Mon 28th Oct 2013 - Corney & Barrow sells Waterloo bar to SSP Corney & Barrow sells Waterloo bar to SSP: SSP UK, which runs more than 600 food and beverage outlets, including Burger King, Caffe Ritazza, Upper Crust  and Millie's Cookies, at 20 airports and 115 rail stations, has acquired the Cabin bar at Waterloo station in London from Corney & Barrow Bars. Cabin will become part of the SSP estate from 13 November. The bar opened in Waterloo station in July 2012.  Ed Gardner, managing director of Corney & Barrow Bars, said: "The new executive team at C&B Bars has recently completed a strategic review of the company's bar estate. This has resulted in a decision to terminate C&B's interest in Cabin at Waterloo Station. Our priority going forward is to consolidate and build on our pre-eminent position within the Square Mile and Canary Wharf. We have a number of key investment plans for the City estate and this realignment of resources will enable us to focus on our core strengths as the economy and trading conditions around us improve. No other disposals are contemplated at this time." Mark Angela, chief executive of SSP UK & Ireland, said: “We are very pleased to be including Cabin in our growing portfolio of premium bars, such as the Merchant at Liverpool Street and the Grain Loft at Manchester Airport. Bars and pubs form a key part of our strategy as we focus on upgrading our estate and introducing premium offers as part of the mix. We will continue to invest and bring innovation to this sector to ensure we continue to deliver an exceptional experience for customers. We have invested in the team to do this. Barry Gifford is our ops director and earlier in the year we appointed Lucy Knowles from Corney & Barrow Bars to the position of chief marketing officer to drive this sector of our business. Lucy will be supported by Natalia Di Palma, who has a wealth of experience heading the marketing at Drake & Morgan.”   Intertain to launch new digital strategy: Intertain is launching a new digital strategy for its 35-strong Walkabout chain of bars which will see it "revolutionise" the way it talks and listens to its customers. The strategy will include "the revolution and evolution" of the current social media, email, search and mobile activities, alongside a brand-new mobile optimised website and online booking system, the company says. The new infrastructure, developed by the independent marketing communications agency Spinnaker, is due to go live at the start of November. It also includes a new CRM programme with new customer segmentation and a new CRM database. The new infrastructure will allow Walkabout to send timelier, relevant and more personalised communications, enabling increased footfall and online bookings, Intertain said. Simon Kaye, chief operating officer at Intertain, said: “Our new digital strategy will radically transform what we know about our customers and the way we talk to them. We truly believe this will deliver powerful ROI for our business.” Commencing in 2010, Walkabout has carried out the complete refurbishment of 13 of its venues, creating hundreds of jobs. The development of a new digital infrastructure comes as Walkabout plans further investment that will see more refurbishments over the next two to three years, and in due course, the acquisition of new Walkabout venues.