Shangri-La to open five-star London hotel

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, the luxury hotel group based in Hong Kong, is to open its first hotel in Europe at London Bridge Tower. The five-star hotel will be housed in a proposed 1,016ft skyscraper over 66 storeys, and is expected to have 200 rooms on storeys 37 to 51. Construction is due to start this year, for completion in 2009. - The Times, 5 February.

Kitchen fire destroys landmark Irish hotel

The Red House hotel in County Kildare was completely destroyed in a huge fire last night. It is believed the blaze started in the kitchen area shortly before 6pm and may have spread up through the ducting into the old part of the building. – Irish Independent, 5 February.

Birmingham pub set to be first for 24-hour licence bid

The Rainbow in Birmingham is set to be one of the first pubs in Britain to offer round-the-clock drinking. From tomorrow publicans can apply to their local councils for 24-hour licences, which come into force in November. Avery Taverns, which owns the Rainbow, will be one of only a handful of pub operators to take advantage of the new extended opening hours. – Independent on Sunday, 6 February.

Smoking ban in Scotland will cost 2,300 jobs

Scotland’s smoking ban is likely to cost an initial 2,300 jobs, force more than 140 pubs to close and rob the chancellor of £59m a year in tax revenue, a new report claims. A study commissioned by the licensed trade says the ban would also see turnover drop by £105m and annual profits slump by £86m.  – Scotland on Sunday, 6 February.

Wetherspoon's in takeover rumours

JD Wetherspoon is being linked to a possible takeover bid from a private equity group. "This is a very easy business to VC," said one fund manager. "There’s a big property play there and you could turn it around quite easily just by cleaning up the toilets and squeezing the drink prices higher.  "They currently work on margins of about 5%. If you get that up to 10%, in line with the industry standard, the valuation changes radically.” – Scotland on Sunday, 6 February.


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