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Tue 14th Oct 2014 - Propel Tuesday News Briefing |
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Story of the Day:American dishes overtake British in UK dining-out popularity: American-style dishes have overtaken British-based ones in the UK eating-out sector, figures from the foodservice consultancy Horizons have revealed. British and Italian dishes regularly swap first place from season to season, with British food more popular in the winter among UK diners-out and Italian food more popular in the summer. But for the first time this summer, American dishes overtook British ones, with a 12.3% share, against a British share of 11.8%, while Italian dishes took a 14.4% share. The British figure represents a two percentage point slump on the summer of 2012, while the American share has risen from 11.8% in Summer 2012. The biggest gainer, however, is the Italian sector, up from 13% in Summer 2012. Nicola Knight, Horizons’ director of services, said: "It may well be a blip or seasonal but we will be looking closely at the Winter 2014 data to see." Among other types of cuisine, pan-Asian dishes took a 6% share, French 3.5% and Latino 3.4%. British dishes remain the top sellers in both the pubs and hotels sector, with American second and Italian third, but in the restaurant and QSR sectors Italian dishes are tops, with American second and British third. Horizons said: "All sectors and day parts have been influenced by the US, from pancakes at breakfast to hot dogs appearing in the top 20 mains in pubs and hotels. Meat is still very much the focus of this American influence, with hot dogs, pork ribs, pulled meats and flat iron steaks all appearing frequently on British menus. We believe that this trend is set to continue, with a growth in BBQ, 'low and slow' and authentic US comfort foods such as mac ’n’ cheese and buttermilk fried chicken. Dishes are also becoming more regionalised, such as Philly cheese steak sandwich, Boston meatloaf and New Orleans po'boy."
Industry News:US teenager vote Starbucks as their favourite restaurant: Starbucks is again the favourite restaurant chain among US teenagers, according to the latest spending survey from Piper Jaffray. Starbucks, Taco Bell, Chipotle and McDonald's all rank highly with the teen demographic when asked to choose their favourite restaurants. Piper has two lists of teenage favourites, one for upper-income respondents and another for average-income respondents. The results are: upper income (household income of $109,000): Starbucks, Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts; Average income (household income of $56,000): Starbucks, McDonald's, Chipotle, Chick-fil-A and Taco Bell. Starbucks has been No 1 with both groups for each of the past eight surveys. Chipotle has been a consistent No 2 with upper-income teens, while McDonald's has held that spot for the average-income group. Chipotle has been in third place with average-income respondents for the last two surveys, having replaced Olive Garden in the spring. In the upper-income group, Chick-fil-A replaced McDonald's as No 3 in the spring survey, moving McDonald’s down to fourth, where it remains. With upper-income respondents, Dunkin' replaced Panera Bread at No 5.
Adam Hymn – US waiting staff on $100,000 a year: UK restaurant consultant Adam Hyman has argued that US restaurants are still offering outstanding service levels driven by the tipping culture. In his weekly bulletin, he wrote: “The past week has seen us eat at over 40 restaurants across San Francisco, LA, Austin and Chicago. Service in all restaurants, apart from one, has been outstanding. The passion, knowledge and work ethic of our front-of-house colleagues across the pond really stands out. Although a shock to us Brits at first, I believe the tipping culture in the US makes far more sense than our approach to service charge. I was told by one general manager in Chicago that some waiting staff in the city can earn close to $100,000 [£62,000] a year. Maybe this is why careers in hospitality are taken more seriously over here?”
New report – fast food outlets should be licensed like pubs: Fast food outlets should be licensed like pubs to limit their numbers and tackle the growing obesity crisis, according to a new report. The report also recommends a new national government task force, while children should be protected from the harmful influence of multinational fast food chains by a total ban on all junk food TV advertising until after the 9pm watershed. The new report, Careless Eating Costs Lives, by 2020health, an independent social enterprise think-tank founded in 2006 by Julia Manning, a former blogger for the Daily Mail and Conservative parliamentary candidate, which has Dr Thomas Stuttaford, formerly the medical correspondent of the Times, as its president, insists the UK’s obesity crisis is spiralling out of control and that only co-ordinated action at the highest level can help save thousands of people each year from an early death. Among the report’s other recommendations was that cookery and food education should become a mandatory subject in schools for all pupils over the age of 14.
London Evening Standard – fast food takeaways could be banned within ten minutes' walk of London schools: The Evening Standard in London has claimed that fast-food takeaways could be banned from opening within ten minutes’ walk of schools under plans being considered by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. The newspaper said: "A report commissioned by the Mayor will this week outline the toughest measures seen in the UK to tackle the 'obesity emergency' that leaves one in three ten-year-olds overweight or obese. Other measures include Ofsted-style ratings highlighting the best and worst schools at promoting health eating, while chain restaurants will be required to include 'traffic light' calorie warnings on menus. The proposals come from Lord Darzi, the eminent NHS surgeon at St Mary’s hospital and former Labour minister. He heads the London Health Commission, which has spent a year gathering evidence from across the capital. Its report will be presented to the Mayor on Wednesday.”
Company News:Ex-Be At One manager secures site for new cocktail concept: A new cocktail bar concept established by former Be At One manager Deniss Petrovs is due to open in Crystal Palace, South London after the property agent Davis Coffer Lyons secured the letting on the former Patrick’s on the High Street. TOD Cocktail Embassy Ltd has taken a new 20-year lease on the prominent high street venue which has a late licence at weekends and is close to both Crystal Palace Overground station and Crystal Palace park. Charlotte Wild, a chartered surveyor at Davis Coffer Lyons, said: “This will be one of the first cocktail bars in the area and marks a step change in the quality and price point of the area’s bar scene. The demographic of the area has changed significantly over recent years and this is now being recognised by operators, who are looking to capitalise on the opportunity it presents and relatively low property prices.”
Gourmet Burger Kitchen opens in Aylesbury, launches 15-minute lunch menu: Gourmet Burger Kitchen has opened a new restaurant in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. To celebrate the launch, the brand offered its signature cheeseburger free to the first 100 customers through the doors yesterday and today (Tuesday 14 October). The restaurant is in The Exchange, next to the Odeon cinema and over the road from the Waterside Theatre. The opening of the new restaurant coincides with the launch of GBK’s new 15-Minute Lunch menu, which guarantees customers a speedy lunch; a 4oz burger and fries from £5.95 served in 15 minutes flat. If a burger does not arrive 15 minutes from ordering, GBK guarantee the diner's next lunch on the restaurant. Katie McDermott, GBK's marketing director, said: “We’re delighted to be launching the new 15-Minute Lunch guarantee just in time for the new opening and introducing the new winter menu too.”
Former Pesto in the Pub site to re-open with Yorkshire theme: A Punch Taverns pub formerly operated by Neil Gatt’s Pesto in the Pub brand is to re-open with a Yorkshire theme. The pub, on Prune Park Lane, Allerton, Bradford, formerly the Prune Park Inn, will be called the Bronté Pub and Restaurant. Adam Chapman, who is one of the new partners at the site, said he was determined to reinstate the pub as a community favourite. “We are hoping we can breathe new life into this beautiful building that is renowned for its hospitality and striking location,” he said. "And with us being a family-run business, we focus on what is important to us, from our own reared livestock to home-grown vegetables and local cask ales." Pesto added the site added the site to its Pesto in a Pub brand in October 2012 but it closed earlier this year.
Milton Keynes lays claim to Nando’s UK capital with fifth site set to open: Milton Keynes has claimed the title of the UK’s Nando’s capital with a fifth site set to open. It will mean there are more Nando's restaurants per person than other city centre in the UK, outside of London. Milton Keynes has just over 230,000 residents, who have currently four branches to choose from. One more will mean there is one Nando's for every 46,000 people in the city. The new Nando's is set for construction in the MK1 leisure and retail park, due to open next month (November). The centre of Liverpool currently has one Nando’s per 232,850 people. Bristol has six stores in the centre of the city with 71,350 people per restaurant. Manchester is second behind Milton Keynes, with10 stores and a central population of 503,100, averaging one store per 50,310. Meanwhile, Nando's is to open its eighth restaurant in the West End of London, in January 2015. The new outlet will be on James Street, close to Bond Street Tube station and between Oxford Street and Wigmore Street. It sits almost equidistant from Nando's outlets in Glasshouse Street and Baker Street, about a thousand yards from each, and around 1,200 yards from Nando's in Goodge Street and Berners Street.
Oakman Inns wins two-star sustainability award: Oakman Inns and Restaurants has been upgraded to two stars in this year’s Sustainable Restaurant Association ratings, often referred to as ‘the Michelin stars of sustainability’. Each individual unit underwent a vigorous and independent examination by the SRA across the 14 key focus areas within the SRA’s three pillars of sustainability, society, sourcing and environment. With an increase of up to 15% in its overall ratings across seven sites, Oakman Inns achieved its second star in only is second year of SRA membership. Peter Borg-Neal, chief executive of Oakman Inns and Restaurants, said: “I am very proud of my team. While this year has seen our group expand by almost 50%, the Oakman team has never taken their eye off the sustainability ball and has consistently continued to find ways to improve our world and ensure that everything we do has a positive impact on both our environment and our communities. The SRA rating embraces many aspects of our business, and our shared ethos is part of the foundations on which we built and continue to develop the company. Not wishing to rest on our laurels, we are now working towards achieving three stars next year.”
Spragg and Tindall to leave Strada: The managing director of the Strada restaurant chain, James Spragg, and its finance director, Zoe Tindall, are to leave the company at the end of this month. The pair oversaw the brand’s return to growth and subsequent sale for £37m to Hugh Osmond’s Sun Capital Partners. The current Strada operations director, John Cronin, has been promoted to the role of chief operating officer with immediate effect. Jackie Freeman, formerly finance director of PizzaExpress, will be joining the business on 27 October as its new chief financial officer.
TLC Inns acquires Ipswich waterfront site for Grand Central brand: TLC Inns, led by Steve and Jo Drain, has acquired a prime Ipswich waterfront restaurant which unexpectedly closed its doors last February for its Grand Central bar and grill brand through agent Simon Jackaman Associates. The former Quayside Bar & Restaurant, in the Regatta Quay development on Ipswich’s historic waterfront, has 4,500 sq ft of restaurant and bar space with 120 covers. The company has also taken over a vacant building adjacent to Quayside which runs alongside Key Street and intends to operate a 250-cover restaurant with 6,000 sq ft in total. TLC Inns already operates Grand Central venues in Ely and Basildon and has also acquired another unit in Colchester, which is due to open this month. It will invest £700,000, in the Ipswich site and plans to open the site in February next year.
All Bar One seeks to expand breakfast meeting business with new menu: Mitchells & Butlers' All Bar One brand is seeking to capture a greater share of the breakfast meeting trade and Sunday brunch business with the launch of its new breakfast menu this November. The new menu, rolling out across all 50 sites nationwide, offers traditional breakfast combinations alongside "discovery dishes", available Monday to Saturday from 8am until noon and on Sundays until 4pm. The breakfast menu offers a range of options, from hot-smoked salmon with avocado on toast, and smoked back bacon potato hash with spinach to more conventional favourites such as buttermilk pancakes and eggs Benedict. On Sundays the breakfast and brunch cocktail menu is served until 4pm. Susan Chappell, retail director at All Bar One, said: “With the ever-growing trend towards breakfast meetings, it has become clear to us that people are discovering the advantages of morning get-togethers, both from a time and productivity point of view. It was therefore important to capture this new wave of early-morning trade with the launch of our new breakfast and brunch menus, reinforcing All Bar One as the place to go for all-day dining. As well as weekday breakfast meetings, we want to generate more footfall in our bars over the weekend and make Sunday brunch an occasion.”
Leeds rotisserie brand to open bar this week: The Leeds rotisserie restaurant Bird and Beast will open a new lounge bar in the heart of the city this week. Bird and Beats, on Central Road, close to Mrs Atha's coffee shop, will open on Thursday (16 October), creating ten new jobs. The bar will serve up to 60 guests and will expand the restaurant's current offering, allowing customers to enjoy a drink before eating. Bird and Beats will be separate from the main dining room but will be accessed from the restaurant's entrance on Central Road. The company opened its first restaurant in Leeds this June and plans to open a second restaurant and lounge bar in Manchester city centre early next year. Jonathan Parkinson, Bird and Beats' co-director, said: "Our new restaurant has been incredibly well received by diners in the city so we're naturally excited to see their reaction to the new bar."
Richard Caring opens Limeyard in Ealing: Richard Caring’s Grillshack brand has opened a variation called Limeyard in Ealing Broadway shopping centre, West London. The menu, created by Mark Askew, includes breakfast options of kale and spinach Benedict, house-toasted granola and buttermilk pancakes. Mains include a variety of sandwiches, including an open-toasted sourdough with grilled feta and avocado, steaks, a salad with mung, soy and red beans with grilled feta and roasted chicken. Operations director Graham Ford said: “We are very excited about Limeyard. We’re confident we’ve got a great concept and we know we’ve got a really good team to make it work. The food is great and we love the location in the heart of Ealing.”
Daily Star spotlights Wetherspoon’s calorific hotdog: The Daily Star has reported that JD Wetherspoon is serving up what is believed to be Britain’s most fat-laden high street hot dog, with 1,095 calories. The new BBQ Hog Dog with pulled pork and cheese, introduced as part of the autumn menu, has 57g of fat, 23.5g of which is saturated. The menu suggests adding chips at 398 calories and six onion rings at 285 calories, taking the calorie count to 1,778. The average woman consumes 2,000 calories a day and men 2,500, so the dish is close to a day’s worth of food. Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said: "Our pubs offer more than 100 meals, which vary in calories. Customers are able to make decisions on the food they wish to eat and are aware of the calories for each meal, as they are listed on the menu. Customers are likely to choose this meal once in a while and ultimately it is for them to decide if they wish to order it or not.”
TGI Fridays to create 85 jobs with second Milton Keynes opening next month: TGI Fridays will create 85 jobs when it opens its latest restaurant at the MK1 Leisure Park in Milton Keynes. The restaurant will open on Wednesday 19 November and will seat up to 266 guests, while an open-plan "shotgun kitchen" will allow guests to sit at the grill and see their food cooked. Memorabilia will adorn the walls, including a "snowboard skyline" – rows of custom-designed snowboards which come together to create a cityscape image and which are a nod to SnoZone, the nearby indoor skiing centre. The restaurant chain already has one branch in the theatre district. Antonia Osborne, general manager for TGI Fridays in MK1 Leisure Park, said: “We are delighted to be part of the fantastic MK1 Leisure Park. There is a huge appetite for Fridays in Milton Keynes, and we’re extremely excited to be opening our second restaurant here."
Chop Chop chain seeks crowd funding to expand across UK: The Chop Chop Chinese restaurant chain is seeking crowd-sourced funds to help it expand across the UK. The Edinburgh-based chain, which is looking to begin its expansion with a new restaurant in Mitchell Street Glasgow, is already a third of the way towards its target of £160,000 raised through the Angels Den crowdfunding website, with 24 days to go. Chop Chop was voted Britain's favourite Chinese restaurant in 2010 and again in 2012. Until this month Chop Chop ran two restaurants in Edinburgh, in Leith and Haymarket, which both held AA rosettes and turned over £1m between them, with a loyalty membership of more than 20,000. The lease on the Leith restaurant has now been sold to celebrity chef Tom Kitchin, who is expanding his eponymous The Kitchin next door by a third as part of a revamp that will see the restaurant’s galley double in size and its 60-cover dining room dramatically extended. Chop Chop said of the sale: "The Kitchin nagged us over a three-month period from June to take over our lease as they were unable to find other premises to expand. We refused their proposals for two months as we were in no hurry and were quite happy to continue until the end of our lease period. They eventually made an acceptable offer." Investors in the Chop Chop chain through Angels Den are being offered a range of rewards from vouchers worth £125 in Chop Chop Glasgow or £115 in Chop Chop Edinburgh for a £100 investment up to £500 in vouchers and a meal with the founders before the opening of the first site and annually for three years for a £5,000 investment. The chain is expecting to sign the lease and get planning consent and building consent on its Glasgow venue "in the next week or so", and open before Christmas.
Pret A Manger adds comfort food macaroni cheese to autumn menu: Pret A Manger is extending its hot food menu this autumn with the launch of the chain's take on macaroni cheese. The "comfort food" dish will come in two flavours, macaroni cheese prosciutto and macaroni cheese kale and cauli, and will be made fresh every day in Pret's kitchens. The chain is also launching a new soup menu, with nine flavours, rotated daily, with classic, vegetarian, and healthy options available every day. New additions include Thai corn, chicken and ham, Asian pepper and lentil and quinoa. In addition, Pret will be launching a new chicken and bacon toastie to extend the range of hot sandwiches on offer.
Stonegate pays out £33,000 after two-year-old girl slips into Slug & Lettuce basement: Stonegate Pub Company has been ordered to pay out more than £33,000 after a two-year-old girl fell six feet into a basement of a Slug & Lettuce. The toddler’s parents had taken the family for lunch at the restaurant and bar in Hanover Street in the West End of London. In an incident caught on CCTV, the girl slipped through the balustrade guarding a staircase and tumbled into the basement. Westminster City council’s investigation into the accident in October 2012 found that the gap in the balustrade violated building regulations. The chain pleaded guilty to a breach of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 at Westminster magistrates’ court earlier this month. It was ordered to pay an £8,000 fine, Westminster’s £25,000 costs and a victim surcharge of £400.
Bluewater dining brands report 10.1% sale rise as Bill’s opens: Dining brands located at the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent have reported collective sales rose 10.1% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter last year. Bill’s Restaurant became the latest brand to open its doors at Bluewater yesterday (Monday). It has taken a 3,195 sq ft restaurant situated at the entrance to Bluewater’s Winter Garden on the lower Rose Gallery. Bill’s Bluewater debut coincides with the opening of Steamer Trading Cookshop on the Upper Thames Walk on 10 October. The 3,900 sq ft two-level store is the brand’s first in a non-high street location.
Thornbridge Brewery to double production: Thornbridge Brewery is to double production at its brewery in Bakewell, Derbyshire, in a £400,000 expansion. The brewery, which celebrates the tenth anniversary of its founding at Thornbridge Hall in Derbyshire next year, will expand the brew house to double output levels and add cellarage with six new vessels for storage and a new automated kegging facility. It will create eight jobs as part of the plans, taking the total of full-time employees to 38. The brewery was awarded a £78,000 grant from D2N2's Unlocking Investment for Growth programme, which is backed by the government's Regional Growth Fund. Owner Jim Harrison said: "The whole team at the brewery have worked exceptionally hard to create a product that is really valued in the marketplace and we have therefore been able to drive our sales up quickly, year after year, to the point where we simply cannot brew any more. We are passionate about brewing and believe we can only continue to grow by controlling every aspect of what we do – so we need to brew more." The brewery was originally set up in one of the outbuildings at Thornbridge Hall, but its subsequent growth led to the opening of the Riverside Brewery in Bakewell in 2009. Exports account for 30% of revenue, with the United States, Sweden, Italy, Japan and Australia among its key markets. The expansion will allow the company to increase volume in existing markets as well as moving into untapped areas such as China and India.
Expressions of interest sought in hotel, spa and function opportunity in Brewery Square: Expressions of interest are being sought for a new hotel, spa and function opportunity in the Brewery Square development in Dorchester. Resolution Property and Waterhouse, the regeneration partner behind the scheme, has instructed the property agent Fleurets to market the opportunity on a freehold or leasehold basis. Brewery Square is a £100m mixed-use leisure, retail and residential development on the site of the former Eldridge Pope Brewery in the centre of Dorset's county town. On completion, the scheme will also include 578 apartments and 32 town houses. 293 apartments will have been completed by mid 2016. The Grade II listed Victorian brewhouse has detailed planning consent to create a 48 to 84 bed hotel overlooking Brewery Square. The scheme includes a 11,000 sq ft spa and swimming pool and two function rooms, one of which, Thomas Hardy Hall, is the largest function room in Dorchester. Kevin Conibear, an associate at Fleurets, said: “This is an iconic building steeped in history in the centre of a hugely successful development. The overall Brewery Square scheme has been sympathetically developed to create a vibrant new quarter, accommodating a host of national retail and leisure operators. The scheme presents a unique opportunity for a hotel operator to secure a flagship, trophy building in a prime position, within the very heart of the county town and to thrive on the development’s success.”
Whitbread snaps up Cirencester site for Premier Inn and Beefeater openings: The former lorry park next to the Kingsmeadow roundabout in Cirencester has been sold to Whitbread in a deal brokered by Bruton Knowles on behalf of Cotswold Council. The 1.5 acre site is to be developed as a Premier Inn and a Beefeater restaurant. Robert Anthony of Bruton Knowles’ Gloucester office said the prominent site, next to the A419 and A429, had generated interest from a wide range of leisure, retail, commercial and even residential occupiers. He said: “It was particularly satisfying to close the deal on this site, on which active marketing only began in May.”
Former Wolverhampton nightclub opens as 500-cover world buffet restaurant: A former nightclub in Wolverhampton has been reopened as a world buffet restaurant, creating 20 new jobs. The Last Emperor World Buffet, in Level Street, Brierley Hill, was formerly the Millennium Nightclub, until it closed 10 years ago. Abdul Sikdar, owner of the Last Emperor, said: “We are really excited about the new venture and hope we can employ even more people in the future.”
Developer unveils scheme for six new restaurants in Huddersfield: The owner of Huddersfield’s Kingsgate shopping centre has unveiled plans to extend the complex to provide six restaurants and a multiplex cinema. The company said the £15m scheme, which could create up to 150 jobs, would boost Huddersfield’s evening economy by encouraging people to linger in the town centre after work to enjoy a meal and take in a film. The developer is to launch a week-long public consultation exercise at the shopping centre to show off the scheme and take comments before formally submitting a planning application. The 56,000 sq ft development will include a 20,000 sq ft first-floor multiplex cinema providing at least two screens along with six themed casual dining restaurants at mall level.
Former Manchester City star to launch fine dining restaurant: The former Manchester City star Michael Johnson is embarking on a new career with the launch of a fine dining restaurant. The player ended his football career nearly two years ago, at the age of 24, after the club cancelled his contract. Johnson has now launched a new career in business, as a director of NCompass Taverns. He has won planning permission to open the company’s first cafe bar and restaurant in Didsbury and lined up Chris Horridge, a Michelin-starred chef, to create the menu and recruit staff. Johnson told the Manchester Evening News: “I’m just a silent investor. I’m not the only one who’s going to have a stake in it. It’s a few people, although my name is on the planning application.”
Spirit Leased division launches autumn menu with cook-off: The tenanted and leased pub company Spirit Leased Pubs has launched its new autumn/winter menu, and ensured licensees are fully prepared for its rollout with a series of "cook-off" sessions. More than 100 licensees and chefs from across the country gathered for the "cook-offs", in pubs all over the UK, including sites in Glasgow, York and Bristol. The sessions gave licensees and their teams the opportunity to learn how to cook the new dishes and get the best from the new menu. They also focused on ensuring licensees deliver the menu consistently, reduce wastage and improve cooking times in the process. The new allergen information legislation being introduced in December was also covered, as were preparations for Christmas. The autumn/winter menu has new dishes such as a 32 oz burger and a pie platter. Chris Welham, managing director for Spirit Leased, said: “The cook-off sessions were a tremendous success. At Spirit Leased Pubs, we always make sure our licensees are as prepared as possible for challenges such as a change in menu or legislation. To have over 100 licensees and their teams represented at the sessions shows just how valuable these are.”
Mitchells & Butlers' Nicholson’s brand unveils details of autumn beer festival: Mitchells & Butlers has unveiled detail of its autumn beer festival, held between 31 October and 16 November, showcasing a range of dark beers, including 13 ales from some of the UK’s best brewers, and three specialist beers created via a "brewing lottery" the chain is calling “Whose Beer Is It Anyway?” Festival beers will include Red Squirrel’s London Porter, Itchen Valley’s Dark Solstice and Wild Beer Co’s Scarlet Fever, as well as the “Whose Beer Is It Anyway?” ales devised by the head brewers of Purity, Brains and Adnams. The three brewers, charged with producing a trio of “improvised brews”, determined the characteristics of their beers by drawing lots at random from three pots, divided into style, abv range and hop region. The three beers are currently being created by the respective breweries, with the finished products to be unveiled at the beginning of the festival. The improvised brews will be available as individual pints or in a tasting stick of 1/3 pint glasses, with an online vote conducted to ascertain the most popular creation. The winning beer will then be announced at the end of the festival, before being re-brewed and made available for the rest of the winter.
Boutique hotel group Doyle Collection looks for more London sites: The boutique hotel group behind The Marylebone, The Kensington and The Bloomsbury in London is scouting for more sites in the capital because of increasing demand from guests. The plans come as Irish parent Doyle Collection, which owns the Westbury hotel in Dublin as well as four others in Bristol, Ireland and Washington, returned to the black in its latest results. Post-tax profit was €4.1m last year, against a loss of €3.5m in 2012, as hotel guests sent turnover up 2.2% to €108.5m. During the year, the Doyle Collection sold off three hotels in the United States, the Back Bay in Boston, and the Normandy and Courtyard properties in Washington, and refinanced its existing debt. Chief executive Pat King said: “We are highly committed to the London market and would like to grow our presence in London due to increasing demand from guests. We have strict criteria and would examine possibilities in developing areas of the capital.”
Waitrose upsets locals with plan for its own cafe with outside seating: Waitrose’s development in Dorking, Surrey has come under renewed fire after an application was submitted for a pavement cafe outside its new South Street store. The latest application, submitted one week before the rebuilt supermarket is due to officially open, has infuriated some independent coffee shop owners in the town, who say the grocery giant will destroy their trade. Antonio Monpanino, owner of Jax cafe in South Street, told the local newspaper: "I'm definitely concerned. We knew there would be a cafe inside but now there could be this outside. It's a wonderful idea to show there's life in Dorking but it's going to do damage to small businesses here because people will stay down there and not come here [to my cafe] anymore. It is a concern but I'm sure it will be approved because you can't do anything about Waitrose."
US restaurant chains act to reduce calorie counts: Restaurant chains in the United States are reducing calories in many of their menu items, a new study has found. The report by researchers at Johns Hopkins University's Department of Health Policy and Management looked at caloric trends at more than 60 large American chain restaurants, including Chipotle, Wendy's and Applebee's. The study found that overall the menu items that the chain restaurants introduced in 2013 had 12% fewer calories than menu items in 2012. Calories in new children's items dropped a significant 20%, according to the report. Joy Dubost, the National Restaurant Association's director of nutrition and healthy living, said: "This report is a sure sign that the restaurant industry is continuing its commitment to promoting health and wellness. Restaurants have made meaningful progress in offering menu items that are innovative, great-tasting and nutritious."
Darden shareholders voted to replace the entire board: Shareholders in the American restaurant giant Darden, which runs some 2,000 outlets, have voted to replace its entire board with a slate of 12 directors nominated by Starboard Value. The vote was a sharp rebuke to the restaurant company’s existing management, which fought hard against Starboard, Darden’s second-biggest shareholder with an 8.8% stake. The new directors include Starboard chief executive Jeffrey Smith and one other of its partners, as well as several restaurant industry veterans, among them Bradley Blum, who was previously president of Darden’s Olive Garden chain. Starboard outlined much of its recipe for change in a sweeping critique of Darden filed last month with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which recommended everything from spinning off higher-end chains to salting the pasta water at Olive Garden.
Taco Bell breakfast profitable in first year: Yum! Brands has reported its first Taco Bell breakfast offer is profitable in its first year, with US like-for-likes up 3%. Chief executive David Novak said: "I would go so far to say we're one of the few companies in the history of the QSR industry to launch breakfast successfully and profitability in year one. But we are making money and sustaining it with margins of nearly 21%." Novak added that McDonald's breakfast margins are 25%. "It killed me for years driving by all those McDonald's that are full before we even opened our doors. I think the best barometer about breakfast is our franchises are saying ‘stay on it’," he said.
First KFC planned for Burma in 2015: KFC's parent company, Yum! Brands, has teamed up with the Singapore-listed Yoma Strategic Holdings to bring the franchise to Burma. Both parties are aiming to open their first KFC restaurant there in 2015. US-based Yum! said the move reflects the firm's "global strategy of expansion in emerging markets". KFC sees Burma as "an important emerging Asian economy with a population of 50 million people".
Ping Pong's head of marketing joins Rhubarb: Katie Harel, formerly head of marketing at the Ping Pong restaurant group, has been appointed as head of marketing at the restaurant operator Rhubarb. Harel’s role will see her developing and implementing the 2015 marketing strategy, strengthening the company’s branding and ensuring it maintains its position as a pioneer of the food and events industry She said: “I am incredibly excited to join the Rhubarb management team. To be able to work with such an innovative group as they move into the next stage of business growth is a fantastic opportunity. Sky Garden in particular marks an exciting new chapter for us and I am thrilled to be part of the journey.” At Ping Pong her role as head of marketing saw her complete a full re-branding project, open two new branded restaurants, implement a new PR agency and redevelop the website in 14 months.
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