Tue 15th Apr 2014 - Breaking News - Hakkasan reports losses of £31.9m Hakkasan reports losses of £31.9m: Hakkasan, the international restaurant and nightclub company founded in the UK by Alan Yau, has reported that its losses widened to £31.9m in the year to 31 May 2013, against £4.52m the year before. Turnover rose 70% to £47.72m in the year from £28.13m to the end of May 2012. The company reported an ebitda loss before exceptionals of £2.6m, which was £2.5m down on the same period a year earlier, with improved performance at its UK restaurants and significant profitability from its Las Vegas nightclub offset by underperformance in the New York and San Francisco venues. Overall profitability has been hit by significant pre-opening and development costs as the Hakkasan brand is expanded as well as non-cash fixed asset impairments with respect to underperforming locations of £15m. The company reported that its Chrysan restaurant in London, which opened in September 2012 and closed in April 2013, saw trading fall “significantly below expectations”. The leasehold interest in the site went on the market last week. Companies House documents indicate that the company has agreed to buy its restaurant in Dubai previously operated under a management agreement, as well as the Pure nightclub in Las Vegas and HKK Hospitality, a third-party management company which provides strategic services to the group. Hakkasan now has a total of 27 sites it either operates, manages or licences to third parties. A further Yauatcha is due to open in Calcutta in mid-2014 under a franchise agreement. Hakkasan will also open a new restaurant this month in New York under the Beautique brand through a majority interest in a joint venture with a local partner. The company has accumulated losses of £48.9m and has net current assets of £22m. Hakkasan received £95.1m (2012: £49.5m) from its shareholder in the year to provide working capital and the build-cost of new Hakkasan operations in the US and China. Turnover in the UK was £31.1m (2012: £26.21m) and £16.5m in the rest of the world (2012: £1.19m). It earned £1.21m in royalty fees arising from franchise arrangements. The company made a £470,000 onerous lease provision. Hakkasan is owned by Tasameem Real Estate. It opened eponymous restaurants in Beverly Hills in September 2013 and Shanghai last month.   TGI Friday’s unveils new UK transport hub concept: TGI Friday’s has announced that its next opening will be the company’s first at a key UK transport hub, with a new-concept Friday’s "Fast Track" due to open in Manchester’s Piccadilly Station in June. The outlet will serve food within a restaurant environment tailored to the needs of busy travellers, with power points, wi-fi, and individual seating. The move into fast-paced high-footfall transport hubs is part of chief executive Karen Forrester’s vision to double the number of Friday’s in the UK to 120 by 2020, with around eight openings a year planned. The company said Manchester Piccadilly provides the perfect location, with a footfall of 24 million passengers a year, an average user age below 40, and an average passenger dwell time of nearly half an hour. Horizon’s "Ones to Watch" report suggested that "quality food on the go" will be a key growth area in the UK eating-out market, with new concepts emerging in places such as transport hubs, as consumers increasingly want to eat when they want, where they want. The new Friday’s outlet will be in the station's upper concourse. It has an open-plan kitchen that will offer people walking past the restaurant a glimpse of the food as it is cooked, including the new handcrafted burger range and what the company calls "classic American-inspired breakfasts with a Friday’s twist", including waffles, maple bacon and Jack Daniel’s-candied sausages. The food has been designed by Friday’s award-winning development chef, Terry McDowell, with "clever innovations" to ensure that all main meals can be delivered to customers within ten minutes of order. The restaurant will create 40 jobs locally and will be able to serve 135 diners at any one time. It will include a rustic colour scheme and memorabilia inspired by travel, with a particular nod to the most famous railway station in the world – Grand Central Station. Forrester said: “This is the dawn of a very exciting new phase for Friday’s. We have been looking for the right location to launch our new concept for some time and Manchester Piccadilly is the perfect place for us, with its high footfall and dwell times. Whether guests are looking for a quick coffee or a succulent sandwich we’ll have lots of options for anyone passing through the station.”