Monday 18/5/15
Cityam.com: Turnover across UK restaurants reaches £21.6bn: The turnover of Britian’s restaurant industry has risen by 39 per cent since the recession thanks to a wave of new start-ups and the growth of smaller chains to reach £21.6bn last year. Finance provider LDF said the turnover of the restaurant sector has grown from £15.5bn in 2010, driven by the expansion of the so-called fast casual chains such as Franco Manca and Honest Burger. Household disposable income has improved thanks to low inflation, falling commodity costs and higher wage growth, leading consumers spending more on going out. Barclaycard figures for April showed spending on restaurants rose by 17 per cent year-on-year. Peter Alderson, managing director said businesses are in turn investing heavily to take advantage of a rise in spending: “The restaurant industry is seeing a huge increase in demand for funding as it continues to benefit from the knock on effect of the economic recovery and low inflation.” he added that the value of equipment assets in the industry such as kitchen equipment, fixtures & fittings, has risen by 33 per cent to £5.5bn in 2014.
Tuesday 19/5/15
The Shields Gazette: Why Whitburn Golf Club is a par above the opposition: A family friendly South Tynside golf club is putting the public first as it drives forward with improvement plans. Whitburn Golf club, which is located to the east of Cleadon Hills with panoramic views of the North East coastline, was established 80 years ago and now its officials have launched the installation of an £80,000 biomass boiler and the recent completion of a £40,000 extension to the club’s shower and toilet facilities. Now plans have emerged for a wind turbine at the north end of the club car park. the moves are all partrt of an ongoing drive to make the club more attractive to existing members and attract a new generation to the game. ….. Mr Button said: ” the wind turbine plan has been ongoing for three years and we are still getting all the paperwork in place. It will provide an income and help reduce our electricity bills.”
Morningadvertoser: JDW guilty in 8 of 18 cases of “direct discrimination” against travellers
By Emily Sutherland, 18-May-2015
Central London County Court has rules on a case after a group of Irish travellers sued JD Wetherspoon for discrimination when they were turned away from a north London pub in 2011.
Morningadvertiser: Pubs are ordered to pay £19,500 for Premier League Copytight breaches
By Mike Berry, 18-May-2015
Wednesday 20/5/15
Golfclubmanagement.net: “The worst is over for most golf clubs”: The director of an organisation that markets golf clubs to potential buyers has said that the worst of the financial problems that hs beset the industry has come to an end. Golf clubs have struggles since the financial crash in 2008, with many unable to raise revenues for vital improvements, which in turn has seen their membership numbers drop dramatically. This has coupled with a general fall in participation in golf, which has seen several clubs go out of business and many more teetering on the brink. Furthermore, several struggling clubs have been criticised for having an unprofessional culture that has contributed towards their downfall. However, Ian Simpson, director of Savills Oxford, has said the worst is now over for the industry. Simpson said that an upturn in leisure spending, an increase in farmland prices and changing planning regulations mean there are new options mixed with new optimism for golf clubs. “Although it is too early to predict potential growth and turnover, we believe that for many clubs the most challenging years are likely to be behind them, ” he said. “Upturn in spending is apparent and likely to translate into increased leisure spend, although the difficulty for many remains having the spare time for leisure activities such as gold.
Propelinfonews.com: Old Northampton Group revamps bar with American diner offer: The Old Northampton Group, which runs three outlets in Northampton, has revamped the Department of Liquor bar and music venue in Bridge Street and turning it into the Department of Meat & Social Affairs. After a re-fit including the installation of a new kitchen and team of chefs, the two floor venue will be offering a menu of American-inspired dishes including “high quality burgers”, friend chicken, ribs, milkshakes and homemade ice cream, as well as a selection of craft beers. It will also be offering Ping-Pong tables, art exhibitions and regular live music sessions. Tino Pezzillo, the venue’s general manager, said “It’s going to be a modern-day burger bar offering the ultimate comfort foods, served with a smile in a sociable and comfortable setting. We’re putting the emphasis on fresh, local ingredients and will only be using premium cuts of meat to make our burgers, all of which will be hand made and pressed in our kitchens. We’ll be taking the humble burger to a whole new level. “The 100-cover restaurant will also be introducing a take-away servi9ce, open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 12 noon until 9pm. Old Northampton Group’s other outlets are the Old House, a bar-restaurant in Wellingborough Rd, and Sazerac Bar, a cocktail bar on Castilian Street.
Hospitality & Catering News: Pint Shop’s sustainability menu for Eat Cambridge festival: Pint Shop, the award winning Cambridge-based concept specialising in British meat and beer, is offering ccustomers a unique sustainable menu as part of this year’s Eat Cambridge festival. The showcase has come been organised by Cambridge Sustainable Food (CSF), with ten other venues from across the county taking aprt, including Steak & Honour, Curly Kale Café and the Cambridge Chop House. Each site is offering a sustainable dish or menu throughout the festival, which runs from 9-24 May 2015. The aim is to raise awareness of the importance and value of eating food that is sustainably, and ideally locally, sourced.
Propelinfonews.com: Enterprise licensees maximise building space by adding cocktail bar: The licensees at Enterprise Inns’ Great Gatsby in Sheffield, James Hill and james O’Hara, have invested £80,000 in a project to transform an unused first floor into what is believed to one of the city’s first table-service cocktail bars, Daisy’s. the due have been at the city centre venue since 2011, and have since overhauled most parts of it. O’Hara said: “The Great Gatsby is in a prime location on Division Street. it’s always been a busy pub, but we knew we could better it. The introduction of Daisy’s means we can now offer something for everyone. it’s a 1950s-60s table service cocktail bar with a relaxed atmosphere, open every Friday & Saturday, from 8pm-3am, if visitors don’t fancy the hustle and bustle of the main pub, Daisy’s is the calm above the storm.” The kitchen continues to be run by Shy Boy Cantina, which serves Mexican-inspired street food to pub customers from 12 noon to 9pm, seven days a week.
Morningadvertiser: Anger at Enterpris overhaul
By Helen Gilbert, 20-May-2015
Lessees unhappy with pubco’s five-year plan.
Thursday 21/5/15
Propelinfonews.com: TGI Fridays eyes Stevenage site: Plans have been submitted to convert the former Smilin’ Sam’s site in Stevenage leisure Park, Hertfordshire into a TGI Friday’s and a trampoline park, creating 130 jobs. The site has been empty for an estimated seven years. Designs have been lodged to divide the former arcade and bar into two units, to allow TGS Friday’s and Air Space to move in. If Stevenage Council approves the proposal, Air Space would be opening its second trampoline park in the UK>
Nottingham Post: ‘Filthy’ Chinese restaurant with dirty meat slicer fines £10,000 for food hygiene breaches: A Nottingham Chinese restaurant – described as ‘filthy’ – has been landed with a bill of nearly £10,000 after breaching food hygiene regulations. The meat slicer at Mei Shan, in Alfreton Road, Canning Circus, was dirty and the restaurant stored ‘filthy’ containers of food and oil in the yard, attracting pests. The owners, who trade under the name Jin Fu Xiang Co Ltd at 8-10 Alfreton Road, pleaded guilty to three breaches of food hygiene laws in Nottingham Magistrates’ Court. They were made to pay a £7,000 fine and prosecution costs of £2,500 on Wednesday, May 20. Paul Dales, city operations manager for food and health and safety, said: “There is no excuse for food businesses not to keep the kitchen clean and handle food safely.” Mei Shan owners Mrs homg Wei Zhang and her husband Mr Hang Lu previously accepted a caution on 2011. “Given the previous warnings about poor standards at this restaurant my team has to take this action to protect the public,” said Mr Dales. “Most businesses work hard to improve standards but this shows that some traders ignore the basic rules.”
Propelinfonews.com: Deltic Group tclose Luton Liquid and Envy: Deltic Group, formerly known as Luminar, will close its Luton Liquid & Envy site at the end of the month. The nightclub, which currently employs 30 people, is shutting up because fewer people have been coming into the venue for nights out. A spokperson from the Deltic Group said: “Following a long-term decline in footfall in the town centre, we have taken the difficult decision to close Liquid & Envy. We would like to thank all our employees, who have worked so hard in tough operating conditions to provide our loyal customers with a fun, safe and great value night out. we are currently consulting with our team about future opportunities.
Propelinfonew.com: Bar Azita expands to second Herts town: The owners of Bar Azita, a Mediterranean restaurant and tapas bar in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, are opening a second venue in the nearby town of Hitchin. Bar Azita, which is owned by Nick and Julie Pike, is moving into the premises formerly occupied by the Brick Rooms Barbeque grill and cocktail house on Bucklersbury. The Harpeden venture has a tapas and cocktail bar in the adjacent premises, which was added in 2012, but Rory Calow and Matt Dreyer, Bar Azita’s managers. told the Hertfordshire Mercury newspaper that the Hitchin site would marry up the two concepts, with the venue functioning as a restaurant but with cocktail and tapas service. Calow said: “We are going for a more upmarket vibe, but one which is still affordable.” Dreyer said: “The food which will be on offer is made with a traditional charcoal grill. It has Spanish, Greek and Persian influences. This has been our mainstay in Harpenden and it has proved to be a winner for us. I feel bad when we have to disappoint customers on Fridays and Saturdays when we have to turn them away.”
Friday 22/5/15
Morningadvertiser: Pub turnover up 23% thanks to young licensees
By Mark Wright, 22-May-2015
There are encouraging signs of growth for the UK pub industry which has seen a rise in turnover and injection of new owners in the past three years, according to new data from Barclays.
Propelinfonews.com: New craft beer pub and smokehouse concept coming to St. Albans: Cellar Door Pubs is opening its second site in St. Albans at the end of June. The site, which is on a Punch lease, will be called Craft & Cleaver, a craft beer and smokehouse concept, serving up racks of ribs, slow-smoked brisket and sharing platters, alongside craft beers, sodas and spirits, cocktails and small producer wines. Adam Richardson, joint director with his father, John, took on The White Horse in Welwyn Village five years ago with Punch Taverns, increasing turnover in the past 18 month alone by 20%. “The key is in the quality of the product,” said Adam, who last year won Let There Be Beer’s ‘Britain’s Best Pub Landlord’ award. ” We’ve invested heavily in the site, and the staff. It pays to employ good staff on good wages. Better motivation leads to a better offering, and your customers reap the rewards.” Craft & Cleaver is undergoing a £350,000 refurbishment of the former Bar 62 site, which closed a year ago. Craft & Cleaver opens on Friday 29 Junes, and is a Living Wage Employer.