Monday 30/3/15
Propelinfonews.com: Bulldog secures £4.5m investment from Business Growth Fund: Coaching inn operator Bulldog Hotel Group has secured a £4.5m investment from the Business Growth Fund (BGF) to support a planned £20 million expansion across England. The business, based in Boston, Lincolnshire, operates seven hotels and will use the capital injection to double the number of properties in its portfolio over the next three to four years. Bulldog was recently named as one of the London Stock Exchange Group’s 1,000 Companies to Inspire Britain 2015, an annual celebration of some of the fastest-growing and most dynamic small and medium-sized enterprises in the UK. Bulldog specialises in finding high quality coaching inns and revitalising their offer across food, drink and accommodation segments.
Propelinfonews.com: Royal assent given to insolvency law changes: Royal assent has now been given to the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, which will not only introduce the controversial statutory code of practice to govern the relationship between the big pubcos and their tied tenants, but also mean changes to the UK’s insolvency laws, among other measures. These include new powers for the government to seek compensation orders against disqualified directors guilty of misconduct; a broader range of matters a court must consider when disqualifying a director, including the director’s past record in running failed companies; changes to the laws covering bank accounts for bankrupts; and new rules covering insolvency practitioners, including that the costs of their services should be fair and reasonable; and changes to the law to prevent unnecessary delays to the appointment of administrators.
Propelinfonews.com: Pug Pubs develops food-focused format for third opening: Pug Pubs, the pub operator led by former Mitchells & Butler executive Nigel Pinegar and business partner Matthew Crowther, has developed a more food-focused format for its third opening, The Pug & Greyhound at Great Glen, near Leicester. The new venue has an open charcoal fired rotisserie grill. Along with dishes from the rotisserie, including BBQ chicken wings and crispy pork belly, the menu includes stone-baked pizza, 28-day aged Aubrey Allen steaks, and tapas style dishes to share. Crowther said: “We’ve now taken the Pug concept to a new area and have also expanded our range of trading formats. With existing town centre and edge-of-town sites in Leamington Spa, we’ve now demonstrated that we can successfully combine local appeal with a destination food offer in a village pub site.
Tuesday 31/3/15
Travel Daily News International: Ambassadors Bloomsbury install Samsung’s unique unified Voice & Data platform for hospitality …Samsung Electronics announced that Ambassadors Bloomsbury, has recently installed its unique unified voice & data platform for hospitality, to improve both staff communication and guest Wi-Fi experience as part of the hotels upgrade project. At the same time, the hotel upgraded its in-room TVs to Samsung Hospitality TVs and installed a Samsung multi-function printer to update its back office capability. Connectivity and quality of the Wi-Fi service available at a hotel can be a significant factor in a guest’s choice of venue. In recognition of this, Ambassadors Bloomsbury wanted to provide first class Wi-Fi access for all guests as well as replacing the internal phone system which had become unreliable. Read More
Financial Times: London’s Clove Club asks diners to pay upfront to cut no-shows: A new ticketing service to be launched in a Michelin-starred restaurant in London promises to make fine dining more exclusive in the capital. The Clove Club in Shoreditch, east London, will from June require customers to pay for their meals in advance to reduce the numbers that cancel at the last minute. Read More
Propelinfonews.com: Penalty for showing Sky illegally now unlimited: Licensees convicted for the criminal offence of dishonestly showing Sky Sports matches to their customers without a commercial agreement are now subject to an unlimited fine, rather than, as was previously the case, one capped at £5,000 per offence. The new regulation takes effect against offences committed from 12 March 2015.
H&C News: Mark Sargeant Joins The Strand Dining Rooms: Mark Sargeant, the renowned TV chef, restaurateur and recipe book author, has announced he will join The Strand Dining Rooms as Chef Director this month. Sargeant, who spent 13 years working with Gordon Ramsay, including seven years as Head Chef at Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s, will introduce an entirely new Great British menu at the all-day restaurant and cocktail bar, available from Friday 3 April….. Read More
Morningadvertiser.co.uk: Adjudicator for pubs code by May 2016
By Ellie Bothwell, 31-Mar-2015
A pubs code adjudicator will be in place by May 2016 at the latest, the Government has confirmed.
http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Legal/Legislation/Adjudicator-for-pubs-code-by-May-2016
Wednesday 1/4/15
Premier Construction Magazine: The Casual Dining Design Awards 2015: Over forty casual dining pubs and restaurants from across the UK competed for the prestigious awards including high street names like ASK Italian, Nando’s, wagamama, and Pizza Hut Restaurants, plus a range of entries from independent firms.
Now in their second year, the Casual Dining Design Awards included three categories – Best Designed Independent Restaurant, Best Designed Multiple Restaurant, and Best Designed Casual Dining Pub. Read More
Propelinfonews.com: Camra – Three quarters of pub-goers say pubs are as important as post offices and community centres: A pub is just as important to community life as a post office, local shop or community centre, according to statistics released today to mark the start of Community Pubs Month, run by the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra). The Camra survey found that 75% of pub-goers believed a well-run community pub was as important to community life as other local services. The important role pubs play in local communities makes it even more vital to reverse the decline in numbers and a net closure rate which sees 29 pubs per week close for good, the organisation said.
Bighospitality.co.uk: Hotelier turns to crowdfunding to raise refurbishment funds
By Emma Eversham, 31-Mar-2015
The owner of Glen Rothay hotel in the Lake District has turned to crowdfunding to help raise funds for bedroom refurbishments and a restaurant re-launch.
http://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Business/Glen-Rothay-hotel-crowdfunds-revenue-loan
Propelinfonews.com: Downing invests further £6m in Downoak joint venture with Oakman: Investment fund Downing have provided more than £6m of further funding to Downoak Limited, a partnership between Downing and Oakman Inns and Restaurants. The deal is aimed at unlocking ‘significant freehold/leasehold marriage value’. Steven Kenee, of Downing, said: “This is an innovative transaction which provides a safe home for our funds and frees up significant expansion capital for Oakman. The investment was made possible by the success of Downoak’s first acquisition – The Akeman Inn, Aylesbury – which was refurbished and relaunched in November 2014. Whilst the site opened well and is outperforming expectations, its real success is the trust and professional respect it generated between our firms, which allowed for this follow-on investment to happen.” Peter Borg-Neal, of Oakman Inns, said: “We’re delighted to have completed this transaction with Downing.
Thursday 2/4/15
Caterer.com: Chef Daniel Clifford buys Essex pub the Flitch of Bacon: Daniel Clifford, chef-proprietor of the two-Michelin-starred Cambridge restaurant Midsummer House, has bought a pub in the Essex village of Little Dunmow. Clifford has bought the freehold of the Flitch of Bacon, for £300,000, and plans on reopening it in four-and-a-half months’ time after an extensive refurbishment, estimated at a cost £500,000. The pub will have 35 covers, has a large beer garden and three letting rooms which will open shortly after the pub itself. The pub will be headed up by former Midsummer House staff – both in the kitchen and front of house – exactly who will be revealed in due course, said Clifford. Read More
Propeinfonews.com: TLC Inns to open fourth and largest Grand Central after Easter: TLC Inns, the award-winning pub and restaurant operator led by Steve and Jo Haslam, will open its fourth and largest Grand Central Bar and Grill, at Ipswich Waterfront just after Easter. TLC Inns bought the former Quayside Restaurant and the neighbouring, empty, commercial unit last year and has spent 20 weeks creating the new site. The company also operates four pubs. The first Grand Central opened in Basildon three years ago, followed by a site in Ely, Cambridgeshire about a year ago and Colchester in November last year. Steve Haslam said: “Ipswich will be our biggest and the biggest investment to date. We are sure it is going to be the best: we are bringing something different to Ipswich and we think people will enjoy the American theme.” The new site will create 60 jobs, including as many as ten chefs.
Hospitalityand catering news.com: Star Pubs & Bars slashes lessees’ ingoing costs with new F&F policy: New lessees taking on tiedpubs with Star Pubs & Bars and existing lessees taking on new pubs with Star will see their ingoing costs slashed by 60-70% following the launch of a radical new fixtures and fittings policy which will see the company own big ticket items such as ovens, fridges and grills, helping save lessees’ capital, improve cash flow and create more sustainable businesses. Read More
Propelinfonews.com: McMullen plans £3.5m plus investment in Ware, re-opens Saracen’s Head: The Hertford brewer and retailer McMullen & Sons is due to make a total investment of more than £3.5m in Ware, Hertfordshire part of which has involved re-opening the Saracen’s Head pub with a pizzeria, small batch botanical gins and craft beer offer. Manager Carl Farmer said: “Our new pizzas are sourced from Luciano, an Italian artisan pizza dough producer – the handcrafted dough is simply the best, we use great 00 flour wheat germ, semolina, extra virgin olive oil and sea salt.” Managing director Peter Furness-Smith said: “The investment in the Saracen’s Head follows on from the recent refurbishment of the nearby Victoria, which means McMullen will have invested over £3.5m into Ware once the new pub and family golf centre opens at Chadwell Springs next year.”
Propelinfonews.com: Great British Menu chef opens first pub: The Great British Menu chef Colin McGurran, who owns Winteringham Fields near Scunthorpe, has opened his first pub. The Hope and Anchor in South Ferriby shut its doors in December 2013 after being devastated by a tidal surge. McGurran said: “It will be simple pub food done well. We are focusing on familiar food that most people know, and are trying to do it well. It will be a place for everyone to enjoy, and is not just designed for special occasions. We’re fully booked for reservations for the next four weeks, but we’ve got a section in the pub for people walking in as well.”
Friday 3/4/15
BBC News: The 2015-16 pension changes explained in 10 questions: Taking money out of your pension could still land you with a large tax bill. … With this type of scheme your monthly pension savings go into a big pot, … Read More