Travelodge site sold for £2.55m: A Travelodge hotel in Huddersfield has changed hands in a £2.55m deal. The 62-bedroom Travelodge on Leeds Road has been sold by GMI Developments to CRT Property Investments. The hotel was completed in 2011 as the final phase of GMI’s £10m Spindlegate regeneration scheme. It created 13 jobs when it was officially opened in December that year. Travelodge has a 25-year lease on the property and will continue to operate the site. In addition to the Travelodge, the Spindlegate scheme also includes the Yorkshire Rose pub, which was built for brewer and pub operator Marston's in 2010, and a drive-through Costa Coffee, which was bought by CRT Property Investments early last year.

Crystal Palace goalkeeper opens restaurant: Crystal Palace FC goalkeeper Julian Speroni has opened a restaurant in Purley, South London. His partner in Speroni, on Russell Hill Road, is a fellow Argentine, Cristian Barrionuevo. The restaurant serves food influenced by Italian, Argentine and Spanish cuisines and is something Speroni has been thinking about for a long time. He said: “My family is Italian and my wife’s family is Spanish, so we wanted to make a fusion of that. I also wanted to make it feel like when I am eating at home. I was looking for a place and this came up. But everything had to be perfect, we wanted to make sure the menu was perfect and that every dish was perfect.”

Starbucks' Shultz to focus on digital strategy: Starbucks' chief executive, Howard Schultz, is shaking up the ranks of his senior management in order to focus on the company's digital strategy. Schultz is handing over day-to-day operations to Troy Alstead, who is being promoted to the newly created position of chief operating officer. Scott Maw, senior vice-president of corporate finance, will succeed Alstead as the company's chief financial officer, starting next month. The reshuffle is part of the coffee giant's plans to adapt to "the rapidly evolving retail environment", Schultz said in a statement. "They will partner with me as I focus on Starbucks' mission, growth initiatives, and the convergence and integration of our retail and e-commerce, digital, card and mobile assets around the world," he said.

Cote and Bill’s tipped to take Bishop’s Stortford sites: Planning consent has been granted to convert the former Pearsons department store in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire into two restaurants. Cote has confirmed its interest in moving into the former department store, with planning applications for advertising and listed building permission to install catering equipment and add awnings, hanging signs and an illuminated fascia; it is the proposed use of spotlights that has prompted opposition from planning officers at East Herts Council. Bill’s is tipped to take the second unit.

Hyde’s launches Lowry beer range to mark move to Salford Quays: Hyde's Brewery has teamed-up with The Lowry theatre and art gallery complex to launch six cask ales to mark its relocation to Salford Quays in Manchester and pay tribute to the local artist. The first celebration ale from the "Lowry Collection" is a 4.5% brew called Mill, inspired by LS Lowry's 1930 painting "Coming from the Mill". The beer will be available in the majority of Hydes's 60 pubs as well as other pubs and bars across the country until the end of February. Chris Hopkins, managing director of Hyde's brewery, said: "The Hyde's marque has been on the city's landscape since 1863. We are privileged to be able to associate our fine refreshing beers with such a highly revered artist and feel sure this exclusive collection will prove enormously popular."

Mark Harris to open Strand Dining Rooms: Entrepreneur Mark Harris will open the Strand Dining Rooms in the redeveloped Grand Buildings in Trafalgar Square, London in May. The all-day dining restaurant will serve a blend of traditional and contemporary British food “against a quintessentially British backdrop”. Those involved hope the 180-cover restaurant will become "a classic all-day dining destination in the heart of the capital". The founder of Harris Restaurant Consultants, Harris has previously held positions at the Capital Hotel, Simon Parker Bowles’ Green’s Restaurant & Oyster Bar, and Searcy’s at the Gherkin. Selsian acted for Skylark Restaurants in securing the premises amid fierce competition for the 4,000 sq ft site. It is occupied on a new 20-year lease off an asking rent of £300,000 a year.

Egyptian hotelier invests in Welsh hotel: Dr Shoukry Rozek, who owns four large hotels in Egypt, has acquired a hotel in Wales as the Egyptian tourism economy struggles. Rozek has bought the Brig Y Don Hotel in Llandudno, with 31 en-suite bedrooms, which was on the market through Fleurets with an asking price of £525,000. Lesley Watmough of Fleurets’ regional office in Manchester said: “This is a good opportunity for Dr Shoukry to put his hotel experience gained in Egypt to use in one of the most popular resorts in North Wales.” Rozek said: “I decided to invest in Wales because of the impact of revolution on tourism in Egypt at the moment – the business is down a lot and I’m looking for a more peaceful, stable life. Tourism is a stable and steady market in the UK.”
 
Three restaurants to be created at Bedford leisure site: A £3m redevelopment of one of Bedford’s leisure sites is to begin after permission was given for three additional cinema screens and restaurants. Bedford Council’s planning committee approved plans to overhaul Aspects Leisure Park which include a two-storey extension to the Cineworld building, although seat numbers would remain the same, and the opening of new three new restaurants. The new screens would be located on the site of the old Zapp Zone leisure centre. The work on the new, more "family friendly" facility is set to begin in June and be completed within 12 to 16 months.
 
Former Moleface Pub Company manager takes on own pub: Andy Hunt, a former manager for the award-wining Moleface Pub Company, has taken over his own pub. Hunt, who ran the Wollaton Pub & Kitchen in Wollaton, Nottingham, has acquired the White Horse in Ruddington, south of the city. He will run the pub with his wife Abbie. A full revamp of the bar area and exterior is under way, as well as the fitting of a new commercial kitchen. Hunt said: “We want a village pub where people can come and eat, drink and be merry. Ruddington has no pubs that offer food to the extent that we are going to do.”

Pipers Crisps reports 32% sales growth: Pipers Crisps, the award-winning, Lincolnshire-based gourmet snack maker, has reported a 32% increase in turnover as it enters its tenth year in business. As part of its next phase of growth, Pipers is looking to expand its delivery service into Oxfordshire and the surrounding counties. The company is looking for suitable premises for a distribution depot, ideally approximately 1,500 square feet of warehousing with additional office space, located within the Oxford ring road and with easy access to the M40. Pipers will also be recruiting additional sales and delivery staff to add to its existing team.

Krispy Kreme to focus on smaller units in the US: Doughnut retailer Krispy Kreme is to focus on smaller units in the United States, where it has about 250 outlets. Meanwhile, the goal is to have 900 international shops by the end of 2017. Krispy Kreme plans to ramp up its expansion in the US behind its smaller shop format. The oldest of the new small stores has been opened about a year, but early results have been strong enough to focus on the model for future growth. Chief executive James Morgan said the smaller model reduces the cost of real estate, equipment and fixtures, and has generated higher-than-expected revenues so far. The company's chief finance officer, Doug Muir, said: "We're very encouraged with initial results. It's still a little early, but there is more than enough evidence to support ongoing construction of smaller factory formats. We're also recommending them to franchisees," adding that 10 to 15 of the smaller units are expected to open in the US in the coming financial year. Morgan said: "Consumers' desire for a special treat, an emotional reward, seems to be at the heart of [our] brand. Guests tell us they're open to eating doughnuts anywhere, any time. They just need us to give them more reasons." Krispy Kreme has honed its marketing strategy to promote special occasions such as holidays and Talk Like a Pirate Day, as well as "everyday occasions", such as birthdays and office parties. Morgan said: "Rather than chasing every food trend, we're focused on giving them a crave-able experience physically and emotionally. This strategy seems to be working."

Administrator – Inc Group owed £6m in VAT and PAYE: The administrator of Inc Group, the operator of outlets at the O2 arena and elsewhere in London led by Frank Dowling, has reported a massive under-declaration of VAT and the transfer of leases despite warnings that the company was insolvent. The administrator said that in June 2012, Dowling, as director of Greenwich Inc Trading, sought the advice of an insolvency practitioner, who said the company was insolvent and should be placed in voluntary liquidation. Despite the advice, Greenwich Inc continued to trade for over 12 months and, at the same time, companies were formed in Scotland and the Greenwich Inc businesses transferred into them without any payment being made to Greenwich Inc. After this transfer, a meeting of creditors was called to place Greenwich Inc into liquidation. Dowling failed to attend the meeting, so on 17 October 2013 Greenwich Council presented a winding up petition against the company. Dowling claimed that all HMRC was owed was £148,000 by a separate company, Greenwich Inc Holdings, for PAYE. However, the provisional liquidator of Greenwich Inc Trading found the company owed HMRC £3.92m in VAT and £2.11m in PAYE. The company's books and records meticulously recorded all PAYE deductions and VAT matters, "but it appears no attempt was made to provide this information to HMRC." Dowling and others involved in the running of Greenwich Inc "have been arrested by HMRC,” the administrator said. The administrator reported that each of the company’s sites had been cleared of cash and "no staff had been paid for the work they had done in November, a situation they were not unaccustomed to.” Trading company sites have turned over £870,000 since 29 November, producing a net profit of £187,000. Unsecured creditors are estimated to be owed £15.11m. A meeting of creditors takes place on February 7. Dowling, 44, was born in the United States and moved to the UK in 1997. He bought his first site, Bar du Musee in Greenwich, in 2002, and secured the O2 Arena’s first restaurant tenancy in 2007. The following year he acquired the Elbow Room pool bar chain. At its height, Inc Group ran 24 sites, had a turnover of £20m a year and employed 400 people. In March last year, Inc Group was fined almost £20,000 after health inspectors found mouse droppings in the kitchen and raw sewage in sinks at one of its sites, the Trafalgar Tavern in Greenwich.