champagne sales in the UK: Prosecco sales overtook champagne sales in the UK for the first time last year, according to figures from research firm Kantar. Shoppers spent £181.8m on prosecco compared to £141.3m spent on champagne. Prosecco sells for an average of £6.49 a bottle compared to an average of £16.23 for champagne. Spending on prosecco doubled in 2014 compared to the year before.
Propelinfonews.com: Cambscuisine enters talks with investor, close to securing second Smokeworks site: Award-winning Cambridgeshire gastro-pub and restaurant operator Cambscuisine has entered talks with an investor as it seeks to expand the Smokeworks concept that it launched in Cambridge city centre last year. The company is also close to securing its second site for Smokeworks, also believed to be in Cambridge. Cambscuisine, led by Oliver Thain and Max Freeman, launched Smokeworks after six months of intensive research in the barbeque market. It launched the brand last July in the middle of Cambridge’s emerging restaurant quarter, paying a £110,000 premium to acquire the private lease on The Old Eraina Taverna site in Cambridge – a total of £220,000 was invested in the site.
Propelinfonews.com: Handmade Burger Co opens 23rd site: Upmarket burger company Handmade Burger Co has opened at The Old Still in Queensgate, Peterborough – its 23rd site. The brand’s new 3,942 sq ft restaurant is set across two floors. The location, situated next to Queensgate’s Westgate Arcade, has been converted from its previous use as a pub. It marks the second site for Handmade Burger Co in the region. There is space for 130 covers in the new restaurant. Chris Sargeant, owner of Handmade Burger Co, said: “We are very happy to have opened at Queensgate and start welcoming people to our wonderful new location at The Old Still. The management at Queensgate have been very supportive in our project to restore the site, and with the high footfall that the area commands, it is set to become a prime location for our brand.” Guy Thomas, head of retail leasing at Lend Lease, added: “Handmade Burger Co marks another step forward in repositioning Queensgate, and Peterborough with it, as a major regional destination for leading brands. Rejuvinating The Old Still will drive footfall through adjoining areas and we are very pleased that Handmade Burger Co are the brand to be helping us lead this transformation.”
Tuesday 14/4/15
Propelinfonews.com: Corby licensees faces £17,000 bill over illegal Sky transmission: The licensees of the Domino Inn in Corby, Northamptonshire have been convicted and ordered to pay in excess of £17,000 in fines and costs for showing Sky Sports illegally in their premises.
Bighospitality: Consumers eating-out more but spending less
By Sophie Witts, 13-Apr-2015
Consumer spending in restaurants rose 17 per cent year-on-year in first quarter of 2015, though average transaction values fell, according to the latest Barclaycard consumer spending report.
http://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Business/Consumers-eating-out-more-but-spending-less
Propelinfonews.com: Stay In A Pub website signs up 1,300 pubs: The new online booking website Stay in a Pub, administered by Cask Marque, now has more than 1,300 pubs listed, with a target listing of 2,000 by the end of the year. Currently almost 40% of the pubs offer online booking through the website and Stay In A Pub hopes to drive this up to 50% by the end of June. Research shows there are more than 50,000 pub bedrooms in the UK and growing. It is expected that over three quarters of Britons will have a staycation this year and 69% of businesses and 63% of consumers plan their travel by searching the internet. Paul Nunny, founder of the new venture, said: “Pubs need visibility on the internet, and with www.stayinapub.co.uk being the No 1 site on Google and other search engines, we hope to create a healthy pub accommodation sector.”
Propelinfonews.com: Distinctive Inns takes third site, first Star Pubs & Bars venue: East Midlands-based multiple operator Distinctive Inns has secured its third site, The Priory in Nanpanton outside Loughborough, its first site with Star Pubs & Bars and will make a co-investment of £650,000. Funds are being spent on a complete overhaul of the interior and exterior of the pub opening up the bar, restaurant and function room to create a large open space with defined eating and drinking areas featuring a mix of parquet floor and tiles with comfy sofas and a large feature wall in the restaurant area. A new bar and a large kitchen are also being installed, allowing the pub to prepare everything fresh on site and cater for 150 covers.
Wednesday 15/4/15
Propelinfonews.com: New-build pub for the south of Cambridge given go-ahead: Plans for a new pub serving the south of Cambridge, submitted by a commercial developer, has been given the go-ahead despite fears over noise. Cambridge Council’s licensing sub-committee ranted a premises licence for the Queen Edith pub in Wulfstan Way. A small number of people had asked for the pub to have its opening hours restricted to 11pm, given it is surrounded by a residential area. including some old people’s homes. But the committee decided to grant the pub’s application in full, allowing it to open until midnight from Monday to Thursday and until 1am on Friday and Saturday nights. One local councillor and committee member, George Pippas, said: ” We have been waiting for many years to have a pub around here so it will be good to have one again for the community.”
Golf Club Management: Golf club left with £100k bill after horses rampage over course: Calverley Golf and Country Club in Yorkshire has been left with a £100,000 bill after several loose horses ran over the course. The extraordinary incident has happened so many times that local newspaper the Telegraph & Argus has reported that the police have been called amid suspicions that a fence bordering the golf club has been deliberately cut. “We keep repairing the fencing but someone keeps cutting it to either encourage or push the horses through – it’s criminal damage and it’s got to stop,” said head greenkeeper Paul Brown.Three out of the club’s 18 holes were severely damaged by hooves, leading to comparisons between the golf course and a racecourse.Brown said: “It’s no good to anyone like that. It looks more like Wetherby racecourse than a golf course.”There can be as many as 15 horses at one time but usually it’s seven or eight of them. Sometimes it’s happening three or four times a day. We keep reporting the fencing is being cut to police but they haven’t been doing anything to help.” Read More
Propelinfonews.com: Leicester restaurateur opens third site, world buffet venue in Loughborough: The owner of two Indian restaurants in Leicester has opened a world buffet venue in The Rushes, Loughborough seating 220. 108 World Buffet, opened by Rakhal Paul, has opened in the former Bar Sport in the town, which has been empty for three years. The restaurant will cook dishes including American, Indian, Mediterranean and Chinese cuisine. Paul, who owns the Tamarind and Namaste restaurants, both in Hinckley Road, Leicester, said: “I’m delighted to be opening 108 World Buffet and bringing a new concept and dining experience to the town. As well as modern surroundings and a range of freshly-prepared food, guests will be able to enjoy an open performance cooking section.” The new venture was financed by NatWest.
Farminguk.com: Restaurants can win customer trust by serving British meat: A policy of sourcing more British meat and promoting the fact on-pack to customers means supermarkets are stealing a lead on restaurants and fast-food chains when it comes to gaining public trust, according to a new survey.Nearly 70 percent of shoppers trust the meat they buy in supermarkets either a lot or a fair amount, according to YouGov data released by BPEX. This compares with only 58 percent trusting the meat they are served in restaurants and 17 percent in fast-food outlets. “Since Horsegate in 2013, supermarkets have worked hard to restore trust by sourcing more British meat and labelling the fact clearly—and their strategy is obviously working,” according to National Pig Association chairman Richard Lister.
“If foodservice companies want the public to trust them to a similar degree, the answer is staring them in the face. They should copy the retailers and serve British meat instead of imported meat from continental cold stores.” Read More
Propelinfonews.com: TLC Inns to explore investment options: TLC Inns, the award-winning pub and restaurant operator led by Steve and Jo Haslam, is to explore investment options to allow the company to double its Grand Central Bar and Grill operation. The company is due to open its fourth and largest Grand Central, a 8,500 sq ft site in Ipswich, next week after a £1.35m investment. Its oldest Grand Central, which opened three and a half years ago, has matured into the company’s number one performing site with annual turnover of just under £2m and has taken an average of £45,000 gross for the last three weeks.
Horticulture Week: John Deere mower purchase cuts fuel costs for golf course: Daily fuel consumption has been almost halved in real terms when cutting the fairways at Ombersley Golf Club in Worcestershire with a new John Deere 8700A PrecisionCut fairway mower, supplied by local turf dealer Tallis Amos Group (TAG). The 8700A is one of the John Deere’s 2015 range of A Model golf course mowers equipped with the new TechControl digital display and OnCourse Technology brings improved overall performance and reliability, better diagnostics and increased operator comfort, says John Deere. “Fuel consumption on this new machine means we get 18 fairways cut per day and use less than 50 litres of fuel,” says course manager Andrew Halfpenny. “The previous model would probably use about 70 litres for the same task, and would only manage 12 fairways each day. Read More
Propelinfonews.com: Entrepreneurs make £700,000 co-investment in second Spirit Leased site: Entrepreneurs Chris Lyons and Aiden Conway have made a £700,000 co-investment with Spirit Leased at venue in Bicester, Oxfordshire, the King’s Arms Hotel, their second Spirit site. The old coaching inn has received a complete makeover internally and externally, an extended restaurant area and revamped boutique bedrooms. The pub’s menu has also been “re-invented” to provide a mixed British and European food offer. Spirit Leased Pubs’ managing director, Chris Welham, said: “The end result of the transformation at the King’s Arms is a magnificent venue that both the licensees and locals can be proud of. I’m confident that this is a venue that will be competing for awards in the very near future.”
Thursday 16/4/15
Propelinfonews.com: McManus adds to Northampton pub estate: The McManus Pub Company has added to its estate of pubs in Northampton with the acquisition of the 18th century Shipmans pub in The Drapery, which closed last year. The pub, a narrow, three-storey building that is Grade Two listed, is now undergoing a refurbishment which Paul McManus, co-owner of the Northampton-based chain, said would open up the back window to let more light in. McManus said he was hoping to maintain the quirky history of the pub, which was built in 1790 by the Shipman family. It is believed to be haunted by a former landlord, Harry Franklin, who took his own life in the pub in what witnesses described as a “gruesome manner” more than 100 years ago.
Friday 17/4/15
PropelInfonews.com: Restaurants and pubs missing out on millions in energy savings: Restaurants and pubs in the UK are missing out on millions of pounds of profit because they are not paying enough attention to managing their energy consumption, according to Mitchells & Butlers’ former head of energy, Richard Felgate. He told Propel: “Often energy is the one commodity that any employee can freely use to their heart’s content without any approval or retribution. How crazy is this, when, after the cost of food, drink and labour, energy is normally the next biggest cost on the P&Ls of restaurant businesses. The big managed house groups started to tackle their energy consumption several years ago and are now enjoying millions of pounds of additional profit after making significant reductions in their energy consumption, but many smaller businesses are yet to benefit from the savings.”
Golf Club Management: St Mellion becomes latest big name to go up for sale: Less than a year after the likes of Wentworth, Turnberry, Lough Erne Resort, Cameron House, Loch Lomond and Fairmont St Andrews have been placed up for sale, St Mellion International Resort in Cornwall has become the latest big name UK golf club to be put on the market.The news also comes just a few days after another leading resort, Brocket Hall, has become available to buy. St Mellion is up for sale after its owner, Crown Golf, carried out a strategic review of its UK golf portfolio. No guide price has been revealed but the venue has enjoyed robust trading and continuous growth since it reopened in 2009, a period of intense difficulty for the industry. This was also despite the English Open, which was due to be played at St Mellion from 2009, first being postponed and then cancelled, due to a lack of sponsorship. Read More
Propelinfonews.com: BrewDog unveils Leicester site, first to open for breakfast at weekends: BrewDog, the Scottish brewer and bar operator, which claimed yesterday that its value should be comparable to Shake Shack based on current profit trajectory, opened in Leicester yesterday, with the site the first in the estate to open at weekends for breakfast. The new bar is the brewery’s 19th UK site and brings the total global bar count to 27. BrewDog Leicester has a curved bar and cinema-style draft beer board, vintage arcade games and pinball machines.
Bighospitality.co.uk: Great British Pub Awards 2015 open for entries
By Jo Bruce, 16-Apr-2015
The search is now on for the best pubs in Britain in the Great British Pub Awards 2015, organised by the Publican’s Morning Advertiser.
http://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Business/Great-British-Pub-Awards-2015-open-for-entries