Pub meals help Mitchells and Butlers as it faces muted sales November 27, 2012 PUBS and restaurants group Mitchells & Butlers yesterday reported a rise in full-year profit but like-for-like sales in the first eight weeks of the new year were flat, sending its shares down as much as five per cent. The owner of All Bar One, Harvester and O’Neills chains said alcohol duty increases and food price [...]
Profits rise at All Bar One owner November 27, 2012 Pub and restaurant chain Mitchells & Butlers has announced better-than-expected full-year profits, boosted by improved food sales. The company operates brands including All Bar One, O’Neills and Toby Carvery, serving 130m meals and 420m drinks each year. Adjusted pre-tax profits for the year to 22 September rose to £162m from £156m, while like-for-like sales were [...]
Dunstone eyes iconic burger chain franchise November 25, 2012 FIVE Guys Burgers and Fries, the cult US burger chain favoured by President Barack Obama, is set to branch out in London after Carphone Warehouse founder Sir Charles Dunstone moved to bring the famous restaurants across the Atlantic. Sir Charles, who founded Carphone Warehouse in 1986, is understood to have struck a deal through his [...]
L&G secures big retail lettings November 20, 2012 Legal & General Property yesterday revealed it has secured Swedish retail giant H&M and restaurants Wasabi and Kim Chee Korean as tenants at its Covent Garden estate on the Strand. The group said it has also signed New Look, Pandora and Sports Direct to its Jackson Square shopping centre in Bishop’s Stortford, which it bought [...]
‘Tis the season at One New Change November 20, 2012 Working THE Christmas party circuit like a professional this festive season could give your career, social life and even relationship a helping nudge along if done with grace, style and panache. But let’s face it, it’s tough out there. The discerning society high flyer needs to look super sleek, knowing their Moët & Chandon from [...]
Turbot charged Hawksmoor turns attention to the fruits of the seas November 19, 2012 RESTAURANT HAWKSMOOR AIR STREET 5a Air Street, London, W1J 0AD Tel: 020 7406 3980 FOOD **** VALUE *** ATMOSPHERE **** Cost for two people: £140 PROPPING UP a cocktail bar amidst the art deco surroundings of Hawksmoor’s Air Street branch, my mind mused over the agonising misfortune of having been born into the wrong era. [...]
Oil baron: How to profit from a chance discovery November 18, 2012 THE argan tree isn’t found in many suburban gardens. Native to southwest Morocco and the Israeli Negev, it grows knotted and thorny, thriving only in harsh semi-desert environments. But Dana Elemara, organic food enthusiast, import-exporter, and supplier to the cosmetics industry, found a way to capitalise on this exotic survivor. Formerly of Goldman Sachs, Elemara [...]
Derwent makes £23m acquisition November 15, 2012 Derwent London has snapped up 9 and 16 Prescot Street in Whitechapel for £23m. The buildings, which total 111,000 square feet, are let until 2015 to the Cooperative Bank and an Indian restaurant. Reporting its third quarter figures, the developer said it expects a four to five per cent growth in rental values over 2012, [...]
TfL to open the Waterloo & City line on Sundays November 13, 2012 THE WATERLOO & CITY line is set to run a regular Sunday service for the first time in 65 years, City A.M. has learned. The news will be a welcome boost to shops and restaurants in the City of London – as well as good news for commuters who are forced to work on the [...]
Chrysan: lost in translation? November 12, 2012 RESTAURANT CHRYSAN 1 Snowden Street, EC2A 2DQ Tel: 020 3657 4777 FOOD **** SERVICE **** ATMOSPHERE ** Cost for two people with drinks: £160 A FRIEND of mine has recently taken up learning Japanese. So, last month, I found myself spending a surreal afternoon watching a Japanese detective drama series, Deka Kurokawa Suzuki, which really [...]