Friday Wrap: A round-up of the week's hospitality news

Caterers were in the headlines this week showing there’s a real appetite out there for food business news.

Charlton House got the ball rolling with the news it had gobbled up Chester Boyd in a happy meal.

Kingston upon Hull’s Liberal Democrat-led council caused another bout of indigestion for some when it reiterated it would be axing the area’s free school meals in September.

Compass Group continued to make the right kind of headlines, with boss Richard Cousins cheering investors and shareholders alike with more positive news. The catering giant also announced the departure at the end of the year of managing director of its sports, leisure and hospitality division, Nigel Dunlop.

Ex Hilton Waldorf hotel general manager Amanda Scott revealed the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and their Excelsior hotel in Hong Kong was her next destination, while chef Ollie Couillard confirmed his rumoured departure from Tom’s Kitchen in London was fact.

Enterprise Inns mulled REITs but Prue Leith at Caterer’s 25th anniversary Chef Conference came straight to the point and told hospitality employers to look after their staff better.

Honeycombe Leisure secured its future, Loch Fyne tipped the scales with a record breaking performance and Carluccio’s landed a restaurant site at Heathrow Airport’s mega development Terminal Five.

Competition, at least on the coffee front, may come from Alpha Airports and Starbucks, who have entered into a licensing agreement to sell the Seattle-based company’s roasts at UK airports.

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