January:
Bob Cotton, chief executive of the British Hospitality Association and restaurateur Rick Stein are awarded OBEs for their services to tourism and hospitality. Full story>>
Trade bodies the Restaurant Association and British Hospitality Association announce they are to merge. Full story>>
Contract caterer Sodexho says it has axed contracts worth about £13m in annual turnover in a bid to restore profitability. Full story>>
Chef Gary Rhodes and caterer Sodexho part company. Their joint-venture restaurants City Rhodes and Rhodes in the Square are to close. Full story>>
Whitbread announces plans to sell off 51 of its Beefeater restaurants as the first step of a three-stage plan to revitalise the chain. Full story>>
The London Landmark hotel closes its flagship restaurant, John Burton-Race at the Landmark. Full story>>
Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's in London is among 16 restaurants celebrating today after being awarded a Michelin star in the guide's 2003 edition. Full story>>
Luke Johnson, chairman of restaurant group Signature, owner of the Belgo chain, succeeds in his bid to take the business private in a £25.2m buyout. Full story>>
A call by Master Innholders' chairman David Wilkinson to ban swearing in the kitchen sparks a heated debate. Full story>>
Grant Hearn, managing director of Hilton UK, moves to take over at rival Travelodge and Little Chef. Full story >>
Corus & Regal Hotels puts 27 hotels, almost a third of its portfolio, on the market with a combined price tag of more than £100m. Full story>>
Irish health minister Michaél Martin announces an all-out smoking bans in the country's pubs, restaurants, clubs and hotels from 1 January 2004. Full story>>
February
Roadchef wins the contract to operate the only motorway service areas to be built on the new M6 toll road near Birmingham. Annual turnover is projected at £20m. Full story>>
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver gets a roasting from a TV watchdog for using bad language on his series Jamie's Kitchen. Full story>>
Restaurant owners in London are worried about the effect on their business of Mayor Ken Livingstone's new congestion charge. Full story>>
Pub and restaurant entrepreneur Hugh Osmond confirms he is considering a takeover bid for hotel giant Six Continents. Full story>>
School caterers in Scotland are given a £63.5m cash injection to help them improve nutritional standards. Full story>>
Chef and restaurateur Gordon Ramsay adds the Vong restaurant at London's Berkeley hotel to his growing empire. Full story>>
BIL International, the majority shareholder in Thistle Hotels, says it may make a takeover bid for the hotel group. Full story>>
Bernard Loiseau, one of France's leading chefs, shoots himself dead after his restaurant is downgraded in a top food guide. Full story>>
Six Continents rejects an approach from pub tycoon Hugh Osmond and says it will continue with plans to split the company. Full story>>
Only 17% of the UK’s hospitals serve good quality food despite a marked improvement, according to figures from NHS food inspections. Full story>>
March
Hugh Osmond, the pubs tycoon, tables a £5.6b hostile bid for Six Continents. Full story>>
Spirit Group buys 75-strong managed pub chain Tom Cobleigh from its venture capital owners for a sum believed to be in the region of £100m. Full story>>
Hotel group Thistle rejects a £554.7m takeover bid from its majority shareholder BIL International, labelling it opportunistic and inadequate. Full story>>
Antony Harris, chief executive of hotel group Hilton International, dies of cancer, aged 47. Full story>>
Pub entrepreneur Hugh Osmond abandons his bid for hotel, pub and restaurant company Six Continents after shareholders vote against a proposal to delay a vote on splitting the company in two. Full story>>
Shell company Paramount tables a bid of £15.5m for restaurant operator Chez Gérard, a reduction on the £20.6m it offered in October 2002. Full story>>
Bank Restaurant Group says it is considering a merger with other restaurant companies, after reporting pre-tax losses of £2.4m for the year to 31 October 2002. Full story>>
Venture capitalists TDR Capital and Capricorn Ventures International say they are in discussions with restaurant company PizzaExpress about making a higher offer for group. They aim to trump former PizzaExpress chairman Luke Johnson’s £263m bid to take the company private. Full story>>
Massarella Catering wins the contract to run in-store restaurants at 88 Littlewoods stores in the UK, following Eurest's decision to quit the contract earlier in the month. Full story>>
A deadly flu-like bug that has killed nine people is traced to a Hong Kong hotel. A medical professor who stayed at the Metropole hotel in Kowloon is said to be the human source of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, known as Sars. Full story>>
After war breaks out in Iraq, UK hotels start to report falling occupancies and cancelled conferences. Full story>>
Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts sells three of its four-star UK hotels for more than £45m. They include the Le Méridien Queens hotel in Leeds and the Le Méridien Warwick hotel, sold to Quintessential Hotels. Full story>>