Articles by Date : May 01 2006 - May 31 2006

Dish R&D: Cheesy Bites Pizza
Pizza Hut doubles the finger-food fun with a new menu item that kicked off in time for the year’s biggest TV event. more
(16 May 2006 14:32)

Sports Cafe's eighth site in Bristol trading ahead of expectations
Sports Cafe, the owner and operator of the chain under the same name, said that its eighth site, a 14,000sq ft outlet in Bristol, has been trading.... more
(16 May 2006 13:20)

Carluccio's to no longer publish like-for-like sales figures
Carluccio's, the all-day Italian café and retail concept, is joining La Tasca in moving away from like-for-like sales figures. more
(16 May 2006 12:31)

Scottish drinkers have taken the smoking ban in their stride, says Enterprise Inns
Drinkers in Scotland appear to have taken a pub smoking ban in their stride after a major chain sounded an optimistic note about trading today. more
(16 May 2006 11:44)

Top directors at airline caterer Alpha Airports resign
Two directors at Alpha Airports have resigned today because of an investigation into the company’s last results announcement. more
(16 May 2006 11:11)

Compass Group’s profits continue to head south
Catering giant Compass today reported a 9% slump in pre-tax profits as it said the switch to provide healthier meals in schools continued to be its.... more
(16 May 2006 10:19)

Independent hotels some of the best at handling complaints
Independent hotels are among the very best businesses in the UK at dealing effectively with complaints, according to the latest National Complaints.... more
(15 May 2006 17:40)

UK to host the WorldSkills Competition 2011
The UK will host the prestigious WorldSkills Competition in London in 2011, after beating Sweden and Australia in a vote at the organisation’s annual.... more
(15 May 2006 15:42)

Marriott to open a further 50 UK hotels... For more hospitality stories, see what the weekend papers say
A round-up of the weekend's news affecting the hospitality industry. News includes: Benjys sued by former franchisee; Enodis rejects hostile.... more
(15 May 2006 14:46)

Pub and hotel company Honeycombe Leisure ends talks with third-party over bid
Pub and hotel company Honeycombe Leisure has terminated discussions with a third-party about a bid for the company. more
(15 May 2006 14:26)

Center Parcs leaves London Stock Exchange as part of takeover
Leisure village operator Center Parcs has today completed its planned de-listing from the London Stock Market, after its purchase by a private equity.... more
(15 May 2006 14:26)

Starwood Hotels and Resorts in multimillion-dollar dispute victory
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide has claimed victory in a long running legal dispute, after being ruled not liable for $200m (£106m) in damages. more
(12 May 2006 17:25)

Pub industry flourishes thanks to licensing laws
The pub industry is flourishing as the trade learns to exploit the flexibility of new licensing laws, according to key players and industry pundits. more
(12 May 2006 17:24)

Pubs market overview
There were estimated by the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) to be some 200,000 licensed premises in the UK in 2005, a figure that includes.... more
(12 May 2006 17:10)

London hotels ahead of European rivals for profitability
Low labour costs and strong occupancy figures enabled London hotels to top the table of the most profitable ten cities in Europe in the three months.... more
(12 May 2006 16:59)

Restaurant sector overview
The UK’s 26,416 restaurants served 734 million meals last year, up from 721 million in 2004, at a value of £5.27b (or £7.61b when drinks are.... more
(12 May 2006 14:34)

Tourism and leisure market overview
UK tourism industry body VisitBritain estimated last year that some 30 million visitors came to Britain from overseas, an increase of 8% on 2004..... more
(12 May 2006 11:46)

School caterers slam Government delay in publishing new school meal standards
Caterers this week slammed the Government’s decision to delay its announcement on school meal standards. more
(12 May 2006 11:32)

Overseas visitors numbers to UK rise
Overseas visitor numbers are at a record high, with around 30 million tourists arriving last year - an 8% rise over 2004. more
(12 May 2006 11:01)

Mitchells & Butlers to ditch Beefeater and Brewers Faye
Pub operator Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) plans to axe the Beefeater and Brewers Faye brands if it becomes the new owner. more
(12 May 2006 11:01)

Caterer Mitie wins contract at flagship Jaeger store in London
Iconic British designer Jaeger is to open a new lifestyle café in its flagship Regent Street store in London, CatererSearch can reveal. more
(12 May 2006 11:00)

Whitbread focuses on hotels and coffee but Marriott matters too
Andrew Sangster examines the importance of the recent joint venture between Whitbread and Marriott and asks just how powerful will Marriott be? more
(12 May 2006 10:55)

Meals eaten out continue to rise in UK
The amount of meals eaten out in the UK continued to rise last year, with the nation’s 26,416 restaurants serving 734 million dishes, according to.... more
(11 May 2006 17:32)

Potential for further development at Fosters Yard hotel
The Fosters Yard hotel in the Warwickshire village of Polesworth offers the opportunity to build on the success of a pub, restaurant and hotel.... more
(11 May 2006 17:19)

The Bench: North-western hotel performance in April 2006
Hotels in the North-west of England saw revenue per available room (revpar) drop by 1.5% during the month of April. more
(11 May 2006 16:59)

Government scraps Better Hospital Food programme
Hospital food will suffer following the Government's decision to scrap the Better Hospital Food (BHF) programme, according to leading industry.... more
(11 May 2006 16:54)

Marriott plans huge roll-out of Courtyard
Marriott plans to aggressively expand its four-star Courtyard brand in the UK and Ireland, Caterer can reveal. more
(11 May 2006 16:53)

Minister slams Worrall Thompson's attack on poor restaurant service
The new Economic Secretary to the Treasury Ed Balls today told celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson to "stick to cooking" after the BBC presenter.... more
(11 May 2006 16:36)

Conran pulls F&B out of the Great Eastern
Conran has withdrawn its involvement in food and beverage operations at London's Great Eastern hotel following Hyatt's takeover of the property in.... more
(11 May 2006 16:35)

The Bench: London weekly hotel performance to 7 May, 2006
London hotels saw revenue per available room (revpar) rise by 8.4% in the week ending 7 May 2006, according to figures from hotel benchmarking.... more
(11 May 2006 16:13)

Licensed operator Pub ‘n’ Bars has 'satisfactory' 2005
Pubs ‘n’ Bars has announced “satisfactory” year end results for 2005, despite little improvement from last year’s difficult trading conditions. more
(11 May 2006 16:08)

Jay Rayner slams UK service standards
Service in British restaurants is marked by amateurism, incompetence and outright hostility towards the customer, according to restaurant critic Jay.... more
(11 May 2006 15:23)

Theo Randall opens own restaurant with IHG
Theo Randall, head chef of London's River Café, has left to head up a new restaurant at the InterContinental hotel on Park Lane. more
(11 May 2006 15:22)

New hotel brands still no challenge for established London hotels
New hotel brands have a long way to go before they can challenge the dominance of the larger hotel groups in the capital, according to tourist body.... more
(11 May 2006 14:59)

Computer boss Ian Livingstone revealed as new owner of Chewton Glen
The new owner of iconic country house hotel, Chewton Glen, is believed to be computer games entrepreneur Ian Livingstone. more
(11 May 2006 14:58)

Government urged to act and promote sustainable sources of food
The Government must act to encourage chippies, restaurants, schools and hospitals to stop serving over-exploited white fish such as cod, says a new.... more
(11 May 2006 13:13)

Security wing for World Cup hotel... and other International hotel news
Essential news from around the world, including: Kingdom’s Phuket hotel to be managed by Mövenpick; Marriott to open in Istanbul; Grosvenor House,.... more
(11 May 2006 13:13)

Bay Tree House buys in Harrogate
Bay Tree House Limited has purchased the former Parnas Hotel in Harrogate. more
(11 May 2006 12:05)

Albion bought for redevelopment
The Albion Inn in Exmouth has been bought for redevelopment by South West Land Limited. more
(11 May 2006 11:59)

More than a million for two-star hotel
A sales price of around £1.1m has been achieved for a two-star hotel on the Isle of Wight. more
(11 May 2006 11:55)

Marriott hotel in Spurs food 'poisoning scandal' set to be cleared
Marriott West India Quay, the hotel at the centre of the Tottenham Hotspur FC “food-poisoning” mystery, looks set to be exonerated. more
(11 May 2006 11:50)

Village inn is dream buy
The Anvil Inn at Pimperne, near Blandford Forum in Dorset, has sold to Simon and Anecia Monsi, who described buying the traditional country freehouse.... more
(11 May 2006 11:47)

Historic coffee house a hot property
The leasehold interest of the Georgian Coffee House in the historic town of Woodbridge, Suffolk has sold for close to the asking price of £180,000.... more
(11 May 2006 11:41)

Greene King breaches deal with Office of Fair Trading over Laurel merger
Greene King has flouted undertakings agreed during its merger with Laurel’s neighbourhood pub division in 2004, and could now face court action and a.... more
(11 May 2006 11:38)

Ringing the changes at The Bell
Returning to the pub trade after an eight-year break, Fergus and Sarah McVey are the new owners of The Bell Hotel at Charlbury, Oxfordshire. more
(11 May 2006 11:38)

Local entrepreneur buys The Kings Head
A seventeenth century freehouse in the Norfolk village of Brooke has sold to successful local restaurateur, James Sawrey-Cookson. more
(11 May 2006 11:32)

Restaurants: Fyne tuning
Mark Derry has turned the fortunes of Loch Fyne Restaurants around, but the group chief executive hasn't finished with the business yet. Andrew.... more
(11 May 2006 00:00)

Lyons delivers interim report early
Sir Michael Lyons's interim report into local government funding surprised everyone this week with an earlier-than-expected delivery. more
(11 May 2006 00:00)

Education: A testament to youth
We have seen the future, and it is called the Junior Chefs Academy. Well, it could be the future. And while it's not unremittingly rosy, it certainly.... more
(11 May 2006 00:00)

Good week/Bad week
Good week Bare buttocks German naturist Peter Englert flogs his nude holiday firm for £1.8m. Lobsters English barrister designs £2,000.... more
(11 May 2006 00:00)