Belhaven nears 300
Scottish pub company and brewer Belhaven Group will have 300 pubs by the end of 2005. Chairman Chris Greig said at the company's annual general meeting last week that Belhaven remained "on track" to hit its next milestone. The company has increased its estate significantly since being listed on the stock market in 1996, expanding from 42 pubs to 226 pubs. The chairman added that sales and profitability during the first quarter had exceeded expectations and remained comfortably ahead of the previous year.

Maskell's Italian job
David Maskell has been appointed head chef at Il Palazzo hotel in Tuscany, Italy. The new hotel, a former manor house, is in the village of Borgo di Colleoli. It has a 60-seat restaurant, I Secoli, where the average cost of a meal is g60 (£40). Maskell has 14 years' experience as a chef, having trained alongside Paul Kitching at Juniper in Altrincham, Cheshire, and Anthony Pierce at Knockinaam Lodge, Portpatrick, Wigtownshire. For the past year he has worked as a private chef while developing the kitchens at I Secoli.

Dublin's falling stars
Four of Dublin's top hotels have lost their five-star status. The four - the Shelbourne on St Stephen's Green, Jury's in Ballsbridge, the Conrad on Earlsfort Terrace and the Radisson on Stillorgan Road - have been downgraded to four stars by Excellence in Tourism, the organisation that monitors and classifies hotels for tourism development body F ilte Ireland. The hotels are entitled to appeal against the decision, and F ilte Ireland has said it will continue to regard them as five-star hotels in the meantime.

Buoyant Ultimate
Nightclub and bar operator Ultimate Leisure expects turnover for the year to be about 35% up on last year's £19.8m. The company has continued its growth in UK high streets, and has revealed another strong performance for the full year to 30 June. The operator has 28 sites and will open another in Leeds in September.