Hilton directors stole more than 100,000 computer files, says Starwood - For more hospitality stories, see what the weekend papers say

Starwood accuses Hilton directors of stealing more than 100,000 computer files
More details have emerged of Hilton’s alleged theft of trade secrets from Starwood Hotels and Resorts.  Starwood’s 91-page writ alleges that two of its former directors “directly and through other Starwood luxury brand employees they recruited to Hilton, stole more than 100,000 electronic files before and after they joined Hilton”. It claims that some of confidential Starwood information procured by Ross Klein and Amar Lalvani (who had been responsible for Starwood’s W brand) was used to develop Hilton’s new boutique brand, Denizen, which was announced just six weeks ago. The writ suggests that Hilton’s choice of name may have been influenced by one of the stolen files, which contained references to a W Hotel concept called ‘zen den’. Starwood describes their actions as “the clearest imaginable case of corporate espionage, theft of trade secrets, unfair competition and computer fraud” and suggests that the “The sheer volume of theft is extraordinary, and may be unprecedented.” Hilton said: “Hilton Hotels Corporation believes this lawsuit is without merit and will vigorously defend itself. We fully intend to move forward on the development of our newest brand, Denizen Hotels.” – 18 April, Read the full article in The Times >>

Body found in river is not missing York chef
Peter Lawrence, the father of missing York University chef Claudia Lawrence, said he endured “four hours of hell” before learning that a body found in the River Ouse on Friday was not his daughter, who disappeared a month ago.  The body was later identified as Pauline Armitage, a 68-year-old widow who had vanished 10 days earlier. Peter Lawrence has renewed his appeal for users of social networking site Facebook to come forward after hundreds of messages were left on a group dedicated to the search for Claudia. Meanwhile, detectives are currently pursuing two new lines of enquiry. One strand involves a man and a woman who were seen arguing near a car with its front passenger door open on University Road at 6.10am on 19 March (the day Claudia may have vanished) about 10 minutes after she was due to start work. They are also following reports that two men were seen at the front door to her house in the early afternoon on 10 or 13 March. Anyone with information is urged to contact North Yorkshire Police on 0845 6060247 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111. – 18 and 19 April, Read the full articles in the Yorkshire Post on Saturday and Sunday
 

Scottish chef sets up consultancy to help restaurants weather recession
Scottish chef Steve Brown has launched the Restaurant Consultancy in Portobello to help boost the profitability of restaurants struggling to survive the recession and to set up new venues. "The high failure rate of restaurants in Scotland is tragic. Restaurateurs need to put their hands up to ask for help at an earlier stage, rather than leaving it too late," said Brown, who has clocked up 10 years in the trade after training as a chef at London’s Savoy under legendary maître chef des cuisines Anton Edelmann. He now plans to use his experience working in restaurants and hotels in France, Germany and Scotland helping operators with menu creation, food sourcing, staff training, interior design and marketing. Brown and the team of experts he will call upon will visit clients restaurants for three to four weeks. – 19 April, Read the full article in Scotland on Sunday >>

AB InBev shelves new products as recession bites
Brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev is postponing extensions to its Beck’s and Budweiser line-up and reviewing the future of its existing brands as beer sales in Scotland plunge to their lowest level since the 1940s. The group, which is also planning a number of redundancies at its Tennent’s team, believes the recession is making cash-strapped consumers more conservative in their choice of tipple. "We don't think it's right to innovate now,” said Stuart MacFarlane, InBev’s UK president. “Consumers are nervous, they are retreating back to big brands." The group is also exploring the sale of its struggling Rolling Rock brand Bidders to Labatt USA to satisfy antitrust concerns. Beer sales dropped by 8.3% across the UK in the fourth quarter of 2008, the largest fall for final three months of a year since records began in 1997. – 19 April, Read the full article in Scotland on Sunday>>
 

By Angela Frewin

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