Hospitality leaders call for crucial festive trade to be protected and urgent resolution to rail strikes: Leading hospitality businesses have joined UKHospitality’s calls for the crucial festive season to be protected and for an urgent … view

TGI Fridays parent reports 2% increase in like-for-like revenue after building ‘a leaner and more focused organisation’: Hostmore, the parent company of TGI Fridays, has reported its like-for-like revenue between 2 July 2023 and 24 Se … view

Flight Club operator reports strong trading in 2023 with full-year revenue expected to exceed £68m: Red Engine, the team behind Flight Club and Electric Shuffle, has said it has seen “strong trading” across its venues in 2023 and exp … view

Britain loses 30% of nightclubs since covid as consumers’ late-night habits evolve: Covid and changing consumer habits have led to a sharp drop in Britain's nightclubs as consumers’ habits diversify and shift towards a broader range … view

Exclusive – RedCat appoints Richard Lewis as new CEO: RedCat Pub Company, the investment vehicle founded and chaired by Rooney Anand, has appointed Richard Lewis, formerly of SSP UK & Ireland and Greene King, as its new chief executive, … view

Shepherd Neame CEO – London pubs seeing record trade, sector M&A activity will be quiet in near future as operators focus on inward investment: Jonathan Neame, chief executive of Kent brewer and retailer Shepherd Neame, has told Propel … view

Shepherd Neame says recent trade ‘encouraging’ as it reports record full-year revenue: Kent brewer and retailer Shepherd Neame has said recent trade has been “encouraging” as the business reported record full-year revenue, but add … view

Bill’s MD – we were struggling with relevance, our recovery has been based on team enjoyment: Tom James, managing director of Bill’s, has said that coming out of the pandemic, the business was struggling with relevance, while its su … view

Exclusive – Mildreds secures new funding, signs on two new sites, to launch bakery concept: London-based, vegan restaurant group Mildreds is set for further expansion in the capital after securing a multi-million-pound funding package, … view

Cooks Coffee to place Triple Two business into insolvency: Cooks Coffee has announced it expects to shortly appoint administrators to place its Triple Two coffee franchise business, comprising Triple Two Holdings and its subsidiaries, int … view

Popeyes UK CEO – ‘tech brand selling chicken’ is in good shape, looking to open 20-plus sites a year: Tom Crowley, UK chief executive of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, has said TDR Capital’s recent £50m investment in … view

Brighton Pier Group CEO – trading continues to be impacted by events outside our control, operating profit for full year likely to be below expectations: Brighton Pier Group chief executive Anne Ackord has said trading continues to be … view

MacKenzie – PizzaExpress is as relevant as ever, harnessing the power of the brand is key challenge: Paula MacKenzie, chief executive of PizzaExpress, has said the 58-year-old brand is as relevant as ever, and that harnessing its power … view

Brands in the quick service restauran … view

Comptoir Group – Trading continues to be impacted by significant events outside of our direct control: Comptoir Group, the Comptoir Libanais and Shawa operator, saw its profit decline in the six months to 2 July 2023, as it said its tra … view

Selby – the opportunity to be the national Mexican brand is still there: Mark Selby, co-founder of Wahaca and DF Tacos, has said the opportunity for the business to be the national Mexican brand is still there, and he is excited by the … view

JD Wetherspoon puts another ten pubs on market: JD Wetherspoon has appointed Savills and CBRE to sell another ten of its pubs. The properties, which are all freehold, are located in town and city centre locations across England and Wales … view

City Pub Group H1 lfl sales up 14%, well placed to take advantage of new acquisition opportunities: City Pub Group, the owner and operator of premium pubs across southern England and Wales, has this morning reported that its trading conti … view

Imbiba-backed Ninja Warrior operator set to launch The Chase concept as it heads for London before going global: Imbiba-backed Ninja Warrior operator Leisure TV Rights (LTR) is set to launch an experiential concept based on ITV’s The Ch … view

Scottish government proposes increasing minimum unit price of alcohol to 65p: The Scottish government is to consult on a proposal to raise the minimum unit price (MUP) of alcohol to 65p. A 50p minimum price per unit was introduced in 2018 … view

Exclusive – hospitality tech companies me&u and Mr Yum merge: Australian-founded tech scale-ups me&u and Mr Yum have joined forces in an all-stock merger, “to become the world’s number one mobile ordering, payments and marketing pla … view

Ten Entertainment Group year to date like-for-like sales up 4.7%: Ten Entertainment Group, the operator of 51 bowling and family entertainment centres, has said that year to date its like-for-like sales to 10 September were up 4.7% on the … view

Snowflake aiming to grow to 160 sites in next five years with business preparing to scale globally at pace: London premium gelato brand Snowflake is aiming to grow to 160 sites in the next five years with the business preparing to scale g … view

Exclusive – Arc Inspirations outperforming the market as it plans London debut next year: Arc Inspirations, the Martin Wolstencroft-led, premium bar operator, has said in its current financial year it has “consistently outperform the … view

Big Mamma Group – new investment will allow us to become a global brand in affordable, experiential luxury dining: Victor Lugger, co-founder of the Big Mamma Group, which has secured new backing from McWin, has said that the new investm … view

Market Halls to return to the expansion trail on the back of strong FY performance: Market Halls, the London-based food market hall operator, is to return to the expansion trail, with plans to launch regionally. It comes after the Gees Co … view

Market Halls to return to the expansion trail on the back of strong FY performance: Market Halls, the London-based food market hall operator, is to return to the expansion trail, with plans to launch regionally. It comes after the Gees Co … view

Last orders as pubs closing at faster rate across the country: The number of pubs being demolished or converted for other uses has risen by more than 50%, figures show. The Times reports that in the three months to June 30 there were 230 … view

Tim Hortons plans significant expansion of UK estate, launches franchise model: Canadian quick service restaurant brand Tim Hortons is planning significant growth of its 75-strong UK estate, as it launches a franchise model here for the f … view

Exclusive – ASK and Zizzi co-founder to launch new restaurant concept Chubby Bunny: Adam Kaye, who with his brother Sam, founded the ASK Italian and Zizzi restaurant brands, is to launch a new concept called Chubby Bunny, in central Lon … view

Sandbox VR UK co-founder – we could do more than 30 sites now, Birmingham outperforming London already: Sandbox VR UK co-founder Andy Scanlon has told Propel the concept could do more than 30 sites here now and that its new Birmingham B … view

Chick-fil-A targets 2025 for UK relaunch, aiming for five sites within first two years: US fast food brand Chick-fil-A has targeted 2025 for a relaunch in the UK and is aiming for five sites within the first two years. Propel revealed in … view

Exclusive – Amber Taverns like-for-likes up 12.5% on back of strong FY trading and continued expansion: Amber Taverns, the wet-led, freehold community pub operator, has said current like-for-likes sales across its circa 165-strong estat … view

As we head into an unusually warm September and the twilight of the British summer, we also bid farewell to another brilliant music festival season. Much like prev … view

Four charged over Patisserie Valerie collapse: Four people have been charged in connection with the collapse of Patisserie Valerie in 2018. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has charged former director and chief financial officer of Patisser … view

Big Table Group set to test new fast-casual concepts: The Big Table Group, the operator of Las Iguanas, Banana Tree, Café Rouge and Bella Italia, has appointed Johanna Selin, formerly of Marks & Spencer, Wagamama, Pret and Coco Di Mama, … view

Morgan – we will review all the acquired TRG properties to understand best fit across portfolio: Alan Morgan chief executive of the Big Table Group, has told Propel that when it comes to conversion of the 75 sites it is acquiring from T … view

“Brave”, “bold” and “bonkers” are just some of the words given to me in reply to the news at the weekend that Big Table Group was in advanced talks to acquire The Restaurant Group’s (TRG) leis … view

Exclusive – St Austell acquires The Bath Pub Company: St Austell Brewery has acquired The Bath Pub Company, Propel has learned. The deal, for an undisclosed amount, sees St Austell take over the operation of The Bath Pub Company’s fou … view

Ken Hanna to step down as chairman of TRG: The Restaurant Group (TRG), the Wagamama and Brunning & Price owner, has announced that its chairman, Ken Hanna has informed the company of his intention not to seek re-election at the group’s … view

French multi-brand business targets UK as ‘number one market’ as it looks to roll out internationally through franchising: French multi-brand business Groupe Delineo has told Propel the UK is its “number one target market” as it l … view

Food inflation in hospitality slows slightly as retail prices begin to fall: Inflation as measured by the CGA Prestige Foodservice Price Index fell marginally to 21.7% year-on-year in July. Despite the slight fall of 0.9 percentage points … view

More than 350 sector businesses urge Ofgem to take swift action to improve energy market: UKHospitality and more than 350 hospitality businesses, representing thousands of venues, have presented a united front to Ofgem. They demonstrating … view

Spa queen Dorothy Purdew passes away: One of the world’s most influential spa operators, Dorothy Purdew, the entrepreneurial force behind Champneys, which employs more than 2,000 people, has passed away. Dorothy Purdew, 91, opened her f … view

Dodo Pizza UK chief ‘frustrated’ at having to scrap ‘fabulous project’ of building up to 100 stores here as last site ceases trading, liquidation ‘not an option’: Dodo Pizza’s UK business development lead David Sweeney has t … view

Slimmed-down Bill’s restaurant group is ready for more: The owner of the Bill’s restaurant group said the business was “back on track” after stringent cost-cutting and an estate review. Richard Caring, who also owns The Ivy Collec … view

Pizza Hut UK Ebitda per site down 9% on a decade ago: Pizza Hut UK’s Ebitda per site is down 9% on a decade ago, as it looks to refinance ahead of repaying £31m of its £73m of debts by April 2024. Franchisee Heart with Smart owns all … view

Haven CEO – staycation trend here to stay, demand strong but price sensitive, occupancy rates at record levels: Haven managing director Simon Palethorpe has told Propel that the staycation trend is here to stay, with demand “strong bu … view