A round-up of the weekend's news affecting the hospitality industry...
Firkin pub chain founder seeks £10m for new pub chain
David Bruce, founder of the Firkin pub chain, is to raise £10m through the enterprise investment scheme to develop a chain of unbranded pubs. – The Times, 17 January
Edinburgh restaurateur cuts prices to keep business
One of Scotland’s leading restaurateurs, David Ramsden, the owner of Rogue, in Edinburgh, has slashed his menu prices by up to 50% in a bid to attract more diners. Ramsden is offering dramatically reduced prices for his award-winning menu amid fears regular restaurant-goers are no longer prepared to pay high prices. His move comes two days after Gordon Ramsay announced the closure of his Glasgow restaurant, Amaryllis. – The Scotsman, 17 January
Insiders say Gresham deal will go through
Shares in Gresham Hotel Group rose by 16% on Friday after the board of the Irish hotel chain gave the syndicate of investors interested in buying the company a further two weeks to make a new approach. The share price movement suggests that the market expects a successful bid for the company. – Irish Independent, 17 January
Catering college to teach hospitality in Ethiopia
Lecturers from Edinburgh’s Telford College are aiming to overhaul catering and service training in Ethiopia’s main tourism college in an effort to boost the industry and attract vital foreign cash. Ethiopia’s Catering, Tourism and Training college currently has 200 students, many of whom will work in the three main hotel chains, which are government-run. – Scotland on Sunday, 18 January
McCulloch to open a Dakota hotel near Edinburgh
Ken McCulloch is to open the second of his luxury budget Dakota hotels near the Forth Road Bridge in South Queensferry. Work on the £10m site is expected to begin this summer and the hotel should be complete by summer 2005. A previous application to build a branch of the Howard Johnson US hotel chain at the site was rejected in 2001. – Scotland on Sunday, 18 January
Spirit to sell 300 pubs ahead of stock market flotation
Spirit, the UK's largest managed pub company, is putting 300 pubs up for sale in a deal that could net £600m and pave the way for a stock market flotation. Spirit, formerly part of Punch Taverns, has 2,470 pubs and some of those being sold came with the recent purchase for £2.5b of the Scottish & Newcastle pub estate. – Mail on Sunday, 18 January
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