What the weekend papers say

InterContinental sell shares in hotel property company
InterContinental Hotels Group announced the sale of 9.5 million shares in FelCor Lodging Trust, the American owner of a number of IHG-managed hotels, for £103m. – The Times, 11 February

Compass shareholders reject Compass chief’s pay-off
Shareholders in troubled catering giant Compass Group gave outgoing chairman Sir Francis Mackay a bloody nose after a year in which he said the firm had experienced a "torrid time". Almost one in five voting investors chose not to support his board's combined £4.58m pay cheque after seeing profits fall to just £1m after tax following a string of profit warnings. – Daily Telegraph, 11 February

Price for Kingdom Hotels sell-off announced
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s Kingdom Hotel Investments is to raise up to $408m (£235m), after setting a price range for its flotation that will value the group at between $1.37b and $1.63b (£787m and £937m). – The Times, 11 February

Tourism bosses to market single men
VisitScotland is so confident of the allure of the Caledonian male, preferably in a kilt, it has compiled an online list of the country's 20 most eligible bachelors in an attempt to lure visitors to the country. – The Scotsman, 11 February

Troubled Irish hotel group asks for voluntary redundancies
A voluntary severance package aimed at reducing the workforce at Great Southern Hotels (GSH) by more than 40% could be a key step in selling the loss-making hotel group, according to government sources. The high staffing level across the group is one of the factors behind the hotel operator’s accumulated losses of €40m (£23m). The group is on course to lose another €7-8m (£4m and £4.6m) in 2006. – Sunday Times (Irish edition), 12 February

Dinner ladies threaten strike over extra workload
Dinner ladies are saying it may be all very well for Jamie Oliver to talk to the nation's schools on the importance of good food, but claim they are not being paid or resourced for the extra time cooking fresh food takes. A revolt of dinner ladies in Hackney, east London, is likely to be joined by similar protests in Cheshire and Nottinghamshire. They say they want more money and better resources or they will strike. – The Observer, 12 February

Irish hotel owner denies involvement in Ulster bank raid
Millionaire businessman Pat Lenaghan, has revealed that he is the main target of the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) raids on hotels, pubs and the offices of solicitors and accountants in Ireland. The businessman, who runs the Earl of Kildare Hotel near the Irish parliament building, has declared that the story that money stolen in the Northern Bank raid in late 2004 has been laundered through his businesses is "utter nonsense". – Irish Independent, 12 February

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