Take one gifted chef - good enough to earn two Michelin stars - add a large dollop of investment and stir with vision. What do you get? Potentially, a successful mid- to high-spend restaurant chain with properties in four affluent locations in middle England. In reality? A disparate, over-ambitious collection of individual restaurants that fail to maintain their promise.
Le Petit Blanc - what happened, what went wrong?
To be honest, those on the outside - and even those in the know - will probably struggle to come up with all the answers. The concept was brilliant - top brasserie food, attached to a famous name and served in a lively atmosphere. The first site, in Oxford, was a Caterer Adopted Business seven years ago. It made a good story. Expansion followed - roll it out - Cheltenham, Birmingham, Manchester. It all looked very promising.
The problem with brilliant entrepreneurial concepts, however, is that the architect at the core of the project will usually want to be hands-on long after it's time to let go, believing that personal involvement will compensate for the lack of a structured management system. Throw in the pressure of expansion and the recipe for a successful business slowly begins to sag in the middle and turn soft just when a hard edge is needed.
The newly forged marriage between Loch Fyne Restaurants and Le Petit Blanc looks like it could provide the right formula of individuality and sound business sense. One party gets the systems; the other expands with a different brand.
The lesson here is simple. A big name with a brilliant idea is not enough once expansion begins. We have seen this time and time again with chefs such as Jean-Christophe Novelli. Remember? He opened seven restaurants over 18 months back in the mid-1990s, but couldn't sustain the momentum and quickly lost five sites with serious debts.
It's no wonder that the likes of Brian Turner are opening restaurants in association with operators such as Aramark, or Gordon Ramsay within the security of the Savoy. Entrepreneurial flair will always need some kind of structured support if it is to develop successfully. So, good luck to Raymond Blanc and Mark Derry - this could be a winning combination.
Forbes Mutch, Editor, Caterer & Hotelkeeper
Where the art is
It has become traditional to give each year's Cateys ceremony an overall theme - and this is either a bane or a challenge for whoever's in charge of the food. The 2003 subject was art - in particular the art of 20th century modern master Piet Mondrian. That meant Le Méridien Grosevenor House's executive chef, Fabrizio Cadei, and his team had to come up with a menu that incorporated lots of simple, angular lines and blocks of colour. How did Cadei get round this?
Joanna Wood, Deputy Chef Editor
Roots to the top
Few of us forget our first job. But time can play tricks on those at the top, weakening the connection they share with colleagues on the hospitality front line, to the detriment of business. Therefore, an increasing number of companies are sending their staff back to the floor, lifting the format from its TV roots and making it an integrated part of company policy. One such convert is the Greene King Pub Company, whose Longest Day initiative has become an annual, valued event.
Chris Druce, People Writer