White for Oak Room after deal with Forte

Marco Pierre White is to take on the running of seven restaurants in Forte hotels as part of a £2m deal with Granada, beginning with the Oak Room at Le Méridien in London early next month.

It is expected that White will himself take over the cooking at the Oak Room, leaving the city's Hyde Park Hotel.

White is also expected to oversee the running of the Grill Room at the Café Royal following the redundancy of executive chef Herbert Berger earlier this month.

Announcements of the other restaurants in the deal are to come over the next 18 months, with at least three outside London. It is believed that the Queens in Leeds and London's Waldorf will be included.

The contract with Granada means that White's name is to be removed from the restaurant in the Hyde Park Hotel. But, elsewhere in London, he will retain his partnership in the Quo Vadis restaurant in Soho and the joint venture with Granada for the Criterion in Piccadilly.