Hilton to put more hotels up for sale
Hilton Group is to put another dozen UK hotels up for sale, including the Hilton London Olympia, for about £300m. The sale follows the disposal of a package of 11 British hotels for £111m to a joint venture led by Starwood Capital. The company has earmarked about 18 hotels for review, from which it expects to choose about 12 for disposal. – The Times, 21 May
School claims healthy meals have boosted exam results
Icknield High School in Luton, which appointed Savoy-trained David Lucas as head chef to run its kitchen and provide healthy food claims that its pupils' exam results have shot up and that their behaviour has been transformed as a result. In the four years since Lucas joined the school, the percentage gaining five or more good GCSE results has risen from 51% to 71%. Lucas has been appointed to the new government bodies set up to improve school dinners nationwide. – Daily Telegraph, 21 May
Article continues below
New restaurant will leave customers in the dark
A blacked-out restaurant in which blind staff serve the food is the idea behind Dans le Noir, which opens this July in London. Owner Edouard de Broglie maintains the sense of taste is intensified if a diner is not distracted by the food’s presentation. He has now bought the former Maison Novelli in Clerkenwell. Diners will be shown the menu in a lit reception area, then led into the blacked-out dining room where they will have to feel for their cutlery and stab in the dark at their food. – Sunday Times, 22 May
Frozen meals and microwaves to replace hot meals on wheels
Pensioners who receive meals on wheels are to be supplied with microwave ovens and frozen food ready meals. Thousands of elderly people, including those who are wheelchair-bound and suffering from arthritis or dementia, are being asked to take up to two weeks' worth of frozen meals, rather than the hot daily delivery. – Sunday Telegraph, 22 May
Irish hotel tax break scheme attracts 217 applications
A hotel tax breaks scheme will cost the Irish exchequer more than €280m, after 200 applications were made in the weeks before it ended last December. In the last two months of 2004, 217 planning applications were lodged which involved the building of 15,123 hotel bedrooms. Under the terms of the scheme, up to 47% of an investment in a hotel project lodged before 31 December could be written off against rental income at a rate of 15% for the first six years and 10% in year seven. – Sunday Times (Irish edition), 22 May
Blackstone joins bidding for Jurys Doyle
Blackstone Group, one of the world’s largest private equity firms, is poised to enter the bidding for Jurys Doyle Hotel Group, and kick-start an auction for Ireland’s largest hotel chain. – Sunday Times (Irish edition), 22 May
€15m Irish hotel development planned
A group of Irish investors led by the corporate financier Simon Cantrell have received planning permission for a €15m development in the grounds of Ashford Castle near Cong, Co Mayo. – Sunday Times (Irish edition), 22 May
Metal cutlery to fly again on British Airways
Metal cutlery will make its comeback on British Airways flights this week after an absence of nearly four years following the 11 September terrorist attacks on America. The Government announced last month that it was now permissible for airlines flying to and from Britain to use metal cutlery once again. – Sunday Telegraph, 22 May
Greene King faces tenant revolt over beer prices
Pub owner Greene King has been forced on to the defensive after a group of its own tenants threatened legal action against it. The 91 tenants, based in Oxfordshire, claim they cannot compete with Greene King's managed pubs, which are able to buy beer from the company at much cheaper prices. The tenants have hired a law firm to take their case to the Office of Fair Trading. – Independent on Sunday, 22 May
Tchenguiz on the trail of more Spirit pubs
Robert Tchenguiz, who completed the £32m purchase of Yates Group this weekend, is in talks to acquire another £250m package of pubs. His private equity company R20 is in talks with Spirit Group to acquire another £20m package of pubs. Tchenguiz is also bidding for SFI Group. – Mail on Sunday, 22 May
