Monday 10/8/15
BBC Newsbeat: UK nightclubs closing at ‘alarming rate’, industry figures suggest: Newsbeat has seen figures which suggest nearly half of the UK’s nightclubs have shut their doors in just 10 years. The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR), which represents venues, says in 2005 there were 3,144 clubs and this is now down to 1,733. Chief Executive Kate Nicholls reckons that in some towns “they are gone for good and we’re never going to get them back”. But people like Rudimental have told us that clubbing trends “go in cycles”. The ALMR warns the closures will leave the UK worse off “culturally, socially and economically”. It classes a club as a place meant for “late night entertainment, usually music and dancing”. Ministry of Sound is an iconic name in clubbing, where many of the great DJs of the 1980s and 1990s made their names. But its boss, Lohan Presencer, agrees that UK clubbing is in a “challenging place” in 2015. “I don’t think the number of people going clubbing at the weekend is any different to where it was 20 years ago, but I do think they are going to different places,” he told Newsbeat. “With the advent of later pub opening hours, the smoking ban, student tuition fees and the squeeze that a lot people are under financially since the recession,” he explains, “I think people are finding different ways and different places to go out.” One of those alternatives is festivals which are increasingly big business when it comes to live music and now the DJ scene too. Rudimental are headlining festivals around the UK and Europe this summer – and they run their own event too. So are festivals killing club culture? “It kind of goes in cycles,” reckons Amir, producer and DJ in the London drum and bass group. “I mean there was a hell of a lot of clubs out there and a lot of DJs – and now there are DJs on the main stage at festivals. “They’re essentially still playing house music so it just shifts in cycles and it will go back into the club.” Club owners argue that without smaller clubs young DJs and promoters won’t have anywhere to learn their trade. Read More
Morningadvertiser: ‘Terrible’ TripAdvisor review despite saving wedding guest’s life
By Oli Gross, 07-Aug-2015
Saving the life of a wedding guest was not enough to save a pub from being rated as “terrible” on TripAdvisor.
Tuesday 11/8/15
Morningadvertiser: Lincoln late-night venue wins back 4am licence
By Emily Sutherland, 11-Aug-2015
Lincoln-based bar Status has won a battle to serve alcohol to 4am after police previously cut its hours to 3am earlier this year.
Wednesday 12/8/15
Bighospitality: Restaurants urged to invest in mobile-enabled websites to boost sales
By Emma Eversham+, 11-Aug-2015
Many restaurants are missing out on sales via mobile devices because their websites are not mobile-enabled or they haven’t developed apps.
Propelinfonews.com: Research shows 87% of diners would not return after slow service: New research by guest experience management experts HospitalityGEM has found 87% of diners would not return to a pub or restaurant following an experience of slow service. Furthermore, the negative impact of a single incident of slow service can be even greater than anticipated, with 95% of diners stating they would feel obliged to mention this to friends. However, only 48% of consumers said they would complain while at a venue, meaning operators may not be aware of any issues with service unless they have an evaluation system in place. It’s clear that speed of service is essential at every stage of the customer journey with 57% of diners saying they would want to wait less than five minutes to be seated. While two thirds of consumers want their order taken within five-ten minutes. When it comes to their experience as a whole, 72% of diners expect to only take an hour over lunch in a pub or restaurant during the week. Diners are prepared to spend more time in a pub or restaurant over a meal at the weekend than they do during the week, with 58% expecting to spend one-and-a-half hours over lunch at the weekend, and 55% expecting to spend over two hours having dinner, compared to 62% who expect dinner in the week to last just one-and-a-half hours. Steven Pike, managing director of HospitalityGEM, said: “Our research clearly demonstrates the need for operational processes and training to support a fast, effective service. However, it’s also about reading the guest’s needs and recognising the appropriate pace. The silent impact on your brand when the pace is wrong (and too slow is a more common complaint than too fast) can be significant. With less than half of customers saying that they would complain while on-site, it can be difficult for operators to even be aware of problems before they leak into the guest’s recommendations. This demonstrates the need for a comprehensive evaluation system that can compare the experience against the brand standards and highlight areas where improvement is needed.”
Leicester Mercury: Gin distillery 45 West Distillers set to open shop and bar: A gin distillery is opening a shop and bar in Leicester city centre and relocating its head office there. 45 West Distillers – which makes Burleighs gin – has taken the tenancy on premises below the Case restaurant, in Hotel Street. The ground-level unit has been empty since hi-fi specialist Cymbiosis moved out last year. Burleighs will continue to be made at its craft distillery in the Charnwood Forest at Nanpantan, near Loughborough. It began operating a single gin still in July last year, producing up to 600 bottles a week. The business makes Burleighs Signature London Dry Gin, which sells for £32.50, along with Export and Distillers Cut gins, which both cost £37.50. They are on sale in bars across the country and are now stocked in Harrods, the Savoy and Fortnum and Mason, as well as in countries such as Spain, America and Australia. The company is owned by Phil Burley, Graham Veitch, and master distiller Jamie Baxter. The Hotel Street bar and shop will be called 45 West, and the office will also be the headquarters of a sister business supplying distillery equipment. Mr Burley said it was a perfect location for the brand and business – close to bars and restaurants such as the Case, Champagne Bar, 33 Cank Street, the Rutland and Derby, BrewDog and Cosy Club. The shop will sell Burleighs gin and other high quality spirits, as well as American craft beers. It will also have a wine department overseen by experts at Loughborough wine and spirit merchants George Hill. Mr Burley said it will be a shop window for the team’s products and allow them to service retailers, bars and restaurants across the city. At night it will become a bar offering cocktails, wines and craft beers. He said: “We have already moved our office there from Blaby. “It gives us a better connection with our customers and clients directly in Leicester. “There’s a little function room downstairs where we will be able to host things such as wine tastings. “We want the bar to have the same atmosphere as the old Vin Quatre bar in King Street – somewhere you would go after work and end up staying all night. “Burleighs gin was our creation and is our baby, and we want the bar to be the same.” The team also plans to host gin tours, allowing people to taste a variety of spirits at bars and pubs around the city centre. Jamie Baxter, who oversees the distillery side of things, hoped the bar and bottle shop would be open in the second half of September. He said: “The new place has a really nice atmosphere even though it’s still a building site and feels warm and welcoming.” He is currently working on a flavoured Urban Vodka which should be on sale before the end of the year.
Travelmole.com:Ritz gets sustainable accolade for innovation, minimizing waste, social responsibility and energy saving: The Ritz London has achieved the Gold certification from Green Tourism, the world’s largest independent sustainable tourism certification programme. Measured across ten different sustainable criteria throughout the hotel, including waste minimisation, social responsibility, energy saving and innovation, The Ritz London has achieved the highest-level Gold Award. Commenting on the Green Tourism Gold Award, Paul Winfield-Brown, Maintenance Manager at The Ritz London says; “We are delighted that our efforts to operate in a sustainable way have been recognised by Green Tourism with the Gold Award. As an iconic London landmark we recognise and are committed to contributing to promoting a greener future”. Having first opened in 1906, almost 110 years ago, The Ritz London has shown committment at all levels of the business to both the conservation of the Grade II listed building as well as contributing to the future well-being of the environment. The award recognizes The Ritz team’s work in reducing the hotel’s environmental impact and carbon footprint through sustainable practices. As well as being a member of the Sustainable Restaurants Association, Ritz London has also partnered with CleanConscience, an innovative new company set up with the aim of reducing waste from the hospitality industry from hitting landfills, by recovering partly used soap and guest amenities. CleanConscience manually sort, sterilise and reprocess soaps and toiletries and distribute globally to people suffering from life threatening diseases, preventable by the simple process of hand washing with soap. The hotel also has a policy of purchasing the freshest ingredients available to the market place for each season. Local suppliers and where possible fair-trade produce are utilised to reduce the carbon footprint, enabling the shortest distance from farm to fork. The kitchen has been recently renovated and now uses induction throughout with no gas, making it far more energy efficient. The new workspace enables the majority of cooking to be done on planchas, minimising the need for fats and oils and the many traditional pots and pans, and therefore reducing the amount of water used in washing up and grease in the drainage system.
Thursday 13/8/15
Propelinfonews.com: New a’ la carte Indian restaurant concept Ba Shoh set for Peterborough: A new a la carte Indian restaurant concept is set for Peterborough city centre. Ba Shoh, which will feature “imaginative cuisine accompanied with wine and cocktails influenced by the legacy of the British Raj”, is opening in the former Imperial Bento restaurant in Broadway. In Punjabi, bashoh means king. The 200-seat venue is the brainchild of Amir Mahmood, from London, who was in the food business overseas for many years and has decided to make a comeback in Peterborough. He said: “We studied the market and saw a need for this type of restaurant in the city. It will be different to other Indian restaurants as the menus will be inspired by older dishes served for the British Raj. Hopefully we will be open by the end of this month or the first week in September.” Later in the year, Mahmood plans to use the former Bar Fever conservatory attached to the building as a shisha bar.
Morningadvertiser: Pub sales flat as public ‘benefit from greater choice’
By James Wallin, M&C Allegra Foodservice, 13-Aug-2015
Restaurants recorded like-for-like growth of 4.3% in July but pubs remained essentially flat, according to the latest Coffer Peach Business Tracker.
Bighospitality: Daniel Clifford: Industry must tackle chef shortage or face demise
By Emma Eversham+, 12-Aug-2015
The hospitality industry needs to come together urgently and find ways to tackle the chef shortage or face its rapid demise, two Michelin-starred chef Daniel Clifford has warned.
Propelinfonews.com: Greene King hires its 1,000th apprentice this year: Greene King has recruited its 1,000th apprentice this year, putting the company ahead of schedule in its pledge to recruit 2,000 apprentices in the year to March 2016. The company, in partnership with national apprenticeship provider, Lifetime Training, has helped support over 5,500 apprentices since 2011, in its efforts to promote opportunities for young people in the hospitality sector. Luke Myers, 18, Greene King’s 1,000th apprentice, works at the Yorkshire Grey pub in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. Myers is a Greene King food production and cooking apprentice. This training and work experience will help Myers to hone the skills necessary to progress more rapidly within Greene King from team member to general manager. Jane Connor, Greene King’s group HR director, said: “Reaching our 1,000th apprentice this year is an important milestone for Greene King and the hospitality industry. Apprentices reduce team turnover, increase employee engagement and grow talent organically across all levels and departments. Greene King wants to play its part in combating the industry shortage of chefs and since last summer, more than 75% of all recruited apprentices have been for ‘back of house’ roles, including Luke who is working in the kitchen at the Yorkshire Grey pub. As students across the country receive their A Level and GCSE results, it is important for them to be aware of the alternative education and career paths that exist outside of traditional education. At Greene King we want to support young people get that all-important first step on the career ladder. Apprenticeships provide learners with valuable skills that will help them to build a career. We offer opportunities to those of all ages and we hope that over the coming years we are able to further grow and develop the scheme.”
Golfclubmanagement.net: Free golf coaching and shorter courses leads to new members: New data from England Golf has found that clubs that offer free golf coaching and the ability to play less than 18 holes of the game are seeing a ‘surge’ in new players and club members. According to the association’s Impact Report, there were over 8,500 new club memberships in England in the year to March 2015 – which could equal £7.2 million in annual subscriptions. The results follow a year of changed focus in county activity to grow the game. There have been fewer one-off taster sessions and more emphasis on structured coaching courses and regular playing opportunities which lead to club membership. The main successes were due to: 1. A pilot project running in Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire to trial new ways of increasing participation and membership. These include free golf coaching at pitch and putt courses, promotion of nine-hole golf and after-work roll-ups, and a junior retention project. 2.The ‘Get into golf’ campaign. England Golf has invested significantly in digital advertising during this summer 2015 to increase awareness of. 3. Increased capacity for county development officers to strengthen local activities.
More than 44,000 people aged 14-plus took part in structured coaching, 39 percent of them female and 11 percent disabled.?Over 36,000 people took follow-up activities?and a total of 8,539 new club memberships were reported – an average of 259 per county. Claire Roberts, England Golf’s head of participation, said: “Research tells us that golf club members play golf most often and our county network has, therefore, concentrated on creating more regular players and more members. “The past year has been very encouraging and England Golf will continue to work with counties and clubs to promote regular coaching and ways to recruit and retain club members.”
Friday 14/8/15
Propelinfonews.com: Record number of Nottingham city centre venues achieve Best Bar None accreditation: A record number of licensed premises in Nottingham city centre have succeeded in gaining Best Bar None accreditation. Best Bar None is a national initiative supported by the Home Office, designed to promote the responsible and effective management and operation of licensed premises. In Nottingham city centre the scheme has been run by the Nottingham Business Improvement District since 2010. This year, 51 licensed venues secured accreditation following an application process, independent assessments of their applications and visits to the venues.
The Telelgraph: Golf courses and sports centres dragged into VAT scandal: Exclusive: sports clubs are failing to pass on a tax discount in a situation reminiscent of the airport shop VAT scandal, The Telegraph learns. Golf courses, leisure centres and other sports clubs are failing to pass on to their visitors a tax discount that was quietly introduced earlier this year, The Telegraph has learnt. In a situation reminiscent of the airport shops VAT scandal, hundreds of not-for-profit sporting organisations across the country are holding on to a tax break that was supposed to cut the cost of the activities. Until January this year, 20 per cent value-added tax (VAT) was included in the price charged to non-members for rounds of golf, swimming sessions and other sporting pursuits offered by non-profit organisations. But under a change in the law in January, the tax office stopped collecting these levies. It is understood that very few, if any, golf clubs have passed the savings on to visitors by cutting green fees. Residents who use local sports centres run by not-for-profit organisations also said they had not noticed prices falling. Organisations refusing to cut fees were “pulling the same stunt as the airport shops”, they alleged. Stores in Heathrow, Gatwick and other British airports typically ask for boarding passes so they can claim a 20 per cent VAT discount if the customer is flying outside the EU. Read More
Propelinfonews.com: Four-strong pub operator Redwell Brewery to install distillery in Norwich pub: Redwell Brewery, which produces craft beer at its Bracondale site and runs four pubs around Norwich, is set to open a gin distillery at The Ten Bells pub in St Benedicts Street. The new distillery, which is being imported from America, is set to be installed at the end of October and would be capable of producing 1.5 million bottles of gin per year. Patrick Fisher, co-owner of Redwell, said there would be distillery tours to explain the gin-making process to people, and a wealth of different gins for pub-goers to enjoy. “There’s not an abundance of distilleries in Norfolk so we thought we would have one that locals can see, bottle their own gin, put their own inscriptions on if they want to do it as a present,” he explained. “We’re really proud of where we’re from and we hope it’s something Norwich people will like and the product will be good enough.” The in-pub distillery could produce a batch of 4,700 bottles, of 70cl each, per day, and could be used to produce vodka as well as gin. Bosses are awaiting trademark protection before revealing the brand name for the new gin, and the venture has created three jobs.
Golf Club Management: No fraud investigation for Brocket Hall: AlixPartners was appointed administrator of Brocket Hall International in March. The estate features a golf club with two courses, but had experienced a ‘protracted period of poor trading’ which led to financial difficulties for the business prior to the appointment of the administrator. Since then the golf club’s manager has left his position and an AlixPartners spokeswoman has said her company has not reported any director to the Serious Fraud Office over their conduct. “No sale has been agreed although negotiations with interested parties are ongoing,” she told the Welwyn Hatfield Times. “The general manager, John Keating, handed in his notice and has left the company for a new position and at present there is a sufficient number of managerial staff to cover. “The administrators have a duty to submit a formal report to the Department for Business Innovation & Skills pursuant to the Insolvent Companies (Reports on Conduct of Directors) Rules 1996, and this will be submitted in due course. “The administrators have not contacted the police, Serious Fraud Office, or any other legal body regarding the directors’ conduct.” Meanwhile, Insider Media has reported that unsecured creditors to Brocket Hall International are set to make a total loss of about £16.7 million from their investments. A statement of affairs seen by Insider has revealed that unsecured creditors are owed almost £16.8 million while HSBC Bank, the company’s secured creditor, is owed more than £1.6 million. In a report to creditors, administrators said the outcome for HSBC is ‘uncertain’ while unsecured creditors are set to receive just £31,986. The document has also revealed that the business continues to trade while a buyer is sought and that all employees, including 143 permanent staff members, have been retained. Earlier this year the administrator also confirmed that golf club membership would be unaffected despite the club’s troubles.
Propelinfonews.com: Historic stately home opens eco-lodges: An historic stately home on the border of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire has launched a new eco-friendly lodge development within its 12-acres of land after securing a £1.9m funding package. Hothorpe Hall in Theddingworth has opened The Woodlands, which comprises 23 lodges with space for up to 100 guests. The development, which sits alongside the 215-year-old hall, also includes a bar, dining room and treehouse space. Nicola Firth, managing director of Hothorpe Hall and The Woodlands, said: “We want to add more facilities to the new development once we feel the investment has paid off.”