Monday 1/2/16

Golfclubmanagement.net: Chamber of Commerce women team up with golf club: A Midlands golf club has formed an innovative partnership with local businesswomen which is already helping both parties. Gaudet Luce Golf Club in Worcestershire has now formed several links with local businesswomen, although this was the first with a business group rather than a local company. It worked with the ‘Women’s Business Forums’ at the Worcestershire and Herefordshire Chamber of Commerce to provide golf tuition and networking opportunities to several businesswoman. The idea came about when the golf and leisure complex began working with Mark Laing, Worcestershire county development officer, to forge new links in the local community and create an easy pathway into the sport and potential club membership for new players. Chamber staff, who had launched a new women’s participation programme, advertised the Gaudet Luce offering internally and nine women signed up for the two-hour evening at the club’s driving range. Most were completely new to the game. Organiser Natalie Tanner, business development executive, said: “Nine women came on the event and really enjoyed it. Now, everybody plans to sign up for further ‘Get into golf’ events. “A few of the women were sceptical about whether they would be able to hit the ball, but they soon discovered they all could. “There can be a perception that it’s mainly men who mix golf and business, but the success of this taster event shows women are just as keen and love to play if they are given the opportunity.” Mark Laing said: “Working with partners to put on taster events like this really does help to break down the barriers to playing golf.” The event with PGA professional Russell Adams covered golfing basics, such as how to stand, grip the club and hit the ball. It finished with a light-hearted competition to see who could hit the ball best using the skills they had just learnt. The club also recently ran a special golf day for insolvency firm Poppleton and Appleby, which wanted a novel way to engage with women to discuss their field of expertise. The greet and meet day included a warm-up session on the range with the club’s PGA professionals, a nine-hole Texas scramble on the par three course, a chat about golf, afternoon tea and networking. The idea was extended into a six-week coaching programme while the ‘greet and meet’ day has been repeated for a local accountant and lawyer, with 60 people overall enjoying the taster sessions. Mark Laing said: “I have been using Gaudet Luce to pilot some of our projects before passing on what we have learnt to the other five clubs in the county involved. These are Ombersley, The Vale, Kings Norton, Cleobury Mortimer and Kidderminster.” Get into golf is the national campaign to inspire adults to take up golf, run by England Golf and supported by Sport England National Lottery funding. Gaudet Luce Golf Club is one of 100 clubs nationally taking part in an England Golf campaign to increase women’s participation in golf.

Bighospitality.co.uk: How to value your hospitality business correctly

By Darren Seward, 01-Feb-2016

Darren Seward, hospitality specialist at commercial insurer, NFU Mutual, discusses the importance of valuing the business assets of a pub, hotel and restaurant correctly. Read More

Propelinfonews.com: Batemans to close Wainfleet pub following largest refurbishment to date at second site in town: Lincolnshire brewer and retailer Batemans is to close the Royal Oak in Wainfleet having carried out its largest refurbishment to date on a second site in the town. The company said it was closing The Royal Oak in High Street because it can no longer sustain two pubs in the same town. It comes after Batemans spent £150,000 refurbishing The Woolpack – the largest made by the company in its history – just a short walk from the Royal Oak. Managing director Stuart Bateman told the Lincolnshire Echo: “We can confirm we will be closing The Royal Oak sometime this year, having carried out a major refurbishment at The Woolpack. Small towns around the country are struggling to sustain a number of pubs in a small vicinity, as people choose to go out less, but demand a better quality experience when they do.” The pub was due to close in March but Batemans said it will now stay open until it is put on the market and sold.

Propelinfonews.com: Norwich-based pub operators take on fourth site in city: Norwich-based pub operators Russell Evans and John Linford have taken on their fourth site in the city. The pair have secured the lease of the Number 12 in Farmers Avenue, which is owned by Enterprise Inns and has been closed since the previous licensee left at the start of January. Evans and Linford will reopen the building, which is thought to be about 250 years old and has views of Norwich Castle, on Friday (5 February). The layout has been changed to give a less formal feel and there will be a focus on homemade food. In terms of drinks, Evans said there would be Bullards beers on tap – the traditional Norwich brand he runs together with the Trowse-based Redwell Brewery – as well as craft beers, cider and wine. He told the Eastern Daily Press: “It’s known as a good food place, so that will very much be part of our offer. It’s a pub that has different things for different people at different times of the day.” Evans and Linford also run the Belle Vue in St Philips Road, the Buck Inn in Yarmouth Road and the York Tavern in Leicester Street.

Tuesday 2/2/16

Propelinfonews.com: Coaching Inn buys first site of six planned for 2016: Independent coaching inns operator, The Coaching Inn Group has further strengthened its expansion programme with the acquisition of the Kings Head in Richmond. The deal, secured off an asking price of £2m, is part of the group’s £20m expansion plan, which will see it acquire five more sites this year alone. Previously owned by Ashdale Hotels, the 26-bed Kings Head first opened its doors in 1717 when it was built as a gentleman’s townhouse. Nearly 300 years on, the hotel offers a blend of Georgian architecture with modern practicalities in the heart of the bustling market town of Richmond, North Yorkshire. Founder and managing director Kevin Charity said: “Over the past 12 months we have expanded The Coaching Inn Group with the acquisition of four new inns and have plans to add another five to the estate this year. The Kings Head is a great example of what we do and the locations we are looki ng to expand into. Based in the heart of North Yorkshire, the Kings Head is a key venue in the town’s offering relaxed and comfortable surroundings for visitors and local residents alike. Working with the existing management team, we plan to invest up to £1m in the property over the next 12 months. We’ll be investing across accommodation, food and beverage, including the addition of our Eatery and Coffee House concept which continues to be very successful across the rest of our estate where it has been applied.” The Coaching Inn Group has ten well- known hotels across Yorkshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Gloucestershire and Wales and has built a strong reputation in the industry for transforming high quality coaching inns and revitalising their offer across food, drink and accommodation.

Hoteldesigns.net: Lack of dry January leaves £1m hole in York hotel industry: Figures from Best Western Great Britain show how badly impacted some tourist hotspots have been by the recent flooding, with York hotel business down £1 million in January alone. Occupancy in the city — parts of which were flooded over the Christmas and New Year period — was down 12.6% for the month and revenue was down 11.5% – equating to £947,115 in lost business. This combined with cancellation of forward bookings as a result of the floods means the financial impact of the flood has cost York hotels over £1million alone, without taking into account lost revenue from impacted businesses such as restaurants, cafes, pubs and visitor attractions. The Government launched a PR campaign last week to get more people to stay in the flood hit areas, but Rob Payne, Chief Executive of Best Western Great Britain which has its Head Office in York, doesn’t believe it is enough. He said: “The hospitality industry needs more support from the Government. Mr Cameron frequently takes advantage of lower Tourism VAT rates in Portugal and Spain every time he holidays there, but he won’t cut Tourism VAT in Britain to allow us to compete with those destinations. “£1million loss in a month is a lot to recover, so I’d like to invite Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne to lead by example and to commit to holidaying in the north of England this year too, helping those people, places and businesses that badly need support. Best Western hotels would be happy to host them, we have over 60 in the north of England and an award-winning call centre in York waiting to take their call.” The Best Western Great Britain call centre was awarded the best European Customer Service Experience Team of the Year 2015 at the ICMR European Call Centre awards. The team are encouraged to have conversations with callers not follow scripts and to build relationships. They have been so successful that they own fan club of guests as a result. Best Western GB is the largest collection of independently owned hotels in Great Britain with over 270 properties. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the birth of Best Western globally.

Propelinfonews.com: £1m Damon’s Japanese Steakhouse in Lincoln to open shortly: The £1m Damon’s Japanese Steakhouse, which will sit inside the existing iconic Damon’s Restaurant off the A46 near Lincoln, is due to open shortly. No launch date has been announced but installation work is under way. Scheduled to finish in autumn last year, a further £750,000 will be spent on similar projects at Damon’s Liverpool and Sheffield sites if the Lincoln project proves a success. Stuart Carey, Damon’s company director, told the Lincolnshire Echo: “The idea came from the States. You sit around the table and they prepare all the food in front of you. We have already got those food items in as well. We already have steaks and chicken and prawns, as our supply chain is already there.” An unused part of the Damon’s Restaurant building has been opened up to create two restaurants in one, with a single main entrance. A glass partition will separate the two sections. The new steakhouse will have 96 seats, on top of 150 inside Damon’s Restaurant, creating 30 additional jobs. Kevin Coupland and Daniel Rontreecorr, of Heronswood Architectural Design, helped to devise the plan after working on rooms at the neighbouring Damon’s Motel. After a long-standing dispute with Damon’s US-based franchisor over levels of support, an agreement was reached in 2013 that gave the UK company rights to the brand in perpetuity in the UK without paying an ongoing royalty.

Propelinfonews.com: North Norfolk-based pub owner starts expanding portfolio after buying second site: North Norfolk-based pub owner Ivor Braka is set to start expanding his portfolio after buying his second site. Braka, who owns the Gunton Arms pub-restaurant in Thorpe Market, has acquired the Suffield Arms, which has been closed for five years, in the village. He is planning a major refurbishment of the building, which had been a pub since at least 1889, and hopes it will be ready to open sometime next year. Braka said he hoped North Norfolk District Council would be sympathetic to his bid to get the building relicensed as a pub after permission was granted in 2013 for it to be converted for residential use. He told the Eastern Daily Press: “I’m not trying to make a replica of the Gunton Arms – it will be a slightly different offering. It has a marvellously-long bar and I shall certainly be making a feature of that.” The nearby Gunton Arms, formerly the Elderton Lodge Hotel, opened under his ownership in October 2011. It is run by Stuart and Simone Tattersall, who used to work for London chef Mark Hix.

Wednesday 3/2/16

Propelinfonews.com: Pub/restaurant company 006 Pubco to start expansion with second site in Leicester: Leicester-based pub/restaurant company 006 Pubco will open its second site in the city as the company starts expansion. The company, which runs the Taps bar in Guildhall Lane, has agreed a 25-year lease with the city council to convert Leicester’s oldest surviving house – 15th century Wygston’s House – into its next venue. It beat competition from three other companies to secure the site of the medieval timber-framed hall in Applegate, near Jubilee Square. 006 Pubco director Geoff Thornton told the Leicester Mercury: “This is a really exciting opportunity to create something special in a unique building. Wygston’s House is going to be a new, family-friendly destination for dinner or a drink, but we also hope to serve breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea and plan to host wedding receptions and private functions too. As we did at Taps, our intention is to carry out a sympathetic conversion, which we hope will include restoring the basement vaulted ceiling to reveal the building’s original brickwork.” 006 Pubco launched the Taps bar in 2008, believed to be the first UK pub to have beer taps built into the tables.

Propelinfonews.com: Batemans buys third managed pub: Batemans, the family brewer based in Lincolnshire, has bought its third managed pub, The Fairways in Brinsworth, between Sheffield and Rotherham, South Yorkshire. The Fairways forms a key part of the brewer’s 2016 acquisition strategy; to focus on acquiring main road pubs with strong food offerings and letting rooms available to their customers. Batemans intends to trade the venue in its current format and has re-appointed the manager, Adele Goode, prior to takeover. With The Fairways, Batemans plans to build on the success of its first two managed houses, the Olive Bar & Grill in Doncaster and The Game Bird in Beverley. The Brewery is intending to continue to acquire additional pubs in 2016. Linda Green, retail director for Batemans, said: “The purchase of The Fairways is an excellent site for Batemans to add to its portfolio, with the opportunity to extend the reach of its beers even further.”

Thursday 4/2/16

Golfclubmanagement.net: Last legal delay over as golf clubs will receive green fee VAT rebate plus interest: HMRC has decided not to appeal a landmark legal decision concerning the repayment of VAT on green fees at private members’ golf clubs. The decision, made by the First Tier Tribunal on December 7, 2015, will result in hundreds of private members’ golf clubs being repaid significant amounts of VAT and interest on green fees. The decision was the last possible legal delay in achieving certainty on the VAT position in a matter that has been going on for seven years – and paves the way for private members’ golf clubs to receive the refunds this calendar year. HMRC had 56 days to appeal the First Tier Tribunal ruling that private members’ golf clubs that lodged protective claims are entitled to reclaim 90 percent of the VAT accounted for on green fees paid between 1990 and 1996, and 2006 onwards, but the deadline expired earlier this week without any appeal being lodged. Paul Stewart, indirect tax director at KPMG said that “claims will need to be adjusted where appropriate to take into account the green fee element of traditional corporate golf days, green fees charged to tour operators and green fees paid by corporate credit cards. “HMRC will then review them and if they are satisfied with the methodology used the payments should then be made plus simple interest.” He added that “KPMG will be meeting with HMRC shortly with a view to agreeing how the claims can be processed efficiently.”

Morningadvertiser: Pub closures falling – but still 27 shutting every week

By Oli Gross, 04-Feb-2016

Pub closures have slowed slightly to 27 a week as the industry begins a ‘fragile recovery’, according to the Campaign for Real Ale’s latest research. Read More

Propelinfonews.com: Sticks ‘n’ Sushi plans three more UK sites, debut in Germany, adds two board members: Sticks ‘n’ Sushi UK, with sites in Wimbledon, Covent Garden, Greenwich and Canary Wharf, is to open in Cambridge, Oxford and the new development by Land Securities, Nova, in Victoria. Cambridge will open in the historic Guildhall listed building in May and Westgate in Oxford in 2017 and both will be the first UK restaurants outside of London. The Victoria site is scheduled to open this autumn. Sticks ‘n’ Sushi will also expand in its home market with its 12th restaurant in the Copenhagen area, due to open next month. This unique listed “free stander” was formerly home to a gunpowder magazine and is located by the coast in Amager Strand. The company will open its first restaurant in Germany, Berlin, this winter, meaning, by the end of this calendar year, the group will operate 19 restaurants in three countries. Sticks ‘n’ Sushi has also added Rod McKie, chief executive of Welcome Break, to its board. McKie’s background involves helping shape and expand other leading brands including TGI Friday’s, Coffee Republic and Pret A Manger and, of late, non-executive chairman of Tossed, the healthy eating concept. Also appointed is Siri Lande, senior vice-president of Danske Bank.

Friday 5/2/16

Morningadvertiser: Tenants warned: complain now or go unheard

By Emily Sutherland, 05-Feb-2016

The head of the Pub Governing Body (PGB), Sir Peter Luff has told tenants to ‘complain now’ or risk issues with their pubco going unheard.  Read More