Franco Manca owner appoints advisers for possible sale February 20, 2026 The group which owns pizza chain Franco Manca and The Real Greek restaurants has hired advisers to review its strategic options in a possible first move of a sale or restructuring. Fulham Shore said on Friday it had appointed advisors Alvarez & Marsal, and reports say a sale could be on the table. The UK’s [...]
Surinder Arora: Hotels should not be excluded from tax relief February 19, 2026 Hotel tycoon Surinder Arora has said he “fails to see” why the government has offered emergency tax support only to pubs, as hotels battle with “unprecedented” business rate hikes. This comes after Wednesday’s Consumer Prices Index (CPI) figures revealed that hotels and restaurants are facing far quicker price rises than the headline inflation rate. The [...]
Hospitality inflation climbs as pressure on sector persists February 18, 2026 Food and restaurant prices are rising at a faster rate than overall inflation, in a sign that cost and tax pressures on the hospitality sector are unlikely to ease. While headline Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation dropped to three per cent in the year to January 2025, food and restaurant inflation climbed from 3.8 to [...]
Full house: Gen-Z flocks to bingo halls in latest leisure trend February 18, 2026 Following in the wake of analogue trends including vinyl, polaroid cameras and Nokia phones, Gen Z Brits could be swarming into bingo halls as they take their retro obsession back to the 1950s. Buzz Bingo, which operates at 79 sites in the UK including five in London, claims interest from young people is driving its [...]
Third of young Brits brew business ideas at the pub February 18, 2026 A third of young Brits have come up with a business idea over a pint at their local boozer, new research has revealed. Brits are finding unlikely entrepreneurial inspiration in pubs as 18 per cent of all people in the UK have had a light-bulb business moment here, according to new polling by GoDaddy. This [...]
Hospitality crisis pushed thousands of firms to shut in 2025 February 17, 2026 Thousands of hospitality industries were forced to call time last year, as soaring operating costs took their toll. The owners of 3,353 accommodation, food and drink firms entered insolvency proceedings in the twelve months to December 2025, according to the Buchler Phillips hospitality index. These insolvencies spell out the impact of food inflation and climbing [...]
Brewdog faces hangover from ‘punk’ investment model February 17, 2026 Once offering a craft beer revolution to its “punk” investors, Brewdog’s likely sale has angered some of its thousands of small-scale shareholders and could see the brand’s elements be flogged off in segments. The UK’s largest independent brewer kickstarted the country’s craft beer obsession and challenged traditional financing models by offering cheap shares to consumers. [...]
Annabel’s profit trebles as Mayfair club defies hospitality gloom February 16, 2026 One of London’s best-known private members clubs has shrugged off wider hospitality gloom after posting a near-tripling of profit. Mayfair-based Annabel’s, which has been based on Berkeley Square since the 1960s, toasted a pre-tax profit of £12.4m in the year to January 2025, a rise of 184 per cent on the previous year. Revenue over [...]
Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham criticise pub tax raid February 12, 2026 Two prominent potential leadership challengers to Sir Keir Starmer have attacked the government’s tax regime for putting hospitality businesses, and particularly pubs, under serious pressure. Angela Rayner acknowledged that the hike to the minimum wage has put pressure on hospitality businesses, and said that the government needs to “start relieving” the sector. Starmer’s former deputy [...]
Khao Bird: Top Thai restaurant takes over Soho’s last dirty cinema February 10, 2026 What could be a greater sign of the times than a hip pop-up restaurant opening on the site of Soho’s last adult cinema? It’s over! Soho’s dead! First they closed the late night drinking dens and then they pushed out the brothels and now there’s nowhere to watch grubby movies. The final remnants of seedy [...]