Loch Fyne accepts £30m bid
Private equity firm Hutton Collins's 30m bid for seafood chain Loch Fyne Restaurants (LFR) was accepted at an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders on Monday. On completion of the deal, Premium Casual Dining will be the new holding company for LFR and will be controlled by both Hutton Collins and LFR's management. The deal values the group's shares at £10 each and contains a £21.8m cash component and LFR debt.
Bonnington buys art deco icon
West London's iconic art deco Gillette factory has been bought for nearly 32m by Irish hotel group Bonnington, beating off competition from Ikea and the factory's next-door neighbour, Tesco. The development of the shaving company's former headquarters, at Gillette Corner in Isleworth, will be a mixed-used scheme, including a 200-bedroom, four-star hotel and luxury apartments within the Grade II-listed building. Bonnington, part of the Regency Hotel Group, owns the Bonnington hotel in London as well as other properties in Ireland, Malaysia and South Africa.
Quiz teams wanted
Next week is the Caterer Group charity industry quiz night, supported by Fuller's, and we are looking for just two more teams to take part in the inaugural event at the Counting House pub in the City of London on 16 November. It's a chance to show colleagues how much trivia you know and pit your wits against some of the UK's finest brains from Fuller's and the Caterer Group. Of course, it wouldn't be a pub quiz without a few pints of Fuller's London Pride. Entry fee is £350 per team and entrants will be selected on a
first-come, first-served basis, with profits going to Hospitality Action.
Espresso Essentials
Caterer would like to point out that Zuma chocolate powder is distributed by Espresso Essentials, not Espresso Warehouse as stated in the "Something more chocolaty" feature in the 20 October issue. Espresso Warehouse distributes the Chocolate Abyss brand.