Monday 17/8/15

Propelinfonews.com: Everards plan to create food and drink park takes step forward: The owner of Fosse Park shopping centre in Leicestershire, The Crown Estate, has reached a conditional agreement to buy the 12.5 acre Castle Acres Everards brewery site in Leicester to progress a major extension to the shopping parks. The move means certainty over who would buy Everards existing brewery site if planning consent is granted to allow Everards to create a state-of-the art food and drink park, with a modern brewery, in Everards Meadows nearby. The Crown Estate, Next and Everards recently submitted a joint application to Blaby District Council which involves transforming the Castle Acres site into a 150,000 square foot retail and leisure development, incorporating accommodation for around 26 new shops, restaurants and cafes with accessible links, so shoppers can travel between the new facilities and Fosse Park. Next has already confirmed that a landmark Next Fashion, Home and Garden store will feature as an anchor tenant within the scheme. The scheme would create around 1,100 jobs and hundreds more during construction. Hannah Milne, head of The Crown Estate’s regional portfolio, said: “This key strategic acquisition unlocks opportunities for further investment to enhance Fosse Park’s position as a truly best in class asset, providing visitors with one of the best shopping experiences in the UK. We look forward to working with Next and other key local partners like Blaby District Council and Leicester City Council to bring forward this exciting new development for the local area.” Stephen Gould, managing director of Everards Brewery, said: “This is an important step not only for The Crown Estate’s plans to extend Fosse Shopping Park, but also for Everards’ aspirations to create a new state-of-the-art food and drink park. The sale of the Castle Acres site will allow us to reinvest in our business, reaffirming our commitment to creating jobs and growth in Leicestershire.” The site purchase and funding of the new development is conditional upon planning permission being granted by the local authority.

Nothampton Chronicle: Town centre sports pub in Northampton to reopen as dining establishment after major refurbishment: A prominent Northampton town centre sports pub is to close its doors for a major refurbishment in September and emerge mid-2016 as a “premium” dining venue. The Eastgate at the top end of Abington Street used to be owned by pub giants Wetherspoons but was bought by Northampton firm McManus in 2014. Company director Paul McManus has announced a major investment in the two storey building, which currently runs a grill-type menu and screens a number of live sporting events. He said: “We are closing on September 5 and looking to start work at the end of 2015, to open in early to mid-2016. “It will become more of a food led, premium casual dining concept. “We knew when we bought it, we would need to invest in it.” The venue opened as a Lloyds, part of the Wetherspoons brand, in the late 1990s. Plans are yet to be drawn up for the refurbished Eastgate, according to Mr McManus, but the company director has promised to release more details of the new-look pub when the plans are available. The venue currently employs eight people, some of whom have been offered jobs elsewhere in the company and others, Mr McManus says, are students and seasonal staff who are returning to studies in September. McManus Pubs currently owns 19 venues in the Northampton area, including Barratts Club on Kingsthorpe Road, as well as running two in Essex.

Propelinfonews.com: Former Orchid Pub Company site in Cambridge to re-open as rotisserie restaurant: A site in Cambridge city centre that was previously operated by Orchid Pub Company as a Pizza Kitchen and Bar is to re-open as a rotisserie chicken restaurant called Reys. The pub, formerly called The Cow and located on Corn Exchange Street, is due to re-open in October, almost a year after it closed its doors. Posters on the building state that Reys aims to bring people “succulent, flavoursome rotisserie chickens” with a range of sauces. The Cow was put up for sale with a £100,000 leasehold price tag in March last year. When the pub was advertised last year, it was stated it produced £426,000 in drink sales and £117,000 in food sales in 2012, and the rent for the ground floor and basement was quoted at £74,500 a year.

Propelinfonews: Chef Richard Bainbridge has launched his first restaurant venture in Norwich: Bainbridge has opened Benedicts, which offers dishes that take their cue from pan-European classics, in St Benedict’s Street. The menu features regional seafood and eight-week hung Blickling Hall Aberdeen Angus beef as well as desserts including duck egg custard tart. Benedict’s, which is open Tuesday to Saturday from noon-2.30pm and 6pm-10pm, is managed by Bainbridge’s wife Katja. Bainbridge was previously head chef at Morston Hall in Norfolk where he maintained a Michelin star and is also known for appearing on the BBC Two programme The Great British Menu.

Tuesday 18/8/15

Propelinfonews.com: The Coaching Inn Group in advanced talks to add two sites: The Coaching Inn Group, led by Kevin Charity and chaired by Andrew Guy, is in advanced talks to add two new high-profile freehold sites to its eight-strong portfolio. The company, which is planning to double in size over five years after securing a £4.5m investment from the Business Growth Fund, is expected to add circa 50 bedrooms to its estate if the deal goes through. The Coaching Inn Group, which was previously called Bulldog Hotel Group, has already acquired the Royal Oak in Welshpool this year. A refurbishment was undertaken four weeks ago, which has added 54% to sales on a year-on-year basis.

Wednesday 19/8/15

Propelinfonews.com: Stonegate continues estate development with £350,000 investment in Birmingham ‘student technology’ pub: Stonegate Pub Company has reopened The Bristol Pear, in Selly Oak, Birmingham, after a £350,000 investment in “student-friendly technology”. It now offers super-fast broadband connections, loan of phone chargers, plug sockets and USB ports installed on tables, free use of printing services and even the ability for customers to select music in the bar from their own phone. It has a new grab and go counter that serves an array of healthy and treat snacks, frappes and smoothies perfect for customers on the way to lectures. The pub has a choice of open burritos, alongside ribs and slaw, eight different types of burgers, hotdogs and fresh salads, on its main menu, incorporating some of the best street food trends. World food flavours have been introduced such as the Indian lentil dish, khichdi. Generous sharer trays are available alongside an array of super-hot sauces to top any dish. The pub has also introduced craft and cask beer for the first time – five craft pumps have been installed. In addition, four cask beers will be available including from local breweries such as Black Country-based Sadler’s Brewery.

Bighospitality.co.uk: Hospitality operators use social media feedback to help shape business

By Emma Eversham+, 18-Aug-2015
Restaurant, hotel and pub operators are frequently turning to social media for feedback on how they can better their business.

http://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Business/Hospitality-operators-use-social-media-feedback-to-help-shape-business

Morningadvertiser.co.uk: Licensee tells shocked customers ‘bring your own food’

By Emily Sutherland, 18-Aug-2015
Food is increasingly big business for pubs – but one Norfolk licensee has flown in the face of standard advice and told customers to ‘bring their own food’ when they come in for a pint.

http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Pub-Food/Food-trends/North-Walsham-s-White-Lion-tells-customers-to-bring-your-own-food

Golf Club Management: Study finds using signs with eyes will lead to pitchmarks being repaired: A bizarre study carried out at Surrey Downs Golf Club has found that signs containing eyes are more likely to get golfers to repair their pitchmarks.Sport Psychology (SPL) partnered with Wimbledon Signs to erect a sign by a green that suffered from unrepaired pitchmarks. The sign said, above two eyes, ‘did you leave a pitchmark?’ and below the eyes stated: ‘don’t leave it – repair it!’ SPL then compared the results over two greens that both suffered an almost identical number of unrepaired pitchmarks.It found that with no sign the number of pitchmarks increased by 27 percent, but with the sign they dropped by 51 percent. “The signs work by triggering deep rooted circuits in the brain that were vital in the survival of our ancestors and still work today even though we now live in a modern 21st century society,” said an SPL spokesman. “These circuits are hardwired into the emotional parts of the human brain and drive our automatic behaviours. The more advanced thinking brain notes the impact the sign is having on our emotions and ensures that it then attends to the written message – when it could easily turn our attention mechanisms elsewhere when the a traditional sign only has words.” A survey in 2013 found that more than nine in ten greenkeepers believe that golfers should pass a test on course care before they are allowed to play the game.Nintey-one per cent of members of the British and International Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) said they would like golfers to pass a test on etiquette and course care before they play, as is the case in some European countries, because some golfers leave the course in an inappropriate state.More than half of greenkeepers, 57 percent, said golfers are bad or very bad at repairing pitchmarks, although the majority of golfers, 71 percent, are not bad or very bad at putting divots back.

Thursday 20/8/15

Propelinfonews.com: Kitchen deli concept to open at Everards pub: A new kitchen deli concept called Odd John’s Kitchen, offering locally produced artisan food and a variety of workshops, is to open at the Griffin Inn, an Everards pub in the village of Swithland, Leicestershire, on 12 September. Designed to be a working kitchen offering a home from home environment, the kitchen deli will serve customers with freshly cooked food made from locally sourced ingredients that will also be available to purchase. Odd John’s will also be offering a variety of workshops, varying from baking and gin infusing to craft making. Director Jay Cooledge said: “What started out as an idea for a village shop just began to snowball once we decided we wanted to try something a little different. The idea has evolved into an experience more akin to being in someone’s house. Somewhere warm and welcoming, an environment that we hope people will really want to be part of. It is part of Odd John’s mission to support small local artisan businesses and help to put them on the map with their foodie endeavours. To fulfil this mission, Odd John’s Kitchen is on the lookout for small, Midlands-based local food producers and micro craft businesses to showcase their products as well as passion and talent to its customers.” The workshops will provide small businesses the opportunity to share their talent by holding workshops at Odd John’s Kitchen and to sell craft products like aprons, tea towels and small kitchen equipment.

The Great Food Club: The Bewicke Arms in Hallaton begins new chapter under celebrated local chef: Tom Cockerill, former chef-proprietor of Leicester’s multi-award-winning Entropy restaurant, has been appointed consultant chef at the Bewicke Arms in the beautiful and historic village of Hallaton, south Leicestershire. Tom’s previous establishment was the highest-rated restaurant in Leicestershire in the Good Food Guide for nearly a decade, being nominated as the Midlands’ ‘Reader’s Restaurant of the Year’ as well as ‘Best Newcomer’, and receiving many glowing reviews in the national press. Tom’s reputation has brought him into the fold of the Slow Food UK Chef Alliance, a collective of the UK’s leading chefs who champion ‘forgotten foods’, heritage varieties and small scale producers throughout the country, one such supplier being his own family’s farm, which produces grass-fed Dexter beef and Southdown lamb, both of which will feature on the Bewicke Arms’ menu. “I’m really excited to be working with The Bewicke’s new owners Simon and Claire to create a new and exciting food offering in south Leicestershire,” said Tom. “The pub will have a creative take on traditional pub food using local produce – an obvious concept, but only a few pubs in the East Midlands are really doing this well. The Bewicke Arms is a gorgeous, quintessential English country pub perfectly located for sourcing from the region’s amazing suppliers and artisan producers.” Former Olive Inns chef Glenn Cowell is joining the Bewicke Arms as head chef. Glenn has previously worked with Tom at the Red Lion in Stathern, the Good Pub Guide’s ‘Dining Pub of The Year’ for Leicestershire & Rutland 2015. The Bewicke’s menu will evolve day to day, featuring honest, well-prepared pub classics such as Dexter steak & kidney suet puddings using beef from Tom’s family farm, Brancaster mussels cooked in Bottle Kicking cider (made in Hallaton), as well as game, mushrooms, fruit and herbs foraged from the surrounding countryside and hedgerows throughout the seasons. Owners Clare and Simon Tait said: “We are proud to be working with such an outstanding chef as Tom. The Bewicke Arms is one of the finest traditional pubs in the country and we hope to welcome you very soon!” The Bewicke Arms’ new kitchen will launch in September 2015.

Friday 21/8/15

Propelinfonews.com: TLC Inns secures £1m of new funding with Barclays Corporate: Award-winning pub and restaurant operator TLC Inns, led by Steve and Jo Haslam, has secured a further £1m of funding with Barclays Corporate to aid the expansion of its Grand Central bar and grill brand. Steve Haslam said: “We are currently in negotiations for 6,000 sq ft of space in Chelmsford and have two other sites on our radar. Having achieved our highest ever level of Ebitda in quarter one and undergone our biggest ever expansion period, we are now fully committed to further expanding the Grant Central brand. After 18 months of new openings, we have also refreshed all sites and are currently undergoing a root and branch assessment of our costs. This has led to some amazing results already with a 30% reduction in waste costs. We continue to look at all areas including utilities. Our whole estate now operates on low energy bulbs and waterless urinals, which are saving thousands of pounds. We are conscious of energy costs within our kitchens and have signed with Synergy grills to supply our estate with their new innovative grills. With a 40% energy saving on the most expensive piece of kit in the kitchen to run, this was an easy decision to make, coupled with the food being a far better product to the plate, lower maintenance and cleaning, it will revolutionise our current grill system. Once our assessment is finished and all areas implemented, we expect savings in the region of £100,000 and this will not lead to a single customer-facing cut, but improvements to our efficiency, leaving us in a position to actually invest further in the customer experience.”