On the same day that we announced a former MasterChef: The Professionals finalist would be opening a 14-cover restaurant in Notting Hill, BigHospitality has heard from another London-based restaurateur who is opening a similar-sized venue in Bermondsey.
Worcestershire-based hotel group Cotswold Inns & Hotels has acquired the 19-bedroom Close Hotel in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, taking the company's estate of hotels up to eight.
Coffee has become a 'growing part of the sales mix' at pub and bar group TCG according to chief operating officer Nigel Wright whose company has just formed a new partnership with a coffee supplier to boost its sales further.
A marketing graduate who gave up a lucrative career in insurance to work as a chef in some of London’s top restaurants has just opened the first restaurant of his own near Ramsgate in Kent.
Jamie Jones, one half of Manchester bar consultants The Liquorists, has been named as the world's best gin bartender in an annual, week-long, invitation-only contest held in France earlier this month.
Marianne Lumb, a finalist in the 2009 series of MasterChef: The Professionals, is to launch her first restaurant – an eponymous 14-cover venture in Notting Hill – in September.
A former lawyer, Julia Hands founded Hand Picked Hotels in 1999 with her private equity financier husband - Guy Hands. Her hands-on approach has helped the collection grow to 17 purposefully individual hotels which will soon be joined by two recent acquisitions.
The Balvenie, a range of single malts crafted by ‘malt master’ David Stewart, has launched Balvenie Tun 1401 Batch 8 - a one-off’ single malt married from 12 casks of the distillery’s precious stocks of aged spirit.
Strong sales of food, wine and coffee across Greene King's pub and restaurant estate over the last year helped push sales up 4.8 per cent to £1.194m and pre-tax profit up almost 7 per cent to £162m it reported today.
The team behind a number of successful London bars and nightclubs including Barts and Bunga Bunga have brought ‘70s Manhattan’ to Soho with the launch of underground nightclub, Disco.
The new head chef of the Hambrough is on a mission to take the hotel and restaurant ‘to the next level’, following Robert Thompson’s departure from the Isle of Wight business earlier this year.
Budget hotel chain Travelodge has pledged to offer 50 work experience placements to young people in London this year in a bid to tackle unemployment and find future staff for the industry.
Long-awaited restaurants, including Bruno Loubet's The Grain Store and Hutong at The Shard, dominate this month's hospitality openings photo gallery which also documents concept launches, refurbs and re-brands carried out by hospitality businesses...
TV chef and restaurateur Simon Rimmer has announced plans to open a restaurant at the Doubletree by Hilton in Liverpool when it opens its doors for business later this year.
BRGR.CO, part of the ‘burger boom’ that hit central London last year, is opening a second site in the capital this autumn, having secured the former Black & Blue unit on King’s Road in Chelsea.
Accor has unveiled a new-look Mercure hotel as part of its plans to accelerate expansion of the mid-scale brand and reach its target of 1,000 hotels worldwide by 2018.
Restaurant group Prezzo, the operator of the eponymous Italian chain and Mexican concept Chimichanga, has launched a new brand specialising in chicken, burger and ribs, with a debut site having just opened in Cobham, Surrey.
Hutong at The Shard - the second of three restaurants to take up residence in the iconic London skyscraper - opens today. Ahead of the opening, BigHospitality was invited to tour the restaurant and meet David Yeo, the owner and founder of Aqua Restaurant...
London hotels enjoyed a second consecutive month of profit growth in May, driven by an increase in revenue per available room (RevPAR), but their regional counterparts also had a successful month, according to two new reports.
The branded restaurant market is predicted to grow by £5.6bn to £22bn over the next five years as it continues to win market share from independents according to a report by Allegra Strategies.
A former restaurateur turned professional actor has created a small theatre company which can perform small, stripped down plays in areas of hotels, restaurants or pubs.
The Hospitality Guild is to host its second Twitter debate on apprenticeships this week in a bid to help employers and potential new staff understand more about the route into the industry.
South Lakes MP Tim Farron has pledged his support of the Cut Tourism VAT campaign and is putting pressure on the Treasury to bring tax rates for hotels, restaurants and other hospitality and leisure businesses into line with those in other European countries.
Julia Hands, the founder of Hand Picked Hotels, has told BigHospitality she does not expect the four-star country house hotel collection to be much larger than 20 venues so the business manages to keep its family-run feeling.
Simpsons head chef and UK Bocuse d'Or candidate Adam Bennett has been appointed chef director of The Cross, the Kenilworth pub chef and restaurateur Andreas Antona takes over at the end of this month.
Russell Norman and Richard Beatty have secured a site on Berwick Street for the return of Polpetto, the pair's popular Soho restaurant, which will once again feature Florence Knight in charge of the kitchen.
The owner of a new Soho restaurant claims that simple, authentic ingredients, a good selection of wines and a well-priced lunch menu are the key to success in such a popular market, as she prepares for the official opening.
Anthony’s Restaurant Ltd, the company run by popular Leeds-based chef Anthony Flinn, has entered administration - all four of the group's restaurants in the Yorkshire city were closed last week.
The Government’s alcohol duty escalator is being blamed for a continual drop in sales of wine and spirits in the UK’s restaurants, pubs and hotels as research shows that British drinkers now pay 43 per cent more for alcohol than their European counterparts.
Antonino Forte from Galvin at Windows was first across the line in the inaugural waiters race on Sunday as hospitality businesses from across the UK came together to celebrate hard-working front-of-house staff as part of the first ever National Waiters...
Turtle Bay, the four-strong Caribbean restaurant concept developed by one of the founders of Las Iguanas, has secured yet more funding to aid its expansion plans to open a further 20 outlets over the next three to five years.
Kitchen equipment and ingredients provider Cream Supplies has added bubble tea to its range, with a variety of mixed and juice-based ‘bubbles’ available to chefs this summer.
Bermondsey Street bar and restaurant Village East is to close in July for a refurbishment which will include a 'dramatic overhaul' of the kitchen ahead of a re-opening in September.
Sodexo, Dukes St. James London and Be At One Cocktail Bars were among the businesses represented by winners of the Women 1st Shine Awards, which recognises the outstanding achievements of women working in the UK’s hospitality, passenger transport, travel...
South African flame-grilled burger chain Steers is making its first foray into the UK this summer with a first site opening in Clapham next month which could potentially be the first of many.
Michelin-starred Murano chef Angela Hartnett has partnered with British restaurant chain Canteen for the opening of Merchant’s Tavern restaurant and bar in Shoreditch this September.
Husband and wife Murray and Hazel Ward have been involved in the hospitality industry for all of their working lives. The young Scottish couple, who met at Edinburgh’s Tigerlily hotel, now help to run the nearby Rutland hotel - which includes gourmet...
Yorkshire-based pork producer Three Little Pigs has secured a national trade distribution deal for its range of rare breed, high welfare, air-dried English chorizos and salamis.
Bar and nightclub owner Luminar has been allowed to continue trading one of its largest venues in Kingston under a new set of licence conditions after the fatal stabbing of a 20-year-old clubber last year.
Soho House Group is set to further develop its partnership with US restaurateur Brendan Sodikoff with the opening the Soho Diner on Old Compton Street early next month.
The Government is in danger of stifling and overlooking food and restaurant start-up businesses which could hold the key to economic growth, a new report has claimed.
UK hospitality businesses are charged 20 per cent VAT on all sales, whereas the supermarkets pay virtually no VAT on food sales. Is this far? The VAT Club JB, headed up by veteran campaigner Jacques Borel, certainly doesn’t think so and is launching a...
Scottish brewer and pub operator BrewDog has snubbed the ‘self-interested banks’ by today launching the third phase of an innovative crowdfunding programme which it hopes will raise £4m by selling off shares directly to beer drinkers.
UK restaurateurs and front-of-house staff have slammed the decision of a New York restaurant to outlaw tipping, calling the move 'ridiculous' and one that should not be adopted by venues on this side of the pond.
