Franco Manca owner Fulham Shore toasts doubled revenue December 6, 2021 The company behind pizza chain Franco Manca and The Real Greek saw its revenues jump 103 per cent in the first six months of its financial year to £39.5m, up from £19.9m a year earlier. Its half year sales were also 10 per cent ahead of its £36m revenues in the same period in 2019, [...]
Loungers beats pre-pandemic sales as customers flock back and expansion picks up pace December 1, 2021 Bar and restaurant group Loungers has beaten pre-pandemic sales as customers flocked back to its sites following the lifting of Covid restrictions earlier this year, the company has revealed. Revenues hit £102m in the six months to October 3 with a pre-tax profit of £12.8m as bosses opened 12 new sites and aims to open [...]
Omicron optimism: Covid anxiety attack on the financial markets shows signs of alleviating November 29, 2021 The anxiety attack on the financial markets shows signs of alleviating, as investors pause for breath and spot signs of optimism while scientists race to establish the severity of the new variant. The FTSE 100 opened up 1 per cent in early trading, recovering some of Friday’s dramatic losses and the FTSE 250 was 1.5 [...]
Property of the week: Lyndale House, a slice of the country in North London November 29, 2021 In the heart of Highgate Hill, with it’s village community set on the edge of stunning garden oasis Waterlow Park, sits a Grade II listed period property with charm in abundance. This period property is the perfect example of a Queen-Anne style home, and it’s a property where the beauty is in the details. Decorated [...]
Rising insurance costs could be ‘last straw’ for struggling small businesses November 24, 2021 Half of small and mid-sized UK businesses have seen increases in pandemic-related exclusions in their cover, according to broker Marsh, as insurers try to stop their £1bn bill from mounting further.
Why it’s time to end the scourge of the service charge November 24, 2021 Ask five people about service charge – that innocent looking ‘discretionary’ or ‘optional’ 12.5 per cent right at the bottom of your bill – and you’ll get five different answers. It’s an archaic, often clandestine system and I’m glad to have scraped it at our restaurant Oklava. Here’s why. Service charge never sat right with [...]
Activists slam Center Parcs over plans to build site on ancient woodland November 24, 2021 Green charities are calling out Center Parcs over plans to build a £350m holiday resort at the heart of ancient Sussex woodland.
Mass sporting events help bring the UK together and trumpet our shared values November 23, 2021 Britain’s Roger Bannister beating John Landy in the so-called ‘Miracle Mile’ in Vancouver, Canada. Tanzania’s Filbert Bayi crushing the field by blasting out of the gates in the 1,500m in Christchurch, New Zealand. The Commonwealth Games certainly has form in creating history for people and places. Who will capture our imagination next year in Birmingham? [...]
Long Read: Europe’s growing Covid crisis pits vaccinated against unvaccinated November 22, 2021 With coronavirus infections spiking again across Europe despite nearly two years of restrictions, the health crisis is increasingly pitting citizen against citizen – the vaccinated against the unvaccinated. Instead of a Christmas where family and friends can once again embrace festivities and one another, the continent is the global epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic as [...]
Champagne Christmas promised by wine sellers despite supply problems November 19, 2021 Wine sellers and sommeliers have scrambled to assure Brits they can have their tipple of choice this Christmas. Wine importers have been challenged with Brexit-related paperwork at the border and rising costs on shipping containers. Premium online wine seller Naked Wines share price tumbled 20 per cent yesterday as it cut its full-year sales forecast [...]