‘Slightly unnerving’: Greene King enlists AI to answer pub phones April 29, 2026 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 [...]
Whitbread hopes to win back investors with £1.5bn property sell-off April 29, 2026 Premier Inn owner Whitbread will hope to win back investors when it announces a £1.5bn sell-off of a shedload of its property portfolio on Thursday. The FTSE 100 giant is gearing up for its full-year results later this week, and aims to please its investors with a cash injection to turn the corner on a [...]
‘Devastating’ tube strikes: Pubs brace for 40 per cent sales hit April 20, 2026 London’s pubs and restaurants are bracing for a knock of as much as 40 per cent of daily sales from this week’s tube strikes as industry leaders warn of the “devastating” impact on hospitality. The capital’s hospitality industry is set to be the hardest-hit from the industrial action, which is due to begin at noon [...]
‘Relentless pressures’: More hospitality firms forced to shut even before Iran war April 17, 2026 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 [...]
Pub of the week: The Walrus and Carpenter is pints perfection April 17, 2026 We have opened nominations for the Toast the City Awards 2026. Each week we’ll be profiling some of the nominees: today it’s the Walrus and Carpenter, a pub like no other beside Monument. To find out more and to nominate your favourite bars, restaurants and hidden gems, visit the website here. “‘The time has come,’ [...]
Beer fear: CO2 shortage could lead to state-backed beer at World Cup April 16, 2026 Brits face drinking state-backed beer during the Fifa World Cup as CO2 shortage fears leave breweries and boozers reliant on government gas. The war in Iran has caused chaos across Gulf shipping lanes with government analysis suggesting a closure of the Strait of Hormuz for a long period of time could lead to shortages of [...]
Brewdog could mount $1bn resurgence, new owner says April 16, 2026 The new owner of Brewdog has said the craft beer brand can be worth $1bn, as the firm tries to “rebuild” the brand to its former glory. Tilray, a US-based cannabis and alcohol products firm, said it plans to pile significant investment into Brewdog to make it profitable next year and propel it towards a [...]
Franco Manca shuts 16 restaurants, blaming ‘disproportionate’ taxes April 15, 2026 Franco Manca has taken aim at “disproportionately high” taxes facing the hospitality sector after the pizza parlour shut 16 restaurants in a structural overhaul. The privately-owned restaurant chain said it is suffering from high VAT and “significant” hikes to national insurance and minimum wages, with the site closures to cost hundreds of jobs. The move [...]
Tottenham Hotspur hospitality: Trendsetting innovation in action April 14, 2026 City AM visited the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium during Tyson Fury’s fight with Arslanbek Makhmudov. Trends change, and keeping up with them can be difficult. Haute Couture fashion houses pump out two collections each year; whether you’re an Xbox or PlayStation user can alter depending on technological advancements in model generations; across sport, meanwhile, the “in” [...]
Energy bills threat recedes but retail and hospitality remain on brink April 8, 2026 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 [...]