Monday 7/9/15
Propelinfonews.com: Plan for flagship Starbucks in Northampton is approved: An application to open one of the UK’s largest Starbucks in Northampton’s Market Square has been approved. The company announced the plans to open a store in a ‘landmark building’ in the market square in March. Now councillors have approved an application to open the outlet at the unit currently occupied by the That’s Entertainment music and DVD store. Concerns had been raised that a planning policy for the Market Square states 80% of the shops should be retail. With a new Starbucks and the potential for a restaurant on the Abington Street corner, that would fall to 64%. However, planning officers said the benefits of extra footfall outweighed the negatives. In July, the company said it aimed to open in late September and was looking to create 25 new jobs.
Tuesday 8/9/15
Telegraph.co.uk: Punch set to roll out the barrel on subsidiary sale: Matthew Clark, the UK’s biggest drinks supplier to the nation’s pubs, is exploring options that could lead to a potential £200m sale. Matthew Clark, the UK’s biggest drinks supplier to the nation’s pubs, is exploring options that could lead to a potential £200m sale in a deal which might provide a cash boost for embattled Punch Taverns. The distributor, which generated earnings last year of £25m on sales of £800m, is 50pc-owned by Punch, the listed pub operator. It is understood that bankers at Rothschild are working on a sale process that could provide a fillip for Punch, Britain’s second largest pub group, after it agreed a £2.4bn financial restructuring last year, which cut its borrowings by £600m in a debt-for-equity swap. Punch, which owns 3,654 pubs in the UK, has a 50pc stake in Matthew Clark alongside Australian private equity firm CHAMP. CHAMP bought its stake in the business from Constellation Brands in 2011. The original joint venture between Punch and Constellation in 2007 valued Matthew Clark at around £120m, with Punch investing £35m in cash. Drinks companies, such as C&C, could be interested in the business because of Matthew Clark’s direct route into 16,000 on-trade premises in the UK, the most lucrative space in the industry. It is unlikely that pub groups would be interested in the business, sources said. Matthew Clark was started in 1810 and was originally known in the City as a wine and spirit importer. The company, which has 1,200 employees, has recently been boosted by a partnership with English wineries such as Chapel Down and the growing British taste for Prosecco, reporting a 43pc jump in sales of the Italian fizz last year. Punch’s plans for a fresh start with its improved balance sheet following the debt restructuring have been somewhat skewed by the last government announcing plans to end the beer tie for pub landlords.
Propelinfonews.com: Batemans buys £1m turnover managed pub in Doncaster: Batemans, the family brewer based in Lincolnshire, has purchased The Olive Bar & Grill in Barnby Dun, Doncaster, at an investment of more than £900,000. This is the company’s first major acquisition since the employment of its new retail director Linda Green and is a key step in its ongoing development plan to build the managed division of its business. The Olive Bar & Grill generates a turnover in excess of £1m per year and will become Batemans’ second managed house. It boasts a strong food menu and is very popular with female customers, whilst also offering seven letting bedrooms. Batemans intends to trade the venue in its current format for the foreseeable future and will be retaining all the existing employees, while also investing £40,000 into on-site staff accommodation. With The Olive Bar & Grill, Batemans plans to build on the success of its first managed house, The Game Bird in Beverley, which the brewer saved from demolition in March of this year. As has previously been announced, Batemans intends to increase the number of managed houses in its estate to 15 over the next five years. Green said: “The purchase of The Olive Bar & Grill is something of a realisation of a dream for Batemans, as we extend our portfolio to include a site that is very different from what we currently offer. When it comes to acquisitions, most would expect us to choose a traditional ale house, but The Olive Bar & Grill is a complete departure from that, and one we know we can make a real success as a managed house. We look forward to continuing with our acquisition drive throughout the rest of 2015 and beyond!”
Propelinfonews.com: New restaurant concept Salt & Good launches in Stevenage, owners plan national chain: Salt & Good, a restaurant concept that features cuisine based on food markets and street food vendors across the globe, has launched in Stevenage with its owners planning to turn it into a national chain. The concept, which gets its name from the premise that adding salt to food preserves it – and makes it good, has opened at The Plaza next to Affinity nightclub and Fit4Less gym. The bar offers a selection of beers, wines and spirits from around the world that also compliment the food. Co-founder Danny Punia told the Stevenage Comet: “We chose Stevenage as our flagship restaurant as we wanted to bring a whole new dining experience to a town that hasn’t seen it before. Our aim is for Salt & Good to become a UK-wide chain of restaurants offering world-class flavours from countries and cultures from around the globe. Customers looking to experience a little slice of everything can now do that under one roof.”
Propelinfonews.com: Nando’s opens in Huntingdon: Nando’s has opened a new site at the Towerfields Leisure Park in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. The company has converted a former Blockbuster store into its latest venue, creating 40 jobs, reports The Hunts Post. The restaurant also includes an outside seating area, comprising of five tables and 20 chairs. It has been designed in a Mozambican/Portuguese theme with reclaimed wood from fishing boats used on the wall. Towerfields is already home to a number of restaurants, as well as a cinema and a gym. Founded in 1987, Nando’s currently operates in 30 countries and has 333 branches in the UK.
Wednesday 9/9/15
Morningadvertiser:£50,000 grant up for grabs for rural pubs
By Emily Sutherland, 09-Sep-2015
The Prince’s Countryside Fund has announced a £50,000 grant for initiatives, including pubs, which help protect rural communities.
Propelinfonews.com: Dragon’s Den star Duncan Bannatyne buys Bury St Edmund’s hotel and spa: Duncan Bannatyne, star of the BBC show Dragon’s Den, has added a hotel and spa in Bury St Edmunds to his portfolio. Bannatyne Group, which already owns hotels, spas and health clubs across the country, has purchased Clarice House from The Clarice House Group for an undisclosed sum. Facilities at the 20-acre site in Horringer Road include a hotel, a day spa with a 20m swimming pool, a state-of-the-art gym and an AA Rosette award-winning restaurant. The Neo-Jacobean mansion will be an addition to Bannatyne Group’s growing East Anglian portfolio, which includes spas in Norwich and Peterborough and a health club in Colchester. A Bannatyne Group spokesperson told the Bury Free Press: “This is a small local investment for an undisclosed sum. We are happy with the local management and the facilities will operate as normal. Terms and conditions of existing membership agreements will be honoured.”
Thursday 10/9/15
Morningadvertiser.co.uk: Rare burger rule change ‘costly’ for pub chefs
By Nicholas Robinson+, 10-Sep-2015
Serving rare burgers in UK food businesses could be expensive and remain potentially dangerous, even with new Food Standards Agency (FSA) controls in place, a leading food safety consultant has warned.
Bighospitality.co.uk: Green Tourism withdraws support for The Rainforest Alliance after BBC report
By Sophie Witts, 09-Sep-2015
Green Tourism – the environmental accreditation body for the hospitality industry – is withdrawing its support for The Rainforest Alliance after a BBC report found ‘digusting and degrading’ working conditions at a tea plantation endorsed by the brand.
Hopitalityandcateringnews.com: Sustainable Restaurant Association launches “Food Made Good”: Five years after its launch as a trade association in 2010, and having grown from 50 Member sites to 5,000, the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) is now launching a new consumer platform to respond to the ever-increasing public appetite for information about the food on their plate. Whilst consumers can consult packaging to guide their choices at home, they are often left in the dark when eating out.
For too long, the industry has been either reluctant or confused about how best to communicate its sustainability and engage consumers in conversation. Now, as well as providing the indispensable and unrivalled Diners’ Guide to good places to eat out, Food Made Good will also campaign on key issues and encourage a conversation between diners and the industry about the issues that matter to them. Mark Linehan, Managing Director of the SRA, said: “Food Made Good celebrates everything that goes into making eating out a genuinely good experience. Foodservice businesses that ignore their customers’ interest in sustainability or fail to communicate about the good things they do, do so at their peril. Instead they should be celebrating their suppliers, and highlighting their positive impact on the community and the environment – helping their customers enjoy their meals that little bit more. Food has a story and diners want to hear it – so our advice is that if you want to be running a successful hospitality business – tell that story.” Launching at the Abergavenny Food Festival on Friday 18th September, Food Made Good will be urging the public to commit to one action when eating out to help #MakeFoodGood. They can choose from one of the easy actions provided, such as asking for tap water instead of bottled, or create their own. Diners can write their pledge on a napkin, take a photo and post their pledge on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, announcing their pledge with #MakeFoodGood.
Propelinfonews.com: Cambscuisine seeks second Smokeworks site: Cambscuisine, the Cambridge area pub and restaurant operator led by Oliver Thain and Max Freeman, is seeking a bigger site in the city for its second Smokeworks site, the barbecue concept it launched in the city centre last year. Thain said: “We’ll be developing another Smokeworks in Cambridge – a big brother but no definite site as yet. It makes a lot of sense for us as a business – since we can focus on people, we know the market well and it forces us to be innovative in a single market.” The company is also planning to invest £500,0000 in its Crown and Punchbowl site in the new year, adding rooms and extending the restaurant from 50 to 85 covers.
Golf Club Management: Is this the way to make golf quicker and more fun?: Three UK golf clubs have brought in a number of ‘part skateboards, part Segways and part buggies’, which allow golfers to ‘surf fairways’ between shots, dramatically speeding up play. We revealed earlier this year that West Bolton Golf Club in the USA had brought in similar devices, which were proving popular with customers, and now three Crown Golf clubs, The Hertfordshire, Paultons and Sherfield Oaks, have introduced ‘GolfBoard’ rentals. All three venues took delivery of their GolfBoards in August, and dozens of golfers have already given the innovation the thumbs-up. The brainchild of fitness tycoon Don Wildman and big wave surfing legend Laird Hamilton, the GolfBoard has been proven to dramatically speed up pace of play, with rounds of golf averaging under three hours. A GolfBoard is essentially a large, four-wheel motorised skateboard. You mount your golf bag on the front, grab the vertical handle, and speed off down the fairway leaning left and right to steer. GolfBoard devotees call it ‘surfing the earth’. “Early feedback from our golfers is that ‘golfboarding’ is a lot of fun, and I have to say that I agree,” said Crown Golf CEO Stephen Towers after taking his GolfBoard for a spin. “Yes you can play much faster, which is good for everybody, but even more importantly the GolfBoards are creating more smiles, more laughter and more enjoyment whenever golfers jump on and start to ride.” Simon Blanshard at Paultons Golf Centre in Hampshire said: “Golfers start out sceptical, but they come back every time and people are now coming here to play just because we have them to rent.” “They make golf fun, even if you happen to be playing badly!” said Richard Woolley at Sherfield Oaks Golf Club, also in Hampshire. “They bring a new dynamic to the sport and I’m sure they will continue to be popular.” “We’re all excited about them,” said The Hertfordshire’s Chris Purser. “They definitely add a fun dimension to every round of golf.” With safety in mind, golfers are asked to perform a supervised figure-of-eight manoeuvre in an open space when they first rent a GolfBoard at a Crown Golf club. They must also watch a operations video prior to their first rental, and there is also a disclaimer to sign.
Edie.net: Survey: Restaurants ignore sustainability ‘at their peril’: More than 90% of consumers say they would be more likely to go to a restaurant that publicised its environmental impact and the provenance of its food. That’s according to a new survey carried out on behalf of the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) – a non-profit that aims to help eateries become more sustainable. Another 83.7% of respondents said that ethical and sustainable criteria had been a deciding factor in their choice of dining destination, while 95% said they expect sustainability issues to exert an even greater influence on their dining decisions in five years’ time. The survey findings have prompted the SRA to launch a new consumer platform, Food Made Good. The website, launching on 18 September, will offer a guide to the most sustainable eateries in Britain as well as “campaigning on key issues and encouraging a conversation between diners and the industry about the issues that matter to them.” SRA managing director Mark Linehan said: “Food Made Good celebrates everything that goes into making eating out a genuinely good experience. Foodservice businesses that ignore their customers’ interest in sustainability or fail to communicate about the good things they do, do so at their peril. “Instead they should be celebrating their suppliers, and highlighting their positive impact on the community and the environment – helping their customers enjoy their meals that little bit more. Food has a story and diners want to hear it – so our advice is that if you want to be running a successful hospitality business – tell that story.” One early campaign from the platform will centre around the hashtag #MakeFoodGood. Diners are being urged to make sustainable decisions – such as ordering tap water instead of bottled – and write their pledge on a napkin, take a photo and post it on social media. Current estimates from WRAP suggest that food waste costs £5bn a year, with the total amount of waste – including food, packaging and other ‘non-food’ waste – produced at hospitality and foodservice outlets reaching almost four million tonnes. Less than half of this is recycled, sent to anaerobic digestion (AD) or composted. The technology to help the industry cut its footprint could already be in play, as edie found out last year when it investigated Britain’s first zero-waste restaurant.
Friday 11/9/15
Hotelsmag.com: Australian hotel group launches Reverse Reviews: Move aside TripAdvisor – how about GuestAdvisor for a change? Australia’s funky Art Series Hotel Group made reviews a two-way street when it recently launched Reverse Reviews, letting staff have their say about guests and publishing their reviews on its website. But, far from a “hit-back-at-you” motive, the program was a fun marketing ploy and a social experiment to increase engagement between staff and guests. Underlying this, however, was some seriousness in getting guests to give some thought about the pervasiveness of hotel reviews today, and how not all of them are always telling the truth. “Over a six-week period (April 17 to May 31, 2015), we invited any guest staying with us to play along with Reverse Reviews, opting in at check-in. If they wished to play along, they were under review from that moment through until departure,” explained Group Director of Marketing Ryan Tuckerman. “All team members across all departments – our porters, housekeeping, front office and even admin teams – were able to make note of the interactions with the guests and, upon check-out, a personalized review was generated.” The reviews were published on the group’s website and personally sent to all guests involved, who were then able to share their experience throughout their own social networks. Each guest was awarded a star rating. Those who achieved a 5-star rating received a free gift voucher to return and stay at any Art Series Hotel within 12 months. The group operates boutique hotels and residences, which are inspired and dedicated to Australian contemporary artists, in Melbourne, Bendigo and Adelaide. Read More
Morning Advertiser: Great British Pub Awards 2015: Winners crowned
By Mike Berry, 10-Sep-2015
The Shibden Mill Inn in Halifax, West Yorkshire has been crowned the Sky Great British Pub of the Year 2015.
Golfclubmanagement.net: These are the golf clubs that have been put up for sale in the last few months: A raft of golf clubs have been put up for sale in the last few months, carrying on from 2014, in which more UK golf clubs were put on the market than in any other year in history. The upmarket Formby Hall Golf Resort & Spa in Liverpool was put up for sale in May with a multi-million pound price tag. Owner, Merseyside property developer Maghull Group, has not disclosed the exact asking price but the facility’s last set of accounts shows a turnover of more than £7.1 million. The resort has hosted the European Challenge Tour and Senior and European Pro Tour events. The golf facilities include an 18-hole parkland championship par course, nine-hole par three course, driving range and a PGA academy. The golf club has more than 500 members and includes a 26-bay floodlit weatherproof driving range and a golf shop. The resort also offers two large conference / banqueting rooms fully equipped for weddings, functions and other events. The largest room, the Ambassador, has a banquet capacity of 280 people with stunning backdrops and views over the golf course. The Diplomat Suite can accommodate up to 150 people. Its last accounts, covering the 12 months to March 31 last year, show a pre-tax profit of almost £293,000 – up from almost £177,000 in the previous year. Owner Maghull Group’s chief executive, Mike Hanlon, said: “At one level this has been a difficult, emotional decision, but at another level, it is commercially logical and attractive to the business moving forward.” “This will enable us to focus on new exciting projects we have in the pipeline, such as Allerton Golf Course where we are hoping to emulate the success story we have enjoyed at Formby Hall.”
Propelinfonews.com: Norfolk multi-site operator opens fourth pub: Norfolk multi-site operator Barry Tunmore has opened his fourth pub in New Buckenham. Tunmore, who has nearly 45 years’ experience in the trade, has opened The King’s Head, which he bought two years ago, reports the Diss Express. He has spent £370,000 restoring the pub, which had been closed for seven years, and is set to offer a five-room bed and breakfast service. It also has a 62-seat dining area as well as a separate bar. Tunmore also owns the Fighting Cocks in Winfarthing, Garden House in Banham, and the Jolly Farmers in Forncett St Peter.