Fine Dining

November trade boost for London and regional hotels

13-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

Hotels delivered a steady performance in November 2010, with like-for-like increases in room rate, occupancy and yield across the board.

Heron gets go ahead for Four Seasons London hotel build

12-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

Property group Heron International has secured planning permission for a £500m central London residential and retail development, which will house the fourth Four Seasons Hotel in the UK.

Personalisation and technology key to future of hotels, finds report

12-Jan-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The hotel environment is likely to change drastically over the next ten years and innovation based around each individual customer needs to be at the top of the agenda, according to a new report.

New Holiday Inn and Staybridge to open on Olympic route

11-Jan-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Two new hotels – a Holiday Inn and a Staybridge Suites – are to be built at Westfield Stratford City to cater for the Olympic traffic expected next year.

BHA highlights hospitality’s potential following jobs summit

11-Jan-2011 By Lorraine Heller

As some of the UK’s leading businesses yesterday pledged to create more jobs over the coming year, the British Hospitality Association (BHA) again highlighted the importance of the hospitality industry in generating employment.

Food trends 2011: Popular cuisines

10-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

British diners have become more aware than ever of their expanding waistline and shrinking pockets, shifting their taste for out-of-home dining towards lighter, healthier meals that give value for money.

Business Profile: Cote

10-Jan-2011 By Joe Lutrario

The mid-market veterans behind Strada and Côte discuss the benefits of cooking from scratch, refining existing concepts, and explain how to rollout at pace.

Tsuru Sushi expands to three London restaurants

10-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

Tsuru Sushi, the two-strong London-based restaurant chain, is to open a third site at St. Paul’s as part of steady expansion plans.

Career Profile: Darren Brown

07-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

The newly appointed head chef of 10 in 8 Fine Dining Group’s Dartmouth restaurant Angelique turned his back on a fine dining career in London for one in the country, and hasn’t looked back since.

Bathhouse to launch smaller ‘decadent retreat’ in London

07-Jan-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The owners of a converted Victorian bathhouse near London’s Liverpool Street are preparing to take their decadent dining and entertainment concept to a smaller site on Stoke Newington’s Church Street.

London hotels add £12 to average room rates

07-Jan-2011 By Lorraine Heller

As much of the hospitality industry struggles to keep up revenue streams, hotels in the capital managed to make 2010 a year of growth by charging more for a night’s stay.

Healthy sharing menus at The Real Greek and VAT break at Zilli Restaurants

07-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

Restaurants, pubs and hotels including The Real Greek and Zilli Restaurants, tell us what they’re doing to attract customers during January, a notoriously quiet month.

Consumers seek attainable luxury in hotels, finds report

06-Jan-2011 By Lorraine Heller

A new group of consumers is emerging in the UK which is looking for hotel luxury in small doses as a pick-me-up in the midst of economic gloom.

Michel Roux Jr promotes service careers in new TV show

06-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

Michel Roux Jr has taken a break from promoting chef careers on Masterchef: The Professionals to present a new TV show aiming to raise the profile of front-of-house careers instead.

Hospitality X Factor to raise funds for industry careers

06-Jan-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The UK’s hospitality industry is being offered the chance to show off its singing talent in an X Factor-themed night designed to raise funds for the industry’s careers charity, Springboard.

Malton restaurant challenge reveals chef finalists

06-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

The Malton Chef Challenge, the competition held in partnership with Restaurant magazine that is seeking a new chef to open a restaurant in the Yorkshire market town, has decided on two finalists to compete in a cook-off.

Olympics customer service training programme gathers support

06-Jan-2011 By Lorraine Heller

UK sporting venues such as Twickenham Stadium and Royal Ascot have signed up for a customer service programme introduced last year by People 1st to train hospitality staff ahead of the Olympics.

Tourism marketing campaign to create 50,000 jobs

06-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

A new four-year £100m marketing campaign devised by VisitBritain is estimated to create 50,000 tourism jobs and boost visitor spending in the UK by £2bn.

Angela Hartnett consults at new Whitechapel Gallery restaurant

05-Jan-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Angela Hartnett has teamed up with a new catering firm to create the dishes for the dining room, café and bar at the recently refurbished Whitechapel Gallery.

Park Plaza gains full ownership of three London hotels

05-Jan-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The hotel group Park Plaza has acquired full ownership of three London Hotels that it had previously operated under contract.

Small operators must plan ahead to survive spending cuts, say experts

04-Jan-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Smaller companies will face a tough year ahead, as higher tax and restrictive employment law create barriers to growth, according to the Forum of Private Business.

Grosvenor House Hotel sold for £470m

04-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

London’s Grosvenor House Hotel has been sold by the Royal Bank of Scotland for £470m to an Indian business conglomerate.

Pearls of Wisdom: Andrew Pern

24-Dec-2010 By Joe Lutrario

Yorkshire-born and bred, Pern won a Roux scholarship prior to opening The Star Inn at Harome in 1996, aged just 25. Currently the Morning Advertiser’s Gastropub of the Year, it has held a Michelin star for 10 years.

Battersea Power Station development is go

23-Dec-2010 By Mark Stretton

Mayor of London Boris Johnson has given the green light to a new attempt to regenerate the capital’s Battersea Power Station, this time into a £5.5bn mixed-use development with homes, office space, hotels and restaurants.

Review of the Year 2010: The future

23-Dec-2010 By Becky Paskin

With 2010 almost over its time to look ahead to what the future brings. We’ve spoken to some of the industry’s key players to find out what they believe 2011 has in store for them and the industry, and look forward to the major openings hitting the UK.

Review of the Year 2010: Hotels

22-Dec-2010 By Becky Paskin

As 2010 draws to a close, we take a look back at how the hotel sector has evolved in the past 12 months.

Heathrow hotels "cash in" on stranded passengers

22-Dec-2010 By Becky Paskin

Hotels situated near London Heathrow have been accused of cashing in on the plight of thousands of stranded airline passengers by charging up to 300 per cent more for rooms than they would for next month.

Review of the Year 2010: Restaurants

20-Dec-2010 By Becky Paskin

As 2010 draws to a close, we take a look back at how the restaurant sector has evolved in the past 12 months.

Chris Hutcheson returns Petrus to Gordon Ramsay Holdings

20-Dec-2010 By Becky Paskin

Gordon Ramsay Holdings has regained sole control of Mayfair restaurant Petrus, after former chief executive Chris Hutcheson took it with him when he left the company in October.

Ian Schrager launches two international boutique hotel brands

17-Dec-2010 By Lorraine Heller

The man credited with inventing boutique hotels has this week created a new company with the aim of launching his own line of both top-end and middle-market hotels.

After hours with... Sandeep Bhalla

17-Dec-2010

The India-born director of food and beverage at The Berkeley in Knightsbridge has worked in some of the world’s top class hotels. In his current position he has overseen the transformation of Petrus into Marcus Wareing’s eponymous restaurant, and the...

Vongerichten to open Spice Market in London’s W Hotel

17-Dec-2010 By Lorraine Heller

Three Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten will be bringing his East Asian-inspired restaurant concept to the UK, where he plans to open Spice Market London in the new W Hotel early next year.

Winter cocktails at Radisson Edwardian and New Year’s party at Fifteen London

17-Dec-2010 By Becky Paskin

Restaurants, pubs and hotels, including Radisson Edwardian Manchester and Fifteen London, tell us what they’re doing to attract customers.

Linking food preparation to flavour is key, finds diner survey

16-Dec-2010 By Lorraine Heller

As we look to the dining trends that are likely to pick up in the new year, a recent survey of UK diners suggests that people are especially interested in discovering new flavours that are linked to the way food is prepared.

Small businesses urged to prepare now to avoid VAT complications

16-Dec-2010 By Lorraine Heller

Independent operators and small businesses in the hospitality sector are being urged to prepare for the VAT increase next year, to avoid complications with their accounting systems that could hit their bottom lines.

White Christmas could be “disastrous” for hospitality

15-Dec-2010 By Becky Paskin

Hospitality businesses are expected to suffer over the next few weeks, as a second wave of freezing weather hits the UK in the run-up to Christmas.

Brasserie Blanc secures tenth restaurant in Liverpool

15-Dec-2010 By Becky Paskin

Brasserie Blanc, the casual restaurant chain founded by Michelin-starred chef Raymond Blanc, is to open its latest outlet at the Mann Island development on Liverpool’s waterfront.

John Penrose: Bigging up the Bocuse d’Or

14-Dec-2010 By John Penrose, Minister for Tourism

John Penrose, Minister for Tourism, believes cooking is Britain's secret "tourism weapon", and urges the whole country to back Simon Hulstone and his bid for the 2011 Bocuse d'Or trophy...

Business profile: Loungers

14-Dec-2010 By Joe Lutrario

Helmed by Alex Reilley, Loungers is turning heads across the industry with its blend of homely surroundings, genuine all-day dining offer and cleverly located units.

Four-star training hotel planned for Inverness

13-Dec-2010 By Lorraine Heller

A four-star training hotel is due to open in 2014 in Inverness, and aims to give disadvantaged young people the chance to train in hospitality.

Pub and restaurant sales slow as Christmas approaches

13-Dec-2010 By Lorraine Heller

Pub and restaurant operators will likely face a tough trading environment as we head towards Christmas, as analysts say the latest sector sales figures reveal a challenging time ahead.

Ask the Experts: How can I save money on my business rates?

13-Dec-2010

Chris Barker, Senior Rating Consultant at business rates specialists CVS, explains what hospitality businesses can do to reduce the amount they pay in business rates.

X Factor takeaway at Pizza Express, and Tea Parties at Drunken Monkey

10-Dec-2010 By Becky Paskin

Restaurants, hotels and pubs including Pizza Express and the Drunken Monkey, tell us what promotions they’re running to lure in customers.

Home grown talent could plug skills gap in industry, say recruiters

10-Dec-2010 By Rachel Johnson

A recruitment body has called on the hospitality industry to support home grown talent with apprenticeship schemes, which it says could help mitigate the damage caused to the sector by the government’s cap on non-EU immigration.

Peckforton Castle and Thistle Kensington appointments

10-Dec-2010 By Rachel Johnson

Cheshire hotel Peckforton Castle has appointed Simon Hanna as its new hotel manager.

Pearls of Wisdom: James Gingell

10-Dec-2010

James Gingell is executive development chef at Italian restaurant group Piccolino. He heads up the kitchen teams in 22 sites, and plans to keep re-inventing the dishes and brand.

EcoPure Waters launches in-house water purification

09-Dec-2010 By Rachel Johnson

EcoPure Waters has launched a new purification system that will allow restaurants and cafes to serve pure filtered water straight out of the tap and into a refillable bottle for the customer's table.

Original Ma Cuisine restaurant up for sale

09-Dec-2010 By Rachel Johnson

The original site of John McClements' Ma Cuisine restaurant is up for sale, BigHospitality has learnt.

Burger King launches UK dessert bar

09-Dec-2010 By Mark Stretton

Burger King has opened its first UK dessert bar at London’s Westfield shopping centre, the fast food chain has announced.

Marco Pierre White returns to his roots at The Box Tree

08-Dec-2010 By Rachel Johnson

Marco Pierre White has returned to The Box Tree, the restaurant he trained in as a young chef, as a partner in the business.