Monday 19/9/16
Propelinfonews.com – Sam’s Chicken to open Northampton town centre site: Sam’s Chicken, which operates 34 sites, mainly in and around London, is set to open a restaurant in Northampton town centre. The company, which sells fried chicken burgers, wings, buckets and wraps to take away or eat in, will take over the former Oxfam shop in the Drapery ahead of an opening in early November. The restaurant is currently looking for full-time and part-time “food and service assistants”. Sam’s Chicken opened its first restaurant in Wealdstone, Middlesex, in 1990. According to its website, the company uses it own “secret mix of spices” that goes into the flour preparation and cooking process that gives the “crispy golden brown chicken product lines, which holds the key to business success”. A total of 24 of the company’s restaurants are franchises, and its website states: “To ensure the quality and service associated with Sam’s is maintained by new franchisees, expansion is being carefully planned and managed.” Outside the Greater London area, Sam’s Chicken operates two franchised sites in Birmingham and others in Luton and on the Isle of Wight.
Propelinfonews.com – Beechdale Home and Oakman partner for Royston opening: Beechdale Homes has agreed terms with Oakman Inns & Restaurants to acquire Banyers Hotel in Royston for an undisclosed sum. The hotel will be renamed Banyers House and will be open before Christmas this year, following the completion of a £1.5 million joint investment to refurbish the property. Banyers House will become the seventeenth operation in Oakman’s portfolio of pubs and restaurants. The deal was brokered by Paul Barrasford of Colliers International, acting on behalf of Beechdale Homes. Peter Borg-Neal, Oakman Inns chief executive, said: “We are delighted to have acquired this stunning building. Royston is a really great town and we are looking forward to becoming a part of and contributing to the town’s community. It has been a pleasure to do business with Martin Jackson and I am sure he will be delighted with what we achieve with Banyers House.” Martin Jackson, managing director of Beechdale Homes, said: “I am delighted for the new owners with whom I am hoping to work in the future on other projects. Having met the team from Oakman Inns at a recent site visit and seen the success of their management style, I think the people of Royston will be pleased with the outcome. I have always believed that Royston deserved a great venue and Oakman have the knowledge and style to deliver what I had always hoped Banyers might become.” Paul Barrasford, director of Hotels Agency for Colliers International, added: “Beechdale Homes has beautifully refurbished the property and we’re all delighted to have secured such an experienced operator for the Banyers Hotel. Oakman Inns has a marvellous track record in the sector and we’re sure the business will quickly flourish under their stewardship. We’ve sold a number of hotels in and around the surrounding area in recent months; these being in addition to the multiple sales across the UK we’ve successfully completed since the EU Referendum result. These deals support our view that demand for hotel facilities will always be there regardless of the political backdrop. Whilst some macroeconomic reporting has been pessimistic, the micro position is often very positive as hotels and their surrounding businesses and regions continue as normal. From a regional hotels transactional perspective there has been no market shock.”
Tuesday 20/9/16
Propelinfonews.com – Wagamama opens Peterborough city centre restaurant: Wagamama has opened a restaurant in Peterborough city centre. The company has opened the 130-cover venue in Long Causeway on a site formerly occupied by Blacks and Asylum Industries, creating 39 jobs. The restaurant features canteen-style benches as well as breakout areas and booths. Wagamama global brand director Simon Cope told the Peterborough Telegraph: “We are very pleased to open the doors to our new restaurant in Peterborough, where Wagamama will continue to reinforce positive eating by using fresh ingredients, served in atmospheric surroundings. It’s an exciting time for us and we look forward to hearing what our new and valued customers in Peterborough make of our arrival.” Earlier this month, Wagamama reported like-for-like sales rose by 9.8% in the 16 weeks to 14 August, the first quarter of its Fiscal Year 2017. Its credit rating has been upgraded by both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. The UK like-for-like sales growth followed two strong prior years. The company said it had now traded ahead of the competition for 120 consecutive weeks.
Morningadvertiser.co.uk – Works Must Pay: MPs throw weight behind roadworks campaign
By Oli Gross, 20-Sep-2016
The Morning Advertiser’s roadworks compensation campaign, Works Must Pay, continues to gather momentum as MPs throw their weight behind the fight for a fairer system for pubs. Read More
Wednesday 21/9/16
Morningadvertiser.co.uk – CAMRA names top 16 regional winners in search for Pub of the Year
By Oli Gross, 21-Sep-2016
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has named its top 16 pubs in the country as part of its search for the National Pub of the Year.
Propelinfonews.com – Hotel Chocolat set to open cafe in Bury St Edmunds, first Suffolk site: Hotel Chocolat is set to open a cafe in Bury St Edmunds next month as the brand makes its first foray into Suffolk. The company is looking to open the venue at The Arc shopping centre in the complex’s only empty unit and has submitted plans to St Edmundsbury Borough Council. The Arc manager Colin Roberts told the Ipswich Star: “We’re delighted Hotel Chocolat is coming to Bury St Edmunds in the last remaining unit we’ve got at the Arc, between Smiggle and Vodafone. It will bring its fabulous brand of chocolate with a small cafe selling hot chocolate and even more. The quality and brand is superb. It’s the perfect finishing touch for The Arc.” Hotel Chocolat began trading on AIM in May and for the year ending 28 June 2015 reported sales were up 12% to £92.6m.
Propelinfonews.com – Pint Shop opens second site, in Oxford: Pint Shop, the award-winning Cambridge beer house, has opened its second site, in Oxford. The concept, co-owned by Rich Holmes and Benny Peverelli, has opened in a building in George Street that dates to the 1930s and was formerly a building society. The decor has been designed with this in mind, anchoring it in the 1930s but with modern touches and lots of wood and tiling throughout. The food at the Oxford site is an extension of the Pint Shop offer – simple, seasonal British dishes with an emphasis on meat and local ingredients. The bar snack offering has been enhanced, with dishes including a slicing pie, trays of roasted vegetables, and hot chipped potatoes with curry sauce poured over them from a flask. Pint Shop has also developed a stout-based beer bread to be sold at the bar. In addition, Pint Shop has brewed a beer – “Hoog and Doog” (High and Dry) – with Netherlands-based De Molen brewery to celebrate the opening. It is a pale ale, “dry hopped” with grapefruit. Holmes told the Oxford Mail: “We’re so excited about opening in Oxford. It’s a beautiful, vibrant city we can’t wait to be part of, and the site we have chosen is perfect.”
Thursday 22/9/16
Bighospitality.co.uk – Cask ale market grows to £1.7bn a year
By Sophie Witts, 21-Sep-2016
The cask ale category is now worth £1.7bn a year in the UK, but pubs still need to do more to raise awareness of the drink. Read More
Propelinfonews.com – Burning Night Group to open Birmingham Bierkeller in December, completes Nottingham lease deal: Burning Night Group has told Propel it will open its Bierkeller in Birmingham on Thursday, 8 December, while it has just signed a 25-year lease for its Nottingham site at the former Walkabout venue in Friar Lane. The company, which operates similar venues in Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Cardiff, has taken a 15-year lease on the 22,000 square foot Birmingham property that formerly housed Brannigan’s bar. Burning Night Group confirmed the Broad Street venue would comprise all three of its brands – the Bierkeller, Around the World and Shooters Sports Bar – and feature Bavarian oompah bands on Fridays and Saturdays. The venue will also feature a 4.8m x 2.4m P3.75 television, which will have the highest pixel density of any of the company’s huge LED screens and have a quality “better than any other bar we know of anywhere in the UK”. The £2.1m Nottingham site will house the same brands as the Birmingham venue, with 22,000 square feet inside the site and 5,000 square feet externally. The venue is expected to open at the end of January. Meanwhile, Burning Night Group added it would start work soon to increase the size of its Leeds Bierkeller site to facilitate a full refurbishment and remodelling.
Friday 23/9/16
Bighospitality.co.uk – Regional hotels set for ‘record growth’ in 2017
By Sophie Witts, 22-Sep-2016
UK regional hotels are set to see record growth in 2017, but London properties will continue to struggle. Read More
Morningadvertiser.co.uk – How to avoid a dilapidations disaster
By Kevin Marsh, director of licensed leisure at Savills, 22-Sep-2016
A dilapidations bill can be a crippling expense at the end of a tenancy. Can that expense be avoided by something as simple as keeping the pub in a good state of repair? Read More
Propelinfonews.com – Loungers signs deal to open Cosy Club in Lincoln: Cafe brand Loungers has agreed a deal to open a Cosy Club in Lincoln. The company has signed for the new £12m Cornhill development in the city, which is set to open next summer. It will be joined by Danish home and general store Flying Tiger Copenhagen and suit hire company Moss Bros. The grade II-listed Corn Exchange building will house five brands in total once complete. Cosy Club managing director Jake Bishop told the Lincolnshire Echo: “The magnificent grade II-listed Corn Exchange building caught our eye as it fits in perfectly with our ‘mansion splendour meets village eccentricity’ ways. We like every customer to leave ‘feeling splendid’, which we’re confident will be the case at this beautiful building. We will also be in a prime position in the heart of one of the UK’s leading retail and leisure destinations as well as in one of the most exciting historic and up-and-coming cities in the country. I can’t wait for our grand opening bash.” Loungers operates 15 Cosy Clubs in the UK, with its next due to open in Liverpool in December.