Punch Taverns – an administrative receivership is out of the question: Punch Taverns has reported that it regards an administrative receivership as out of the question after a meeting with its senior bondholders to discuss its plans to restructure debt. Senior bondholders argue that the restructure plan favours junior debt holders. The company stated: “A wide range of views was expressed at the meeting, including the feasibility of a pre-pack administrative receivership of one or both of the securitisations to effect a restructuring. Punch has reiterated that a pre-pack cannot be executed, is not in the interests of stakeholders as a whole and the board cannot support such an option. Some stakeholders had previously expressed their lack of support for the current terms of the restructuring proposal and these views were reiterated in the meeting. However, whilst it was not anticipated that agreement would be reached at the meeting, views were expressed that provide a basis for further discussion with stakeholders around the restructuring proposal. These discussions are ongoing.” Punch reported that a recent external desktop property valuation undertaken by independent valuers, GVA, has indicated a current value of the core and non-core pub estates to be £1,415 million and £906 million for the Punch A and Punch B securitisation estates respectively. This compares to net debt of £1,366 million and £835 million as at 2 March 2013 for the Punch A and Punch B securitisations respectively. Punch also provided the meeting with a summary setting out feedback received from stakeholders since the announcement of the restructuring proposal and Punch’s comments on that feedback. Punch added: “To the extent that this feedback is consistent with the form of the restructuring proposal, it is being discussed with stakeholders with a view to determining whether consensus can be achieved. However, as consensus is required across a broad range of stakeholders it is not possible to anticipate which, if any, of the suggested amendments may be made to the restructuring proposal.”

Jonathan Fornaci to present at the Propel Multi Club Conference on Thursday 20 June at the Oxford Belfry: Jonathan Fornaci, chief executive of Rita’s Ice, the largest Italian Ice concept in the United States looking to expand into the UK, currently operating in 19 states with over 625 outlets, explains what sets apart the company’s offer. The company operates its own Cool University, a state-of-the-art research and development and training facility where franchisees and ‘treat team’ managers learn the ‘art of happiness’. Operators can book two free places by e-mailing jo.charity@propelinfo.com

Brighton could be first city to provide drug rooms: Brighton could become the first city in the UK to provide rooms where people would be able to use illegal drugs safely without the fear of prosecution. Their use is one of the recommendations in an independent report commissioned by Brighton and Hove City Council. The aim would be to reduce drug-related deaths in a city described as having had “a drug abuse problem for decades”.

Malvern Inns boss discovers he’s allergic to beer: Former Mitchells & Butlers executive Alistair Scott, who runs Malvern Inns and is a beer sommelier, has discovered he is allergic to beer. Scott took a home intolerance test after feeling unwell for months but was shocked to find that this was all down to the yeast in beer. He said: “I wouldn’t have done anything about it if other people hadn’t complained - it was my family that made me find out because I had just accepted I wasn’t very well. I was worried about what I wasn’t going to be able to have but I never thought it would be beer.”

Number Works Pub Company to launch new concept: Number Works Pub Company, which is pioneering a new style of value-offer at seven pubs, is to launch a new concept based around steak and cider at a Punch Taverns pub The Navigation in Stoke Prior, its eighth site. Number Works, run by Martyn Hathaway and his family, has seven sites where it is offering food at the bargain price-points of £2, £4, £6 and £8. The Navigation will see the launch of a more premium version of the standard offer with four price points £4, £6, £8 and £10 with fresh-cooked food and a range of menu items that include cider and ale for flavouring. “The new brand will be slightly premium to our standard offer with waitress service,” Hathaway told Propel. Hathaway set up Number Works in 2009 after 20 years’ experience in the pub trade. The £2 menu offers, for example, chicken breast salad, two fishcakes with a sweet chilli dipping sauce and soup of the day among a larger range of £2 items. His £8 menu lists 14 oz T-bone steak, a full rack of BBQ pork ribs and mega mixed grill among a range of eight menu items. Sunday roast dinner costs £4. His pubs open for food between 10am and 9pm each day with a coffee and cake offer for £1 to attract customers in the morning. Number Works works to a low Gross Profit on food of 38% but the extra drinks business that is attracted by the food offer means his pubs have an overall GP of 55%. Turnover at each pub climbs quickly to £20,000 per week after sites launch. Said Hathaway: “My view is that earning a Gross Profit of 55% on £20,000 per week of turnover at each pub is a better proposition that 70% of £10,000 per week.” It is understood that Number Works is in negotiations for a ninth site, another Punch Taverns pub, which would be the fourth Punch pub in the estate.

Sir Terence Conran set to sell his stake in D&D Restaurants: Sir Terence Conran is set to sell his 51% stake in Quaglino operator D&D Restaurants to LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Bank for £60m. The private equity firm is also 18% stake share of the business owned by Caird Capital. The management of the business, led by Des Gunewardena, will retain its 31% stake. The company recently opened its first two sites outside of London in the Trinity Leeds shopping mall. 

Cross Oak Inns mulls options including sale: Cross Oak Inns founder Peter Eyles has appointed advisers to consider strategic options, including a possible sale, for the four Home Counties gastropubs it owns. The pubs are: The Pond, Nutfield, Surrey, The Poacher, in Tudeley, Kent, The Kings Arms in Ockley and the Ostrich in Colnbrook, Buckinghamshire. Cross was set up in June 2005 through an Enterprise Investment Scheme. It attracted £2.3m of funding with another £800,000 raised subsequently for expansion. Eyles, who founded the cinference hotel chain Hanover in 1995, had aimed to increase the group to eight to ten freehold sites.

Premier Inn secures five sites in the south east: Whitbread’ Premier Inn brand has secured five sites in Berkshire, Hampshire and Surrey. Located in Farnborough, Farnham, Fleet, Portsmouth and Wokingham, the new leasehold properties will add an additional 370 bedrooms to the Premier Inn portfolio. John Bates, head of acquisitions UK and Ireland for Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants, said that Premier Inn is reacting to its customers’ demand for more hotels and will add to further sites the company is developing in Gosport and Winchester. “We opened more than 4,200 bedrooms across 28 hotels in our last financial year – a record rate of expansion for the second year running. We now have 52,000 bedrooms across the UK and Ireland and are on target to reach our goal of 65,000 bedrooms by 2016.” The five sites are: Farnborough: 80-bedroom hotel and 200 cover Beefeater Grill restaurant); Farnham: 60-bedroom hotel and 200 cover Beefeater Grill restaurant; Fleet: 70-bedroom hotel; Portsmouth: 84-bedroom hotel and Wokingham: 80-bedroom hotel.

Mitchells & Butlers site gets boutique hotel plan go-ahead: The Dulwich Estate has won planning consent to extend The Crown and Greyhound pub in Dulwich Village to create a 20-bedroom boutique hotel. The pub is let to Mitchells & Butlers on a lease that expires shortly – a new operator is being sought. The design is a modern interpretation of the Arts and Crafts style of the building. It will bring redundant parts of the building back into use, as well as see the restoration of the pub’s interior, an improved dining room and refurbished kitchen. Will Lingard, director at Turley Associates, said: “At a time when many pubs are struggling the Dulwich Estate has recognised the importance of this community resource and focal point of Dulwich Village.”

Best Pub Company plans Berni style restaurant with cask at ninth site: Best Pub Company, led by Tony Murray, is to open a Berni-style restaurant at its ninth site, The Beacon at Dalton, in West Lancashire. Murray said: “We’re planning to open a ‘Berni Inn’ style restaurant with steak and fish meals, good quality food at good prices, Caribbean coffees and so on. We’re also going to be a cask ale pub. We’ll be CAMRA registered and using local micro breweries from across the north west and Wales.” Others pubs in the Best Pub Company portfolio include the Masonic in Garston and the Marquis of Granby in Warrington. 

Nando’s appoints advertising agency: Nando’s, the restaurant chain, has named 18 Feet & Rising as its advertising agency after a pitch process. 18 Feet & Rising saw off competition from Creature, Krow and Now to win the account in a process handled by The Observatory. The brand wants to develop its above-the-line communications as it expands beyond the 286 restaurants it currently operates. Nando’s annual media billings are around £2 million. In 2012, Nando’s appointed Wieden & Kennedy to create the “find yourself” campaign, but their relationship was limited to that one project. Andrew Rayner, the marketing director at Nando’s, said: “We’re looking forward to working with 18 Feet & Rising at what is a very exciting time for Nando’s – we feel there is a great cultural fit.”

Boutique hotel plan for Manchester: Commercial Development Projects is set to win planning approval for a 66-bed hotel above Jamie Oliver’s restaurant in Manchester. The business, a division of Elland-based construction group Marshall, wants to convert the upper floors of the grade II-listed former bank building in King Street into a five-star boutique hotel. The operator has not been named but London-based Bespoke Hotels is a likely contender.

JW Lees launches beer to put Manchester on the map: Brewer and retailer JW Lees has launched a pale ale that it hopes will allow it to claim the “Cream of Manchester” title once made famous by Boddingtons. Managing director William Lees-Jones said: “With the growth of golden ales we think we’ve brewed something, a refreshing pale ale, that will take the UK by storm.” The company is planning to win over younger pub-goers who might currently prefer “bland, fizzy lager”. He added: “With no Boddingtons in Manchester anymore we thought there was no better time to brew a beer to put Manchester back on the map.”

Sports Bar and Grill looking for locations at major transport hubs: Sports Bar and Grill, led by David Evans, is looking or more locations in transports hubs in London and Europe. The company currently trades at Victoria, Waterloo, Farringdon and Marylebone. It is looking for sites between 3,000 and 7,000 square feet in: Euston, Kings Cross, Liverpool Street, Paddington, London Bridge, Cannon Street, Tottenham Court Road, Westfield White City, Westfield Stratford, Bluewater and Thurrock. The company is also looking for sites in theme parks and train stations in Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.

Wetherspoon picks up site in Aldershot, Hampshire: JD Wetherspoon has completed on the purchase of a closed hotel in Aldershot, Hampshire. (population: 33,840). The company has bought The Queen Hotel, on the junction of Princes Way and High Street. Spokesman Eddie Gershon said the company would be applying for planning permission to extend The Queen Hotel but that it already had the necessary licensing and planning permissions.

McDonald’s launches campaign to stress pork provenance: McDonald’s is to launch a television and print advertising campaign to highlight the provenance of its food after becoming the first UK fast food chain to source 100% of its pork from Freedom Food accredited British farms. All sausage and bacon products on its menu will be from Freedom Food-approved farms, which must meet strict animal welfare standards set out by the RSPCA by providing bright, airy environments for pigs, bedded pens and plenty of space. McDonald’s will be the UK’s second largest buyer of Freedom Food pork. A TV advert for McDonald’s breakfast menu, including bacon and sausage McMuffins, will air on Monday highlighting the new commitment. Press adverts will also run from this week.

Penswood Inns (Falmouth) set go-ahead for a new nightclub: Penswod Inns (Falmouth) has won consent to open a new nightclub on the first floor of the former Remedies’ building on The Moor in Falmouth. Vanilla will open until 2.30am despite objections from residents concerned about the noise generated from the previous nightclubs on the site. In a bid to reduce noise levels, councillors have added a condition to the licence which states that only a maximum of 30 people are allowed onto the designated smoking area at one time.

Restaurant blogger opens steak restaurant in Essex: Restaurant blogger Richard Lester has opened his own steak restaurant, The Rare Cow at the former Chequers pub in Writtle, Essex. Owner Richard Lester, who runs a cruise ship holiday company, says he has realised a dream by opening his first restaurant after becoming a cult online food reviewer. “I started doing food reviews about three or four years ago and I became quite famous in London for doing them,” said Lester, who has completely revamped the former pub, which shut last year. “I got almost 400,000 followers on Twitter and soon became friends with Gordon Ramsay and a few other celebrity chefs. We were always saying how there was nowhere to get a really good steak in Essex and that you had to go to London to get the best beef.”

Keswick coffee shop owners buy hotel: The owners of Keswick’s Wild Strawberry coffee shop have bought a country house hotel in Borrowdale. Gary and Donna MacRae have acquired Hazel Bank at Rosthwaite from Sandra Gittins who is retiring to be near her family in Staffordshire. The sale price has not been revealed but the specialist hotel and licensed property agent, Colliers International, which had been handling the sale, was seeking £1.35m. The MacRaes are former owners of The Langstrath at nearby Stonethwaite. They plan to run Hazel Bank alongside their existing business in Keswick. The hotel is set in four acres of landscaped grounds and has eight en-suite bedrooms.

Star Pubs & Bar offers support package of free-of-tie wine and spirits deal: Star Pubs & Bars lessees are to benefit from a free-of-tie wine and spirits deal backed up by managed house levels of support through new partnerships with ViVAS and Classic Drinks. Under the agreements with the two suppliers, lessees will receive on-site training, pub specific stocking recommendations and promotional support in addition to highly competitive prices. The partnerships were negotiated using Heineken UK’s buying power to get the best deal for lessees. While all its lessees became free of tie on wines and spirits in 2009, and will remain so, Star Pubs & Bars wants to strengthen the support it provides to lessees in this category. Chris Jowsey, Star Pubs & Bars trading director, said: “This is a market leading package for the leased sector and is all about helping our lessees build successful long-term sustainable pubs by enabling them to maximise sales and increase profitability.”

Japanese Canteen reports turnover boost: The Japanese Canteen, which runs a site in Harrow Road, London, has reported turnover rose to £5,379,517 in the year to 30 September, up from £4,641,054 the year before. Pre-tax profit was £18,422 compared to a loss of £28,942 the year before.

Three restaurants lined up for Broughton Shopping Park: Plans for a £13m leisure development at Broughton Shopping Park have been given the go-ahead. Two rival bids to build the county’s first cinema complex went before Flintshire Council’s planning committee at County Hall, Mold. Members backed a full planning application for an 11-screen Cineworld cinema and five restaurants including Frankie and Benny’s, Chiquito and PizzaExpress, which was put forward by the Hercules Unit Trust (HUT). The rival bid, an outline application by Development Securities for a six-screen cinema, 80-bed hotel, food and drink units and 450 car parking spaces, was refused.

Bar Sport franchisee to open £1m site in Wilmslow: Bar Sport franchisee Daniel Slifkin is to open a £1m Bar Sport franchise site on the site of a former La Tasca in Parsonage Green in early May. The venue will be on two floors with a bar and dance floor facilities downstairs and an exclusive VIP area upstairs. The premises will accommodate 50 HD and 3D TV screens, showing live sport from around the globe all day every day and will display authentic sports memorabilia. It will have an American themed food menu, offer regular music entertainment and special themed nights. The venue will also regularly invite sport stars and legends. Bar Sport, which was first set up in the West Midlands in 1998, was one of the first American style themed bars and now operates eight franchises around the country. Slifkin said: “I did some research and found out about the Bar Sport franchise and knew it was for me.”

Skylon restaurant appoints executive chef: The Skylon in London, part of the D&D restaurant group, has appointed Adam Gray as the new executive head chef, replacing Helena Puolakka. Gray joins the restaurant after a period developing the restaurant at The Red Lion, an award-winning pub which he co-owned, and previously to this spent many years working alongside Gary Rhodes where he maintained a Michelin star for over a decade.

Greene King to convert Cippenham pub to new Flame Grill concept: Greene King is to convert the King’s Head in Cippenham, Slough to its new pub concept called Flame Grill. The concept aims to offer a value-for-money menu built around signature dishes of tender pieces of grilled meat and fish in a selection of smoked flavoured marinades. The King’s Head’s chefs then work with the grill which sears the meat immediately on contact, locking in the flavours and juices. Customers can also decide how their chicken is served with Flame Grill’s brand new ‘Chicken Your Way’, which lets customers choose how they would like their half-a-roast chicken flavoured. Options include ‘naked’ and barbecue or, for those who like to spice things up, a choice of Flame Grill’s three flaming sauces: chipotle, jalapeño and piri piri. The dish is then served with Mexican rice and corn on a cob. Darko Drincic, pub manager, said: “Along with our new speciality dishes, we still have a wide choice of pub food classics such as sausages and mash and hunter’s chicken. It’s difficult for me to choose but my favourite signature dish has to be our new oak flavoured pork belly.”

Orchid Pub Company sets up a Dragons’ Den challenge as part of training programme: Orchid Pub Company has set up a Dragons’ Den style challenge as part of its training programme for deputy managers. “Orchid Dragons’ Den was born to add a sales-hungry culture and to show we take our development very seriously,” said commercial director Simon Dodd. “The challenge breeds a healthy culture of competition within the company and helps us drive our sales and people forward. They have brought some outstanding results for the pubs involved.” Newly-appointed general manager Steven Samson of The Rock in Glasgow took more than £7,000, way above the £2,000 target, during the four months he was in the training scheme. He said: “My pitch to the Dragons was quite simple – hold monthly events to bring in regulars and gain new customers while showing our support for the community and local charities. With feedback and support from the Dragons and the training team I then had to implement the regular activities and ensure my staff were also aware of the importance of such challenges. The Dragons Den task was a really great way to put what we were learning into practice and make it work day-to-day in our pubs. I’m still continuing the monthly events and they are always well supported and very successful.”