Pub companies: Is now the time to invest in a cheap pint? September 23, 2019 Investors in Greene King are raising a glass in celebration after Hong Kong’s richest man, Victor Li, agreed to buy the UK’s largest publicly-listed pub and brewery company for £4.6 billion (including net debt). A unit of Li’s investment vehicle, CK Asset Holdings, has bid 850 pence per share – more than a 50 per [...]
Feeling the heat: Carluccio’s waiters rise up in row over tips September 22, 2019 Waiters at Carluccio’s are hitting back at the restaurant chain after a change in tipping policy that has allegedly left them hundreds of pounds worse off per month. Employees at the Italian eatery have joined the Unite union in a bid to scrap a new policy that siphons off a great proportion of tips to [...]
Zac Goldsmith shared in £16m payout before All Star Lanes went bust September 22, 2019 Investors including Tory MP Zac Goldsmith, diamond mogul Anthony Oppenheimer and fund manager Jim Mellon are said to have shared in a £16m payout from a chain of bowling alleys just months before it went bust. All Star Lanes, which owns four bowling alleys in London, was sold to Risk Capital Partners last week as [...]
Restaurant insolvencies jump by a fifth as casual dining sector squeeze continues September 16, 2019 The number of restaurants collapsing into insolvency has risen by 20 per cent in the last year amid tough competition on the UK high street. Roughly 1,410 restaurants went insolvent in the year to the end of June, up by a fifth on the previous 12 months, according to figures compiled by accountancy firm UHY [...]
South African drinkers get their whisky fix with post-Brexit trade deal September 11, 2019 The whisky will keep flowing in Cape Town’s bars and restaurants even after Brexit as the UK initialled a trade deal with South Africa and its neighbours. The economic partnership agreement, which has been agreed in principle, with the Southern African Customs Union and Mozambique will give British business access to a major African market. [...]
‘Tatty and antiquated’: Luton ranked worst large UK airport for fourth year running September 9, 2019 Luton airport has been ranked the worst large airport in the UK for the fourth year running by consumer watchdog Which. Luton managed a 43 per cent customer satisfaction score in a Which survey of 4,499 of its members, who were surveyed about 6,237 airport experiences at UK airports, including passport control and the price [...]
Pubs cash in on bank holiday heatwave but fears grow for restaurant sector September 9, 2019 A sunny spell through the August bank holiday helped London watering holes increase their late-summer sales, according to a closely-followed industry measure. Thirsty punters gravitated to drink-led pubs in the capital, which enjoyed a five per cent like-for-like boost in sales compared to the same period last year. Read more: Wetherspoons toasts no-deal Brexit by [...]
Which London Boy location should Taylor Swift snap up a home in? September 6, 2019 When Taylor Swift released her latest album, Londoners were surprised to find she had penned an ode to our city in a track called London Boy. In the song, she travels around the capital using routes that anyone with a cursory knowledge of the transport system would find completely illogical, such as going from Shoreditch [...]
Weekly Grill: Scott Paton, head chef at Boringdon Hall, tells us about the joy of peaches and an unwanted sausage September 3, 2019 Who are you and what do you do? I’m Scott Paton, head chef at Boringdon Hall Hotel. I oversee all food outlets within the 5-star country house hotel in Devon. Tell us about your new menu We have a new multi-course experience in the pipeline, a journey through the history of the hotel, which dates back to [...]
Johnson Service Group looks for London deals as laundry specialist cleans up on full-year results September 3, 2019 Johnson Service Group is in talks with several companies in London about prospective takeover deals, as the laundry specialist looks to build out its offering in the capital. The Aim-listed company’s chief executive Peter Egan told City A.M. he was looking to “bring on more capacity” in London. “Around the London area you have huge [...]