London

Tortilla Mexican restaurant chain plans to open sites outside London

21-Dec-2011 By Emma Eversham

Tortilla, the fast-casual Mexican restaurant chain founded by Brandon Stephens, could open up to 25 sites both in and outside London in the next two years after receiving funding help from private equity firm Quilvest.

Westminster parking charges postponed until after 2012 Olympics

16-Dec-2011 By Luke Nicholls

The controversial plans by Westminster City Council (WCC) to introduce weekend and night-time parking charges in London’s West End have been halted after a High Court judge granted campaigners a judicial review.

Novus reveals strong pre-Christmas trading

12-Dec-2011 By Luke Nicholls

Bar and restaurant operator Novus Leisure has announced strong pre-Christmas sales, forecasting a record festive period driven by corporate parties and events.

Westminster parking charges: Proposed discount for night workers is ‘no comfort’ say critics

05-Dec-2011 By Emma Eversham

News that those working in Westminster after 6.30pm will be given a discounted rate when parking charges are extended into the evening and weekends next year comes as no comfort or relief to businesses or employees say critics of the scheme.

Brooklyn Bite pizza chain to exploit ‘gap in the market’ with first UK restaurant in Chelsea

30-Nov-2011 By Luke Nicholls

New York pizza concept and cocktail lounge Brooklyn Bite is set to hit the UK having secured its first site in London’s Chelsea, with plans to open several more London sites.

Hoteliers see 2012 as turning point for bookings

21-Nov-2011 By Luke Nicholls

The vast majority of UK hoteliers believe that customers will change the way they book hotels in 2012, with mobile technologies seen as the future of hotel reservations.

Gondola buys Soho Pizzeria

09-Nov-2011 By Luke Nicholls

Soho Pizzeria, located on London’s Beak Street, has been sold to Gondola Group – the operators of Pizza Express, Zizzi and ASK.

Karpo restaurant brings ‘urban dining’ to Kings Cross

04-Nov-2011 By Luke Nicholls

Karpo, a new all-day eating and drinking restaurant opposite London’s Kings Cross station, is set to open next month, offering customers an ‘urban dining experience’.

Tampopo’s first London restaurant under new East Street brand ‘just the beginning’

02-Nov-2011 By Luke Nicholls

Pan-Asian restaurant chain Tampopo is set to open its first central London site next month under the all-new East Street brand. And this is ‘just the beginning’.

Jamie Oliver issues appeal to find missing chef Kevin Boyle

24-Oct-2011 By Luke Nicholls

Jamie Oliver has issued a national appeal to the public for help in finding one of his former chefs, Kevin Boyle, who went missing 12 days ago.

Strong performances at Avenue and Royal Exchange help push up profits at D&D London

17-Oct-2011 By Emma Eversham

Strong performances at Avenue, Royal Exchange and Bluebird have helped push up profits at D&D London over the past year according to the company's financial results released today.

Diners eat out more despite rising restaurant prices

14-Sep-2011 By Becky Paskin

Diners are eating out more often each week and having better experience, despite the price of an average meal in London rising by 6.3 per cent in the past year.

Buca di Beppo opens fifth UK restaurant

13-Sep-2011 By Luke Nicholls

American Italian-style restaurant chain Buca di Beppo has announced plans to add a fifth site to its UK estate.

Westfield Stratford City opens its doors and offers 70 F&B options for diners

13-Sep-2011 By Restaurant

Westfield Stratford City, the £1.45bn retail and leisure development located next to the Olympic Park in east London, opens its doors to customers today with almost 70 food and drink sites ready for operation.

New specialist restaurant concepts embrace the KISS principle

08-Sep-2011 By Stefan Chomka

The Keep It Simple, Stupid approach to food is taking off across the country thanks to a tightening of the consumer purse strings and workers taking shorter lunchtime breaks.

Rossopomodoro opens first Italian restaurant outside London

05-Sep-2011 By Becky Paskin

Italian restaurant chain Rossopomodoro has expanded its UK operations beyond London for the first time, with a new site at Selfridges’ food hall in Birmingham.

Pearls of Wisdom: Claudio Pulze

26-Aug-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Restaurateur Claudio Pulze has been hugely influential in the industry over the last 36 years, opening 50 restaurants including Aubergine, Zafferano and Brasserie St Jacques. He is the founder of restaurant company Cuisine Collection and event caterer...

Former Nobu man takes helm at new Shoreditch pan-Asian restaurant

26-Aug-2011 By Becky Paskin

A new casual pan-Asian restaurant is due to launch near Spitalfields, London next week, headed by a former employee of Nobu London, Buddha Bar and Watatsumi.

Cost of London riots to business and Olympics tourism “unquantifiable”

10-Aug-2011 By Becky Paskin

It is too early to anticipate what the long-term cost rioting and looting around the UK will be to the hospitality industry and the 2012 London Olympic Games, but experts believe the overall cost to the British high street will reach tens of millions...

Restaurants and pubs vandalised and forced to close in London riots

09-Aug-2011 By Emma Eversham

Restaurants and pubs across the capital were among the businesses vandalised in the riots which have broken out across many parts of London over the past few days.

JD Wetherspoon's Woolwich pub burnt to the ground in London riots

09-Aug-2011 By Kate Mead

A JD Wetherspoon pub in south-east London has been burnt to the ground during the third night of violent rioting and looting in London.

Vegetarian restaurant chain Otarian leaves UK shores

05-Aug-2011 By Becky Paskin

Otarian, the US-based fast-casual vegetarian restaurant chain, has pulled out of the UK just a year after launching its first restaurant on Shaftesbury Avenue.

How ready is the UK for Olympics hospitality?

27-Jul-2011 By Lorraine Heller

With exactly one year to go until the London Olympics, the UK is sending out a call to the world to come to these shores next year, but initial figures suggest that the hospitality sector is far from ready to welcome the additional visitors.

Restaurants and pubs sign up to Olympics fair pricing charter

20-Jul-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Restaurants, pubs and other consumer-facing businesses in London have signed up to the Mayor’s new London Visitor Charter, which commits them to offering fair pricing for visitors during the Olympic Games.

YO! Sushi to launch third airport restaurant at Stansted

15-Jul-2011 By Becky Paskin

YO! Sushi is to launch its third airport restaurant at the end of this month with a 59-cover, centrally-located venue at London Stansted.

Toptable reveals the UK’s most popular French restaurants

14-Jul-2011 By Becky Paskin

Restaurant Martin Wishart in Edinbugh and Le Gavroche in London have been named the most popular French restaurants in the UK by 500,000 Toptable users.

New London Club Quarters hotel seeks restaurant operator

12-Jul-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The hotel operator Club Quarters will open a new hotel and with its own independent restaurant in central London early next year.

Radisson Edwardian Canary Wharf put up for sale

12-Jul-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The 4-star Radisson Edwardian hotel in London’s Canary Wharf has been put up for sale.

Park Plaza acquires West London site for new hotel construction

12-Jul-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The hotel group Park Plaza has acquired a site in West London, where it plans to construct a new hotel on a “major arterial route” into central London.

Thistle hotels in London and Brighton are put up for sale

06-Jul-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The Thistle hotels in London and Brighton have been put up for sale by owners Curzon Hotels.

Chipotle hires property agent to find UK restaurant sites

05-Jul-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The Mexican restaurant chain Chipotle has hired property agents Michael Peddar & Co to find sites in the UK for its expansion in this country.

London hotels recover from Royal Wedding let-down

27-Jun-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Following disappointing trading during the Royal Wedding, profitability in London hotels picked up in May, boosted by a series of sporting, cultural and political events, finds the new HotStats survey.

Career Profile: James Partridge

24-Jun-2011 By Emma Eversham

The Dorchester's new Director of Group Sales and Events' 20-year career in hospitality has taken him from a country house hotel nestled in the Cotswolds to the luxury hotel sector in London. He was responsible for launching Gordon Ramsay Holdings'...

Fire hinders construction work at Melia’s new Strand hotel

15-Jun-2011 By Becky Paskin

The construction of Melia Hotels International’s second London hotel on The Strand, ME London, was hindered yesterday evening by a ‘large fire’ in the roof of the building.

Great Hotels of the World to increase meetings business with new sales & marketing director

08-Jun-2011 By Emma Eversham

Great Hotels of the World, the global hotel reservation and sales and marketing services provider, has taken on John Clarke, former director of sales and marketing at the Millennium Hotel London Mayfair, as its new group director of sales and marketing.

Ideas from your Peers

Breakfast at Bentley's and Mad Men parties at Park Plaza Sherlock Holmes

03-Jun-2011 By Emma Eversham

Restaurants and hotels, including Bentley's Oyster Bar & Grill and Northumbrian hotel Langley Castle, tell us about the promotions they're running to attract customers.

Tossed to open 8th London site after operational changes

20-May-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Healthy eating chain Tossed will be opening its eighth London site in September this year, while further expansion remains held back by a lack of suitable sites, says the chain’s owner, Vincent McKevitt.

Plans unveiled for 10 Trinity Square luxury hotel

11-May-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Asian investors have released plans for a luxury hotel and private residences at London’s iconic 10 Trinity Square building, next to the Tower of London.

Dowling launches members’ clubs chain

09-May-2011 By Mark Wingett

Frank Dowling, the entrepreneur behind Inc Group, the London-based bar and restaurant group, is launching a chain of members’ clubs under new company, the Alphabet Group.

London tourism and spend increases as rest of UK dips

19-Apr-2011 By Lorraine Heller

International visitors to London spent close to £9bn in the capital last year, with tourist numbers at a four-year high compared to the gloomier picture in the rest of the country.

Compass, Roux and Orrery appointments

12-Apr-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Foodservice supplier Compass Group has appointed a new managing director for its Ireland division, while Roux at Parliament Square appoints and new bar manager and Marylebone’s Orrery appoints a new restaurant manager.

Tasty secures 9th site for Wildwood restaurant in Canary Wharf

08-Apr-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The pizza and pasta restaurant chain Wildwood has secured a new site in London’s Canary Wharf, the first City site for the brand.

Flagship Byron to open in Haymarket, further expansion revealed

06-Apr-2011 By Becky Paskin

Byron, the rapidly-expanding hamburger chain, is to open a flagship restaurant at Haymarket in London next week, ahead of two further openings this autumn.

London voted top destination for US travellers

05-Apr-2011 By Lorraine Heller

London is the top European destination for US travellers this year, although the Royal Wedding is not one of the attractions drawing the extra tourists, according to a survey by TripAdvisor.

Livebookings partners with London Restaurant Festival

04-Apr-2011 By Becky Paskin

The London Restaurant Festival is set to return on 3 October following a new partnership with Livebookings, which is expected to extend the annual event’s marketing reach to more diners than ever.

BHA backs hoteliers after criticism of Olympics profiteering

25-Mar-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The British Hospitality Association (BHA) yesterday refuted claims that the country’s hotels are profiteering by charging higher room rates during the Olympic Games.

Novus completes Balls Brothers acquisition

15-Mar-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Restaurant and bar operator Novus Leisure has acquired Balls Brothers and Lewis & Clarke out of administration.

Roux Scholarship 2011: finalists announced

14-Mar-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Six finalists have been announced for this year’s Roux Scholarship, narrowed down from the 18 regional finalists that competed in week’s regional heats.

London hotels more popular than New York and Paris

09-Mar-2011 By Becky Paskin

Hotels in London boasted the third highest occupancy levels in the world last year, finishing ahead of those in Hong Kong, New York and Paris.

Boisdale Canary Wharf site set to open in April

02-Mar-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Boisdale will be opening its third site in London’s Canary Wharf, which will include a restaurant, a live music area, a whisky bar and a cigar lounge.