John Lewis is set to create a new restaurant August 14, 2013 JOHN Lewis is poised to launch a new restaurant concept in a move to diversify its catering range and attract more customers into its department stores. Chief executive Andy Street said while John Lewis’ restaurants and cafeterias were profitable and provided good quality, “middle of the road” food, they were not “cutting edge” brands. “There [...]
Stonegate buys The Living Room August 13, 2013 Stonegate, Britain’s largest private managed pub group, swallowed up the Living Room brand from Premium Bars & Restaurants on Monday for around £10m. Stonegate was created in 2010 when its private equity owner TDR Capital bought 330 managed pubs from Mitchells & Butlers. In 2011 it merged with Town & City Pub Company and now [...]
Review: Joe’s Southern Kitchen & Bar August 13, 2013 RESTAURANT 34 King Street, Covent Garden Tel: 020 7240 4008 FOOD Three Stars VALUE Three Stars ATMOSPHERE Three Stars Cost for two without drinks: £45 Restaurant critics are like Eskimos: we lead isolated lives and are prone to eating seal blubber. No, that’s not it. We’re like Eskimos because we both have 20 words for [...]
Mitie makes positive start to the year with a growing order book August 12, 2013 OUTSOURCING firm Mitie yesterday said that it has “made a positive start to the year” and expects to achieve “good levels of organic growth” in the coming twelve months. The FTSE 250-listed company, which offers facilities, people and energy management services to businesses, has won a number of new contracts in the private and [...]
Retail bosses fight back after Labour attack August 11, 2013 HIGH street giants Tesco and Next have lashed out at Labour after the party branded them “unscrupulous employers” and claimed they preferred cheap Eastern European staff over British workers. Shadow immigration minister Chris Bryant will today call out hiring procedures at the two firms as part of a wide-ranging attack on businesses that use [...]
John Lewis is set to create a new restaurant August 11, 2013 JOHN Lewis is poised to launch a new restaurant concept in a move to diversify its catering range and attract more customers into its department stores. Chief executive Andy Street said while John Lewis’ restaurants and cafeterias were profitable and provided good quality, “middle of the road” food, they were not “cutting edge” brands. [...]
Population growth is irrelevant: Institutions and incentives matter August 11, 2013 THE UK now has one of the fastest-growing populations in Europe, according to a new report by the Office for National Statistics. In just one year, the population grew by over 400,000 people (to a total of 63.7m), adding the equivalent of a city the size of Bristol. A growing population means growing demand for [...]
Where to eat it August 11, 2013 THE WILD GAME CO. Whitecross Street Market, EC1 The Wild Game Co has been going three years since beginning life on the Glorious 12th in 2010 and has led the charge of the game revolution. Andy Wauch founded the company with the aim of selling reasonably priced, restaurant quality meat across London’s food markets. All [...]
Bitcoin transfers stopped by money laundering regulations August 8, 2013 MONEY transfer websites have been forced to withdraw support for the fast-growing virtual currency Bitcoin amid uncertainty over money laundering regulations. Leading transfer services, often used to wire traditional currencies to Bitcoin exchanges, told City A.M. they could not continue to operate without revised regulation. “There’s no clear guidance,” said Brett Meyers, managing director of [...]
Review: Ametsa with Arzak Instruction August 6, 2013 The Halkin Hotel, Belgravia, SW1X 7DJ Tel: 020 7333 1234 FOOD Four stars VALUE Three stars ATMOSPHERE One star Cost per person for tasting menu and matched wine: £145 Ametsa With Arzak Instruction; there’s a restaurant that’s just begging to be hated. It’s the first fine-dining export from the Arzak family (the current iteration being [...]