Authors: Paul Charity, Martyn Cornell, David McHattie and Mark Melford 

Darden concedes need for break-up: Darden, owner of the American restaurant chains Olive Garden and Red Lobster, has made major concessions to a campaign let by activist investors by moving to break itself up, announcing a plan to spin of … view

Chipotle applies knowledge to “fast casual” pizza start-up: Chipotle Mexican Grill, the most successful fast casual start-up of the last two decades, has been secretly helping develop a “fast casual” pizza concept called Pizzeria … view

Pubs and restaurants report 1.7% like-for-like sales growth in November: Britain’s pub, bar and restaurant groups saw stronger growth in November than in the previous two months. Showing no signs of a trading lull in the build-up to Chr … view

Wellington Pub Company to grow in-house capacity in 2014: Wellington Pub Company, the UK’s largest operator of free-of-tie pubs with an estate of 789 sites, is expected to increase the number of pubs it manages itself to around 20 by Ap … view

CGA Peach – customers getting more adventurous: Pub customers have become more adventurous with an increasing desire to try brands that are linked to innovation or quality, CGA Peach director Scott Elliott has told the Intertain Supplie … view

Whitbread reveals Costa Coffee store economics: Whitbread has revealed the store economics of its UK Costa Coffee sites. The company told City analysts that its managed sites takes an average of £499,000 per annum, cost an average of £2 … view

UK nightclub visits drop to new low: Britain may be falling out of love with nightclubs, a new survey suggests. A national survey of 2,000 UK consumers has shown that while visits to pubs, bars and restaurants have remained broadly static … view

McMullen buys £8m London freehold – with Fuller’s as tenant: Hertfordshire brewer and retailer McMullen has spent circa £8m buying the freehold of the flagship Old Bank of England pub in London’s Fleet Street. The deal is an inves … view

McDonald’s reports 1.9% like-for-like sales rise in Europe: McDonald’s has posted a 1.9% like-for-like sales rise in Europe in November, with strong sales in the UK, France and Russia offsetting weaker sales in Germany – total sales … view

Sale of Convivial estate to raise in excess of £16.9m: The seven Convivial London Pub Company sites in London on the market through agent Christie + Co will sell for in excess of their original combined asking price of £16.9m, sharehold … view

Punch Taverns reports progress on restructuring: Punch Taverns has reported “significant progress” has been made during discussions over restructuring of its securitisations and that it is now in a position to set out modified restructuring … view

Stonegate opens premium Missoula, lines up 12-strong Slug & Lettuce pipeline: Stonegate Pub Company, the largest privately owned managed pub operator in the UK, has opened a premium version of its Missoula bar brand, converting a former L … view

Revolution vodka bar founders launch new company: Roy Ellis and Neil Macleod, founders of Revolution vodka bar operator Inventive Leisure, have launched a new company, Flying Pig and Lobster in partnership with celebrity chef Simon Rimmer … view

BrewDog hails Chinese fake as a sign of a ‘tectonic shift in tastes’: Brewer and bar owner BrewDog has hailed the opening of a fake BrewDog bar in Changzhou, a city of 4.6 million people in the affluent Yangtze Delta region of China, … view

Wimpy UK declines as network shrinks to 110 sites: The franchised Wimpy Restaurant chain, owned by Famous Brands, has reported 13 site closures in the most recent year to 28 February, with just two new sites opened. Overall, site numbers … view

Premier Inn plans new hotel every ten days: Whitbread’s Premier Inn subsidiary plans to open a new hotel every ten days, creating more than 8,000 new jobs over the next five years. The announcement was made at the official opening of P … view

Oakman Inns completes £5.5m fund-raising: Oakman Inns and Restaurants, led by Peter Borg-Neal, has completed a £5.5m fund raising. Borg-Neal said: “Fund-raising is always terribly difficult and never more so than during a recession. O … view

Greene King like-for-likes up 3.5%, targets 90 new managed pubs: Greene King has reported sales up 5.4% to £595.4m in the 24 weeks to 13 October. Managed like-for-likes rose 3.5% and retail margin improved ten basis points to 20.5%. The … view

Simon Emeny – smoking ban a positive for the pub industry: Fuller’s chief executive Simon Emeny has told the Arena Christmas lunch that he believes the smoking ban of 2007 was a positive for the industry. “We open at 8am in the morn … view

Pring and Heap launch Urban Pubs and Bars: Nick Pring and Malcolm Heap, who founded and sold Realpubs to Greene King for £53.1m in 2011, have launched a new company, Urban Pubs and Bars. Urban plans to build a 20-strong London estate ove … view

Alistair Darby – “we won’t sell our Heartland estate”: Mitchells & Butlers chief executive Alistair Darby has insisted that the company will not sell its “Heartland” estate. The pubs are positioned in the value end of the mark … view

Former M&B executive hired for Mercedes concept cafe: Former Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) executive David Singleton has been hired to consult on a Mercedes Benz concept cafe that is set to open in Moscow. Singleton oversaw the roll-out of th … view