Whisper it, but are those green shoots I spy? A number of Europe hotels and restaurants believe we have may hit the bottom of the recession, research revealed this week.
More than a third of the 200 hotels and restaurants surveyed by KPMG expected growth in their volumes of business activity over the next 12 months, compared to 22.1% forecasting declines.
This confidence was reflected in the trading figures for London hotels over the Easter period, although provincial operators performed less well.
Hopes that the weak pound would deliver a boost to domestic tourism received a setback, with Sterling rising above $1.60 for the first time since November, although consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers stressed that operators shouldn’t panic as the value of the Euro is more relevant to UK tourism.
Tourists coming to the UK will soon be able to have a taste of Heston Blumenthal when on the road, after Little Chef unveiled plans to roll out the Michelin-starred chef’s menu nationwide following a successful trial in Popham, Hampshire.
Italian restaurant chain Carluccio’s revealed that it had called off talks with a mystery suitor, while we revealed that Soho House Group has taken over the restaurant at the Hoxton hotel in east London.
Eleven was the number of the week in the pub sector, as Peach Pub Company signed its 11th site - the Almanack in Leicester - and Greene King's Scottish arm Belhaven put 11 pubs on the market.
The contract catering sector lost one of its most experienced figures as Tony McKenna, the managing director of school meals caterer Cater Link, bowed out after 16 years at the company he founded in 1993.
Compass Group announced that three of its business and industry contracts would become "centres of excellence" in a bid to showcase the best of its workplace catering offer.
The contracts at Procter & Gamble in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, the Vodafone head office in Newbury and Simons Construction in Lincoln will highlight food quality and presentation improvement, food cost control, promotions and purchasing compliance.
Racecourse operator Arena Leisure unveiled details of its most ambitious hotel project to date - the £29m Lingfield Marriott - while InterContinental Hotel Group retained its title as the largest hotel chain in the world.
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Quote of the Week
"There are two places in the world doing it well, but lots of wannabes with wild combinations that are tasteless and incomprehensible."
Michel Roux Jnr on molecular gastronomy