Orchid reports busiest day in company’s history: Orchid Pub Company has reported Mother’s Day was the busiest day in the company’s history with sales of £866,000. The weekend was boosted by the busiest Saturday in Orchid history th … view

Wildwood owner to speed-up expansion after sales up 20%: Wildwood operator Tasty has reported turnover up 20% to £23,192,000 and pre-tax profit of £1,742,000 (2012: £1,552,000) in the 52 weeks to 29 December 2013. Five new Wildwood and … view

Rent review expert – new RICS guidance creates transparency: New RICS Guidelines on rent reviews have broken with the past by recommending that experts provide reasons for their decisions. The move is actually a u-turn on RICS plans to … view

Marston’s seeks £60m a year of pub disposals to pay for new-builds: Marston’s intends making around £60m a year of wet-led pub disposals over the next two years as it seeks to improve its return on capital employed (ROCE) and raise … view

Grand Union to add 20 sites in three years: Grand Union, the London bar company led by Adam Marshall, is to add 20 sites in the next three years. Backed by industry investor Luke Johnson, who owns a 50% share in the cocktail and burger co … view

Fuller’s buys Trafalger Square flagship pub: Albannach, the Scottish-themed restaurant, bar and late night venue in London’s Trafalgar Square, has been acquired by Fuller’s for its Pie & Ale concept and will be renamed The Admiralty … view

Technomic and Propel Info partner to launch UK and US foodservice perspectives conference: Leading insights and research firm Technomic has partnered Propel Info to launch the first ever full-day conference that compares and contrasts cur … view

Eclectic reports sales and Ebitda up in maiden half year, buys Lowlander: Premium bar and nightclub company Eclectic has reported sales up 9.6% at £11.4 million (2012: £10.4 million) and company Ebitda, before adjusting items (predomina … view

Telegraph – Just Eat to float at price of 70 times earnings: Just Eat, the online takeaway food service, is expected to be valued at more than £1bn today as it unveils the price of its Initial Public Offering, according to The Daily Te … view

Loungers plans up to 20 sites in 2015: Loungers, the café bar concept led by Alex Reilley and Jake Bishop and backed by Piper Private Equity, is to increase its opening rate next year with as many as 20 sites planned. The company is on t … view

Asian, bakery and coffee cafe categories lead sale growth among US largest 500 restaurant firms: The 500 largest US restaurant chains registered a 3.5% annual sales increase in 2013, a significant decline from 4.9% the prior year. Accordi … view

The announcement today that the government will not abolish the personal licence comes as very welcome news indeed. In the past I have expressed some cynicism abou … view

Ed’s Easy Diner eyes 100 sites: Ed’s Easy Diner, the 1950s American diner brand, is eyeing expansion to 100 sites across the UK and is understood to have received private equity interest, according to The Times. The brand has expanded … view

Technomic – two thirds of UK consumers eat pizza once a month: Nearly two thirds of UK consumers eat pizza at least once a month and a quarter dine on pizza weekly, research by the insights firm Technomic has found. The figures come cou … view

Wahaca operator hits £1,000,000 profit market before finance charges: Mexican chain Wahaca, which was founded by Masterchef winner Thomasina Miers and whose ownership vehicle is called Oaxaca, has reported turnover rose more than 40% to … view

Starbucks boss – we are in chapter five of a 20 chapter book: If Starbucks was a 20 chapter book, the company is only in chapter four or five, according to chief executive Howard Schultz who outlined Starbucks unique position in the mar … view

Chancellor George Osborne concluded today that “this is a Budget for the makers, the doers and the savers”. So which of these describes the hospitality sector? I think that we must sit in the doe … view

Horizons – eating out market producing clear winners: The eating out market is on the up, but consumer confidence is still very fragile and foodservice operators must be cautious in assuming the sector is in full-term recovery – altho … view

KFC UK now one of Yum!’s biggest exporters of talent: KFC UK, which is planning 40 openings this year and has recorded seven consecutive years of like-for-like sales growth, is now one of parent company Yum! Brands' largest exporters of … view

Spirit reports like-for-like acceleration: Spirit Pub Company has reported that like-for-like net sales grew 6.1% in the eight weeks to 1 March, up from 4.8% in the 28 weeks to 1 March. Food sales like-for-likes rose 6.7% while drink sale … view

TLC Inns secures third Grand Central site, wins bank backing for another four to six: TLC Inns, the operator of pubs and restaurants led by Steve and Jo Haslam, has secured its third Grand Central Bar and Grill site. The company is comple … view

Luke Johnson says IPO is ‘an option we’re considering’ as Patisserie Valerie sales rise 21%: Results due to be filed at Companies House this week are due to show that Patisserie Valerie’s parent company saw sales rise 21% for the … view

Wetherspoon sees like-for-like food sales rise 10.5%: JD Wetherspoon this morning announced a rise in life-for-like food sales of 10.5% for the six months to 26 January over the same period last year, as bar sales rose 3.6%, helping give … view

Vapiano decides to franchise outside of London: Vapiano, the Italian fresh casual dining restaurant group, is looking for entrepreneurial franchise partners as part of its expansion across the UK. The internationally successful group has … view

Eataly sells 20% stake for €120m: Foodservice phenomenon Eataly, which is eyeing an opening in London, has sold a 20% stake to Tamburi Investment Partners (TIP), as part of a plan to list the rapidly-expanding retailer on the Italian st … view

Mercedes-Benz cafe concept advised by former M&B executive to open in May: A Mercedes-Benz cafe bar concept Mercedes Me, Lounge-Cafe, for which the former Mitchells & Butlers marketing executive David Singleton has provided consultancy, … view

Liberal Democrats pass policy motion to give pub tenants right to buy freehold if pub company puts site on market: Liberal Democrats has passed a policy motion, “A Better More Sustainable future for British pubs”, at their Spring conf … view

Stonegate Pub Company hires Longbottom as chief executive: Stonegate Pub Company has hired Simon Longbottom as chief executive in the wake of the departure of Toby Smith. Longbottom, who was formerly managing director of Greene King’s t … view

New crowdfunding rules, to apply from next month, will limit amount of personal wealth invested: New crowdfunding rules from the City regulator, coming into force next month, will guide investors to put no more than 10% of their money int … view

Local authorities show little appetite to set licensing fees at Home Office roadshow: The Home Office hosted the first of four roadshows on Tuesday in Manchester to discuss the current consultation on local authorities setting their own l … view

Deutsche Bank mulls options for Orchid: Deutsche Bank is mulling options for the 230-strong Orchid Pub Company it owns in the wake of offers to buy the company from investors who would like to establish it as a platform for a larger manag … view

Downing reports £15.3m investment in pub sector in 2013 – plans up to £30m in further investment: Investment fund Downing invested circa £15.3m in the pub sector in 2013 – and would like to invest as much as £30m in the next 18 mo … view

Greene King pledges to recruit 2,000 apprentices in 2014: Greene King has pledged to recruit over 2,000 apprentices in 2014 to follow a “new and improved career path, which now includes advanced management qualifications that provide a … view

Toby Smith steps down as CEO of Stonegate: Stonegate Pub Company has announced today that chief executive Toby Smith has informed the board of his intention to leave the Company as soon as a suitable successor can be appointed. Toby joine … view

MPs – business rates are not fit for purpose: The current system of business rates is not fit for purpose and is in need of “fundamental reforms” in order to help retailers and boost local economies, a group of MPs has stated. A rep … view

Mitchells & Butlers pledges 1,000 new apprenticeships: Mitchells & Butlers has pledged it will recruit 1,000 new skills-based apprentices over the next two years, to work across its brands including All Bar One, Browns, Harvester, Miller … view

Winston Churchill famously said that democracy was the worst political system – apart from the alternatives. Say what you like about our politicians, but at least none had a stately Spanish galleon in … view

Douglas Jack – 3% minimum wage increase removes greatest source of immediate forecast risk: Numis Securities leisure analyst Douglas Jack has argued the proposed 3% rise in the minimum wage in October removes the greatest forecast risk … view