Food customisation is key emerging menu trend: Food cooked to order the way the customer wants it has emerged as one of the key trends in Horizons’ latest Menurama survey, which tracks new foods and dishes from the menus of high street … view

McMullen’s making ambitious £7m investment in Marlow double opening: Hertfordshire brewer and retailer McMullen’s is investing an estimated £7m in two openings in two months in the upmarket Buckinghamshire town of Marlow. The compan … view

Wear Inns – we paid £6.4m for the nine Tattershall Castle sites: Wear Inns, the fast-expanding north east managed pub operator that is backed by the Business Growth Fund and NVM Private Equity, has reported it paid £6.4m plus £400,00 … view

Fleurets – tenants having to get creative to get landlords to consent to sub-let: A property agent has outlined the creative ways in which tenants are having to work to get landlord consent to sub-let. Fleurets senior associate Graham C … view

Luminar flagship nightclub has licence suspended for 14 days after fatal stabbing: Nightclub company Luminar’s flagship Oceania site in Kingston-upon-Thames has had its licence suspended for 14 days after the fatal stabbing of a 20-year … view

Grand Union Group ends private equity talks; to focus on building cash reserves to add sites next year: Grand Union Group, the highly rated London multiple headed by Adam Marshall, has ended talks with private equity investors. The compan … view

Punch to step up investment in core pubs to £40m: Punch Taverns is to invest £40m in 400 of its core pubs in the coming year, increasing the average investment to £100,000 each. The company said that there will be a focus on investment … view

Harvester set to burst through 30 million meals mark: Harvester, the Mitchells & Butlers’ (M&B) grill and salad bar brand, is set to pass the 30 million meals served mark in the coming year. The brand, which has expanded to 205 sites an … view

Marston’s launches unbranded premium pub initiative called Revere Pub Company: Midlands-based Marston’s has launched a trial aimed at developing ten pubs into a more premium, unbranded experience. The move is being compared to the dev … view

Collyer – two year sales growth risen to 3.2 per cent from 2.2 per cent for major quoted operators: Deutsche Bank analyst Geof Collyer has reported that his survey of the major quoted pub and restaurant companies shows they have collect … view

Mitchells & Butlers moves to introduce “small plates” across Crown Carveries: Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) has moved to introduce small plates across its entire 110-strong budget carvery chain Crown Carveries. The expansion of small plat … view

All of the economic and … view

Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin criticises companies for not being vocal on VAT campaign: JD Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin has voiced his most outspoken criticism yet of the senior companies in the sector that are not taking an active app … view

Chains share of market in the UK biggest in Europe: The UK foodservice market has the biggest domination by chains of anywhere in Europe, Jochen Pinkser, of NDP group, has reported. He said the importance of chains varies across the conti … view

Smashburger boss issues UK appeal through Propel Morning Briefing: David Prokupek, the chief executive of the highly rated US better burger operator Smashburger, which has grown to 200 sites in five years, has issued a “talk-to-us” ap … view

Spirit Pub Company unveils strategy for leased estate: Managed operator Spirit Pub Company has unveiled the details of a radical new strategy to drive performance in its leased estate by applying franchise and semi-franchise agreements. C … view

Prolific restaurateur and businesswoman Edwina Lilley passes away: Fourth Hospitality founder and restaurateur Edwina Lilley passed away yesterday aged 54. Edwina was a prolific entrepreneur, who together with her husband Derek, founded m … view

Restaurant Group’s Brunning & Price brand “trading well” and set to deliver “strong returns” in 2012: Brunning & Price, the award-winning gastro-operator owned by The Restaurant Group, has reported that the company is “trading … view

Rick Stein reports reduced profit figures after investment but turnover up: Rick Stein's Cornish restaurant, hotel and pub business, which he owns with his ex-wife Jill, has reported turnover increased to £15,239,000 in 2011, up from £1 … view

We can be clear about one thing – ti … view

Oakman Inns – slow growth preferable to binge expansion; turns down two investment offers: Peter Borg-Neal, chief executive of award-winning Oakman Inns and Restaurants business, has argued that businesses need to show restraint in expa … view

Inventive Leisure off the market after “offers not sufficiently attractive”: Revolution vodka bar operator Inventive Leisure, owned by private equity firm Alchemy Partners and led by Roy Ellis, has come off the market after bidders fa … view

Propel Blue Book survey reveals profit conversion results: Research for the Propel Blue Book Hospitality Sector Turnover and Profits Blue Book has revealed 42 of the top 200 UK companies convert ten per cent or more of their turnover to p … view

Orchid Pub Company reports sales per site up in 2011; outperforming Peach Tracker in 2012: Orchid Pub Company, the 256-strong operator headed by Rufus Hall, has reported, in newly filed Companies House documents, that average weekly sales … view

UK consumers have the second highest “going out” frequency in Europe: UK consumers make the second highest number of eating and drinking out-of-the-home visits in Europe, Jochen Pinkser, of NDP group, has told the European Foodservice … view

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Domino’s Pizza reports £16,000-a-week in extra takings at 24 hour-a-day site: Domino’s Pizza has reported early success at the handful of sites that have opened 24 hours a day, with one site chalking up a remarkable extra £16,000-a- … view

Panorama apologises for getting minimum pricing death prevention figures completely wrong: humiliating and embarrassing climbdown by “leading authority” Sheffield University: TV programme Panorama has apologised for claiming 50,000 de … view

Soho House UK Ebitda hit £10.8m: Soho House, the upmarket members’ club business headed by Nick Jones, has reported sales rose by 4.4 per cent to £63.9m in the year to 1 January 2012 after making an allowance for the previous 40-week … view

Everards unveils second Project Artisan scheme: Leicestershire brewer and retailer Everards has secured its second site for Project Artisan, an evolution of its Project William venture with microbrewers. Project Artisan looks to install l … view

Mitchells & Butlers outlines leisure and retail park plans: Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) has told City analysts that it is targeting 200 leisure and retail parks in the UK that meet its site criteria but have no M&B brand currently. Analysts … view

Mitchells & Butlers evolves Nicholson’s with cask ale and cider focus; plus enhanced training: Mitchells & Butlers is evolving its 85-strong flagship Nicholson’s Pubs with the re-opening of a pilot site, the Clarence in Mayfair, on Fr … view

Alan Yau – a fast food concept or hotel would be a “nice way” to complete my career: Wagamama creator Alan Yau has told delegates at the European Foodservice Summit in Zurich that a “fast food concept or a hotel” would be a “n … view

Panera Bread founder – greatest threat to your business is losing long-term competitive advantage; argues the case for conscious capitalism: The founder of the US’s most successful foodservice business of the past decade, 1600-unit st … view