‘Slightly unnerving’: Greene King enlists AI to answer pub phones Hospitality Greene King has turned to AI-generated assistants to staff its bars as hospitality firms battle to absorb rising costs, City AM can reveal. The Chinese-owned pub chain, one of the UK’s largest, is using a “virtual assistant” named “Charlie” to answer the phone at a number of sites, including in London. The shift to digital [...]
‘Relentless pressures’: More hospitality firms forced to shut even before Iran war Hospitality The rate of corporate collapse in hospitality surged in February in signs the sector was struggling to stay afloat even before the Iran war brought further cost pressures. The number of accommodation and food service firms declaring insolvency jumped by 22 per cent to 270 in February, according to government data. This acceleration of the crisis [...]
Energy bills threat recedes but retail and hospitality remain on brink Retail Retail and hospitality leaders are optimistic that the Iran-US ceasefire could spare them from the worst energy bill shocks, but are urging the government to address an array of other cost pressures. British businesses had warned that the soaring energy prices caused by the war in the Middle East could be devastating if the conflict [...]
Rocco Forte: Inheritance tax grab has endangered my family firm March 25, 2026 With luxury outposts across Europe, and plans to expand to the Gulf, Rocco Forte Hotels has become one of Britain’s most successful hospitality exports. But after being hit by a wave of damaging policies – including a potentially existential inheritance tax crackdown – he tells Ali Lyon, he is more disillusioned with Britain now, than [...]
Greene King to put 150 pubs on chopping block March 18, 2026 Pubs giant Greene King is considering selling 150 of its pubs and offloading dozens more to franchisees, as its managing director quits. The pub operator, which has 2,500 premises in the UK, has said it will put around 300 of its managed pubs into a separate unit – with 150 of these intended for sale [...]
Ministry of Sound says clubbing is back as it reopens The Box February 27, 2026 Famous London super club Ministry of Sound turns 35 this year, celebrating the occasion with the completion of a five year, multi-million pound renovation. The final piece of the puzzle: the main arena, known to generations of clubbers simply as “The Box”. Self-described as “one of the most revered club spaces in the world” there’s [...]
It’s a sad story from brewery to pub February 26, 2026 It was a balmy 17 degrees in the Square Mile yesterday, drawing crowds out for a lunchtime pint in the sun. But in other parts of the country the hospitality sector is still in the grip of winter. Bad news came thick and fast from my native Cornwall yesterday, starting with confirmation that Sharp’s Brewery [...]
London is the best food city in the world – here are 3 reasons why February 25, 2026 A month of Michelin madness in the UK draws to a close. Among the many accolades gifted, my personal highlights were seeing Row on 5’s executive chef Spencer Metzger receive a second star and Gordon Ramsay High joining Craig Johnson’s Angler to be the second restaurant with a star in the Square Mile. The Evolv [...]
The 18 best pubs in the City of London – picked by experts February 24, 2026 The City of London has some of the best old boozers in the country, from sprawling Victorian gin palaces to squat little drinking dens squirrelled away down forgotten alleyways. We asked the reporters at City AM – who know the Square Mile better than anyone – to name their best pubs in the City of [...]
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 [...]