April
The independent directors of Chez Gérard tell shareholders to accept the £15.5m bid from Paramount after an alternative management buyout bid collapses. Full story>>
Gondola Express, a company set up by venture capital firms TDR Capital and Capricorn Ventures International, announces a £277.8m offer for PizzaExpress, trumping the earlier offer from ex-chairman Luke Johnson. Full story>>
Le Petit Blanc, the four-strong brasserie chain created and half-owned by chef and restaurateur Raymond Blanc, goes into administration after a drop in sales. Full story>>
Contract caterer Sodexho UK & Ireland reports sales down by 4% in the six months to the end of February after axing several contracts. Full story>>
Trading at London hotels is hit by the war in Iraq, according to March figures from consultants PKF. Full story>>
Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) is to sell its 1,450 pubs, restaurants and budget hotels to concentrate solely on brewing. It expects to get about £2.3b for the estate. Full story>>
BIL International increases its bid for hotel group Thistle to £627.1m. The bid is declared unconditional the next day and the Thistle board tells its shareholders to take the cash. Full story>>
May
Compass buys Facilities Management Catering, the official caterer of the Wimbledon Tennis Championship. Full story>>
David Dempsey, the recently installed head chef at Gordon Ramsay's flagship London restaurant, dies in an accident, thought to have involved a fall from a flat in London. Full story>>
Ian Burke, chief executive of Thistle Hotels, resigns following the company's grudging recommendation that shareholders accept the £627m hostile takeover bid from BIL International. Full story>>
Hundreds of London's restaurants are said to face bankruptcy following the launch of a massive Inland Revenue offensive on badly run tronc schemes. Full story>>
Hilton Group reports a 25% fall in profits during the first four months of the year, with its hotels division hit by the effect of the Iraq war and Sars virus. Full story>>
Hotel chain Le Méridien admits it is in talks with its banks and financial backers over a financial restructure. Full story>>
International hotel chain Millennium & Copthorne warns that profits for the first six months of 2003 will be "significantly lower" than last year because of the effects of the war in Iraq and the Sars virus. Full story>>
InterContinental Hotels chief executive Richard North says it is "difficult to imagine a worse trading environment" as pre-tax profits plunge by 30% during the six months to 31 March. Full story>>
Anton Edelmann, maitre chef des cuisines at London's Savoy hotel, leaves to join contract caterer Sodexho. Full story>>
Gary Rhodes is to take over the site of Twenty Four, the fine-dining restaurant on the 24th floor of Tower 42, the tallest building in the City of London. Full story>>
London hotels suffer their worst April for 20 years, partly because of the war in Iraq and Sars outbreak. Full story>>
Marks & Spencer outsources its head office foodservice operation for the first time, to contract caterer BaxterSmith. Full story>>
June
Jersey-based investment firm Orb Estates sells for more than £700m the 37 hotels it bought from Thistle a year earlier. Full story>>
Investment group Blackstone denies it has any plans to sell off the Savoy Group or any of its flagship London properties. Full story>>
Gondola Express clears the final hurdle in its bid to take over PizzaExpress. Full story>>
Outspoken tourism minister Kim Howells leaves the Department for Culture, Media and Sport as part of a cabinet reshuffle. His tourism role is taken by sports minister Richard Caborn. Full story>>
Founder Donald Macdonald and other senior management unveil plans to take the company private. Full story>>
Rocco Forte Hotels buys Brown’s hotel in London’s Mayfair for £51.5m. Full story>>
Initial Catering loses its £2m-a-year school meals contract in Cornwall after running it for nearly ten years. The council takes the contract back in-house. Full story>>
Seafood restaurant group Loch Fyne buys the four-strong Le Petit Blanc chain for a sum believed to be close to £1.25m. Full story>>