Allegra – foodservice market will grow by 3% in the coming year: Insights firm Allegra Foodservice has found that emerging fast food concepts, coffee shops and the further proliferation of the street food movement will be the sales growth pace-setters within the UK’s eating out sector in 2014, with the market forecast to grow 3% in value over the next 12 months to £82.5bn. This will be the highest level of growth since the recession began. The growth will be supported by an improving economic outlook, strengthening consumer spending power and increasing physical expansion from 4.5% in 2013 to 5.5% in 2014 of branded restaurant and managed pub chains. The Allegra Foodservice Market Outlook report, which features online, in-depth interviews with senior executives across the sector, finds that the industry is positive about current trading conditions and that three-quarters expect to see trade improve further during 2014. However, the majority of survey respondents believe that full economic recovery will not take hold until the second half of 2015. Executives identified intensifying competition as a core business challenge overtaking concerns around rising food costs, and that building stronger customer loyalty will be a critical success factor. They also said they had long-term growing confidence around increasing eating out activity – despite ageing demographic trends, The research highlighted that the pub market continues to polarise, between premium operators with valued points of difference and outmoded pubs with “non-descript” food offers. Simon Stenning, Allegra Foodservice strategy director, said: “Eating out market value growth of 3% in 2014 will be the highest since the recession began and is clearly welcome news. This will come from a combination of increasing consumer eating out participation, an uptick in visit frequency and some average spend gains as consumers start to feel more confident about their personal finances and spending power. However, the growth will be hard fought for in an increasingly competitive trading environment and gains will be patchy across the market. The onus on operators will remain innovating on product, refining menu price architectures and adding greater value across the consumer experience to build stronger customer loyalty.” Stenning said that the key consumer trends that operators need to embrace include the enduring recessionary legacy and a growing requirement for informality, and these need to be reflected in skilful menu engineering, with selective premiumisation.

Eat to become the first company to trial iBeacon technology outside of the US: Sandwich chain Eat is to become the first company outside the US to trial Apple’s iBeacon, which allows retailers to “push” tailored messages to a customer’s smartphone. It uses precise location tracking to target would-be purchasers when they are in exactly the right place to buy the product. Eat’s trial is the first time this technology has been used commercially outside the US, where Apple and retailers such as Macy’s are already “nudging” customers through their phones. The technology came to prominence during last month’s Super Bowl. American football fans in New York’s Times Square and New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium received notifications on their iPhones informing them of in-store signings by former players and special offers.

Home Office demands a strategy to combat motorway pubs, low pricing and super-strength alcohol: Crime Prevention minister Norman Baker has asked his civil servants to look at how the opening of pubs at motorway service stations can be blocked. “It is inappropriate for motorists to be sold alcohol before they’re about to get back in the car,” Baker told The Independent. Wetherspoon chairman Tim Marin said: “Every pub is on a road so there is a certain lack of logic here. The key thing is that alcohol is already available in motorway services.” Baker also warned the alcohol industry that he would ‘hit it hard’ if it failed to come up with voluntary proposals to tackle the sale and promotion of super-strength beer and cider by the summer.

Cheesecake Factory – tablets are not for us: The Cheesecake Factory, whose sites take an average of $11m per annum each, will not roll out touch-screen tablets at its restaurant tables anytime soon, the company has stated. The company said it would not follow in the footsteps of casual-dining competitors such as Chili’s and Applebee’s, both of which this year are starting to roll out tabletop tablets that let customers order and pay with the swipe of a card. “I doubt very much that we’re going to do tablets,” Cheesecake Factory president David Gordon said. “I think it’s great for Chili’s in that level, where people are coming in for one experience. But for us, they’re coming in for a different experience. And I think they want to be waited on and served.”

Fuller’s extends Matchpint partnership: London brewer and retailer Fuller, Smith & Turner has extended its partnership with MatchPint following a successful trial, during which the service became the company’s highest direct referral website. Fuller’s originally trialled the service in 25 managed pubs but, following analysis and manager feedback, the company found that MatchPint drove the largest number of visitors out of all its online or digital partners. As a result, Fuller’s intends to roll out the service to many more of its sports-broadcasting pubs over the coming months. Jonathon Swaine, managing director for Fuller’s Inns, said: “We are incredibly proud of our commitment to televised sport in our pubs and have invested heavily in first class equipment and programming. We are delighted MatchPint has worked so well.” Dominic Collingwood, MatchPint director, said: “Fuller’s has a really high quality sports offering. But the challenge, even for big companies today, is making sure customers know about that offering. MatchPint allows pubs to target customers who are specifically looking to watch sport and drive footfall accordingly.”

Liberis sets aside £1m to help flood-affected businesses: Business cash advance provider Liberis has ring-fenced £1m ‘immediate access’ funding with preferential rates and set up a fast track process for micro and small businesses adversely affected by the floods and in need of financial support right now. The move is in response to an increase in calls from small businesses needing immediate funds for repairs, to replace damaged stock and even bridging finance whilst the business is closed. The company has also set up an out-of-hours flood fund phone line (0845 600 7660) so businesses can start the process to arrange funds as soon as they have a problem. Liberis chief executive Paul Mildenstein said: “We’ve all been following the news and feel great sympathy for everyone affected by these floods. So when businesses started calling us for funds to help them through the effects of the flooding, we wanted to provide some much needed extra help so they can get back up and running quickly, easily and cost effectively. These businesses need easy access to money that will be in their bank accounts within days and can’t always wait for their insurance claims to be processed.”

Daily Star highlights Stockport pub crisis: Nine pubs within a quarter of a mile each other in Stockport, Cheshire have either closed or lost their licensees in a short period, according to The Daily Star. Three have been boarded up, another is closed for refurbishment, four need new licensees and one is under new management. The exodus on the A6 London Road in Hazel Grove, Stockport means licensees with a combined 175 years of experience are leaving their premises, blaming increasingly tough trading conditions.

Barworks opens seventh London site: London-based bar and pub operator Barworks has opened its seventh site on Farringdon Street, between Ludgate Circus and Holborn Viaduct. Harrild & Sons, a 5,200 square foot site, has undergone a £500,000 refurbishment and now offers a contemporary pub on the ground floor with a hand-picked craft beer and ale list. The menu is extensive and features oysters, seafood, steaks and sliders. The basement houses the third 5CC cocktail site which offers a menu of long and short cocktails, vintage liquors and barrel-aged drinks. The site benefits from a 2am licence on Thursdays and 3am licence on Friday and Saturdays. The late 19th century mid-terraced building is opposite the proposed Goldman Sachs’ European headquarters and near to the 210,000 square foot development taken by Amazon on Holborn Viaduct. The immediate area is undergoing major regeneration with Crossrail and development around Smithfield, and has already attracted other operators such as Drake & Morgan who have opened The Fable, also on Holborn Viaduct.

Brasserie Bar Co raises £13.5m to expand pub estate: Brasserie Bar Co, which runs 19 sites and is led by Mark Derry, has raised £13.5m from ESO Capital to expand its two-strong White Brasserie pub estate – the company plans between 15 and 20 in the next three years. Private equity firm Core Capital remains the lead investor. Derry told Propel last year that building a pub estate will be the focus of the company for the next three years as it plans to expand in affluent suburbs. The company opened two Enterprise Inns tied pubs, in Weybridge and Teddington, under the White Brasserie banner in late 2010. Both pubs take £30,000 per week net “comfortably”. Derry told The Telegraph last year: “We all feel that the pub area is the place we should develop more. There’s a real opportunity. We’ve taken these pubs from just £8,000-a-week turnover to £35,000 to £40,000 turnover.” Brasserie Bar Co is thought to be in talk with Spirit Pub Company over taking a site in Orpington Kent for it next opening.

GB Pizza Co doubles up: GB Pizza Co is to open a second site in Exmouth this Spring. The company began life in February 2012, serving wood-fired pizzas from the back of a VW Campervan. In June 2012, owners Lisa Richards and Rachel Seed opened an al-fresco pop-up on The Harbour Arm in the seaside town of Margate in Kent. In October, they opened their first restaurant on its seafront. Richards said : “We can’t wait to serve our pizza in the capital. We’re so excited to be working with great producers all across the British Isles: we’ve taken the most important aspects of Italian pizza-making and introduced great British ingredients including UK-made buffalo mozzarella.”

Giraffe to open ‘Kiosk’ at Kings Cross: Giraffe restaurant group will open ‘Giraffe Kiosk’ in King’s Cross Square at the end of March – it will be the second Giraffe at the station following the successful opening of Giraffe Stop in June 2013. Kiosk (385 sq ft) follows a round shape that allows customers to progress through an ordering and collection system. The focus is on quick service, casual dining on-the-go and quality food. It will serve grab-and-go hot curry pots, freshly-made sandwiches and toasted global wraps, healthy salads, freshly-pressed juices, pastries and handcrafted coffee. There are plans to open further Kiosk sites, as well as larger Stop sites at travel hubs across the country. Russel Joffe, co-founder of Giraffe, said: “We are delighted to be able to open our first Kiosk in the fantastic King’s Cross development. Our Giraffe Stop site has performed well above expectations and we are confident Kiosk will enjoy the same success.”

Freehold of JD Wetherspoon in Boston, Lincolnshire goes to auction: The freehold of The Moon Under Water, a pub tenanted by JD Wetherspoon in Boston, Lincolnshire is to be offered at a CBRE auction on Wednesday 26 February for a guide price of £1m to £1.1m. Wetherspoon pays a rent of £72,000 per annum on a 40-year lease that expires in March 2038 and is subject to five-yearly rent reviews. The pub is being sold by receivers. A sale price of £1m would represent a yield of 7.2% for the buyer.

Eclectic evolves Lola Lo at its 20th opening: Eclectic Bar Group is set to open its 20th venue in Derby on Friday 4 April. Located in the city’s Victoria Street and formerly trading as Coyote Wild, Eclectic has undertaken a total refurbishment of the venue to create the newest of the company’s Polynesian tiki-themed venues, Lola Lo. The 800-capacity bar – the company’s tenth Lola Lo – will open six days a week from midday until the early hours. The venue is on two levels – ground and first floors – and will feature two bars, the Island Grill diner and a spacious dance floor. An upstairs tropical garden setting will provide space to relax. A tiki-store in the foyer area will sell branded T-shirts and other clothing, and all things tiki – leis, straw hats, Hawaiian shirts and 50s-style Hawaiian dresses, as well as Lola Lo’s highly-desirable signature cocktail mugs. The ladies’ washroom will provide access – for ladies only – to a champagne bar with third-party pop-up stands offering beauty services and fashion displays. Lola Lo ‘taster evenings’ will offer diners a seat at the head chef’s table, followed by a cocktail master-class with one of Lola’s tiki tenders – these classes have proved a huge success at Lolas around the country. “The Lola Lo brand continues to evolve”, said Lee Nicolson, Eclectic’s operations director. “We will carry on enhancing the brand and indentifying target towns and cities where we feel that Lola Lo is capable of making a significant contribution to the area’s premium bar offer.” Meanwhile, Eclectic has announced that Richard Kleiner has been appointed to the board as an independent non-executive director. He has significant corporate finance, financial services, accounting and taxation experience. He is executive director of AIM-quoted Avanti Capital and has been the managing partner at chartered accountants Gerald Edelman, where he has been a partner since 1986.

Patisserie Valerie signs for Shrewsbury shop: Patisserie Valerie has signed up to take a unit next to a Starbucks outlet in The Square in Shrewsbury. The cafe chain will move in to the former Cafe Esp unit in the Princess House building when work is completed on moving the unit’s frontage forward five feet, which will be in about a month. James Tibbles, development manager for the building’s owner, Rockspring, said negotiations are still taking place with Starbucks about when or if its shop frontage will be moved forward as well. Rockspring was given permission to move the shop frontages forward last year following a public inquiry after more than 70 objections were sent to the Department for Transport.

Krispy Kreme says ‘watch this space’ over Scottish expansion: A year after opening its first Scottish store, in Hermiston Gait, Edinburgh, Krispy Kreme has indicated that a roll-out into other towns and cities in Scotland is on the cards. As it was announced that the Edinburgh store had served more than 1.2 million people with more than four million doughnuts in its first year, Judith Denby, chief marketing officer at Krispy Kreme UK, told STV: “We will have exciting news on our expansion plans in Scotland soon – so watch this space. The response from Edinburgh locals has been overwhelming over the past year, and the success of the store opening has completely surpassed expectations.” The Edinburgh store celebrated its first anniversary at the weekend with the staff in fancy dress and face painting for children. On Thursday, the actual anniversary, anyone who turned up at the drive-through store with a birthday card received a free doughnut.

PizzaExpress set to close Morpeth restaurant: PizzaExpress looks set to close its restaurant in Morpeth, Northumberland, less than two years after it opened. A PizzaExpress spokeswoman told the Morpeth Herald newspaper: “It is possible that our Morpeth restaurant will close, although there is no confirmation at this stage.” According to the newspaper, the 11 members of staff would be offered the option to move to another branch. The Morpeth branch, in the Market Place, opened in April 2012, when it was initially employing 25 people. The nearest other PizzaExpress to Morpeth is in Gosforth, 12 miles away. The restaurant has not performed well on TripAdvisor, with 35% of reviews rating it “poor” or “terrible”, twice as many as rated the Gosforth PizzaExpress branch “poor” or “terrible”.

Bedford freehold investment offered for £525,000: Leisure agent Fleurets is offering a freehold in investment in Bedford, Chameleon Bar, occupying 6,682 sq ft internal area (637.4 m2) trading over ground and first floor with mezzanine area. It is let to Shoe Close Limited for a 15-year term from June 2009, with a current rent £70,000 per annum subject to five yearly upward only rent reviews. The guide price is £525,000. The property overlooks the church of St. Paul and The Harpur Centre shopping centre and the associated retail pitch is within close proximity.

JD Wetherspoon gets Sheerness go-ahead: JD Wetherspoon has been given the go-ahead to open in a former electrical goods shop in Sheerness, Kent (population: 11,654). Swale council’s planning committee voted overwhelmingly in favour of allowing Wetherspoon to move into the vacant Brittain and Hobbs in High Street, at a meeting last week. The new venue will be named The Belle and Lion, after the first public house to be built in Mile Town, a historic part of Sheerness, which is now a conservation area. The development would create 35 jobs. Once work starts, the refurbishment should be complete within four months.

Artisan Burger Co hosts “Meet the Founders” event: Fledgling better burger brand Artisan Burger Co, seeking £240,000 of funding through crowd-funding website Crowdcube, is hosting a “Meet the Founders” event on 3 March between 5pm and 7pm at The Cinnamon Kitchen (private dinning room), 9 Devonshire Square, London, EC2M 4YL. The company stated: “The event will be very casual and we will of course be offering samples of our burgers, pulled pork and salt beef along with some West beer.” 

Greene King reveals the UK’s favourite chat-up lines: Greene King research has revealed the nation’s favourite chat-up line. A questionnaire found the “did it hurt when you fell from heaven” line was the most popular among almost 2,000 people asked to name their favourite. Other popular lines were found to be “hello gorgeous”, “can I buy you a drink” and “get your coat, you’ve pulled”. Greene King’s strategy director Mark Blythman said: “It is hard for many people to make that first approach, so a chat-up line can really break the ice.” Of the thousands questioned, 42% admitted that they actually liked chat-up lines, and almost a third (31%) said that chat-up lines had worked on them in the past. Some 58% thought they actually worked in person, whereas only 35% said they worked online or by text. The influence of social media could be seen in the survey’s top ten, with “WhatsApp” – a popular phone messaging service – featuring as the nation’s sixth favourite pick-up line. The rest of the top ten was made up of “how you doin”, “haven’t I seen you somewhere before”, “how do you like your eggs for breakfast”, “do you come here often”, and the classic “you must be tired – because you’ve been running through my mind all night”.

Costa franchisee opens fourth site – receives 1,300 applications for six jobs: More than 1,300 people applied for six jobs at a new Costa coffee shop in Hucknall. The branch, which opens tomorrow, has taken over the empty retail unit next to the Card Factory, in the High Street. Sham Ramparia, a Costa franchisee, said he was “overwhelmed” with the volume of applications the store received. Ramparia, who also owns Costa cafe branches in Long Eaton, Mapperley and Bingham, said: “We knew we have a customer base that lives in and around Hucknall but we didn’t have a store there for them. It seemed like the natural thing to do.”

Caffè Nero plans blogger ambassador programme with new agency: Coffee chain Caffè Nero has appointed Kazoo to support its internal teams on PR and social media activities. The agency will help build awareness of the brand with news generation and a blogger ambassador programme as well as social media support for the existing in-house team, which does not have an incumbent PR agency. Ceri Aiken, communications manager for Caffè Nero, said: “Kazoo’s integrated offering and heaps of drive, coupled with a proven track record working with lifestyle brands, makes it the ideal agency partner to support our business objectives.”

YO! Sushi launches kids half-term activity packs: YO! Sushi is launching a brand new range of children’s activities to help keep kids busy during the half-term period. The new fun materials, launching today, include A5 sticker sheets, which kids can use to make their own little monsters, coloured balloons and a YO! Sushi Monster pencil set along with four different colouring sheets. Kids will also have the chance to enter their monster colouring creations into a competition to win a £100 meal at YO! Sushi. To inject more half-term fun into meal times at YO! Sushi, the brand is trialling special YO! Sushi Monster boards with cut-out faces for children – and adults. The Monster boards are being launched initially in the Cardiff, Bristol Cabot, Bond Street, Southbank, Bluewater and Manchester Arndale restaurants from 14 February.

Neapolitan doubles up: Neapolitan Pubs and Bars has acquired its second site. The business, founded by Raffaele Mercurio, former operations director of Oakman Inns, has bought the lease of The Greyhound in Beaconsfield Old Town. After a £150,000 refurbishment the site has re-opened as The Greyhound Enoteca, an Italian-themed twist on the British pub. This is the company’s second site and comes after a record year at The Plough, Winchmore Hill, Amersham, the company’s first acquisition. 

Seafood Pub Company opens pop-up restaurant in college: The Seafood Pub Company, which operates four gastro-pubs in the north west of England, will be running a pop-up restaurant as part of a series of catering courses at Nelson and Colne College. The Seafood Pub Company’s managing director Joycelyn Neve said: “We like pop-ups. We’ve organised them on-site at the last two Clitheroe Food Festivals and they’ve always been great fun.” The company’s executive chef, Antony Shirley, and his team is moving into the college to work alongside students in its School of Culinary Arts. They will be guesting at Nelson and Colne College’s Farringtons restaurant in Barrowford, near Nelson, for a series of lunches and dinners between 24 and 27 February. Shirley, who has worked at Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge, London and Raffles in the West Indies, has been taking classes at Pendle Primary School for the past two years and also worked with Feniscowles Primary School on a charity fundraising cookery and recipe book. The Seafood Pub Company runs The Oyster and Otter in Blackburn, The Assheton Arms at Downham in the Ribble Valley, The Fenwick, in the Lune Valley village of Claughton near Lancaster and The Farmers Arms at Great Eccleston on the Fylde. It will soon open The Barley Mow in the Pendle village of Barley.

Burger King targets Cambridge graduates: Cambridge University is one of four top educational establishments in the country, alongside institutions across the continent, being visited by high-level Burger King management as they look to “source the best talent” for 20 places on its one-year leadership programme for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The management course involves two months of “operational training” in a Burger King outlet. This is followed by a corporate training programme in an office in London, Madrid, Munich or Zug in Switzerland, being paid a competitive salary at all stages of the process. The application process for the programme is highly competitive – prospective trainees must undergo logic tests and English examinations online, as well as partaking in formal interviews with the company. José Cil, the president of Burger King EMEA, said of the scheme: “We are looking for the best candidates from the UK and across Europe who have passion for our business and leadership potential. The management trainee programme will provide participants with opportunities to grow and achieve their personal best in a thriving business environment.” Of the 2013 cohort of graduate recruits from the UK, 80% now work for Burger King in permanent positions. The chain has a workforce of more than 25,000 in the UK and Ireland.

Cliff-top cafe forced to demolish ice-cream parlour after rockfalls: The Birling Gap Cafe, on the Seven Sisters coastal walk near Eastbourne in Sussex, is having to demolish its sun lounge and ice-cream parlour after rock falls left them just a couple of metres from the cliff edge. The cliff at the National Trust-owned site has been retreating at an average rate of one metre a year until recent months, where record rain and high winds have speeded up the erosion. Jane Cecil, the National Trust’s general manager for South Downs, said: “Parts of the cliff face at Birling Gap were affected by the recent adverse weather. This included a number of major cliff falls due to heavy rain and high winds. As a precaution, the steps to the beach remain closed while Wealden District Council help us to assess the situation. The site has been made safe in the meantime, with the main cliff top fence being moved back by more than three metres. Unfortunately, after further cliff falls at the weekend, to conserve the rest of the building, we will shortly be taking down the sun lounge and ice-cream parlour. If we act now, we will ensure that people will still be able to enjoy fish and chips at Birling Gap for many more years to come.” An estimated 350,000 people every year visit Birling Gap.

11 hotels go on the market through Christie + Co: A collection of 11 hotels, operated by QMH UK under the Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Best Western Plus brands, are being sold by agent Christie + Co. The nationwide portfolio consists of approximately 2,000 bedrooms within three Crowne Plaza hotels, seven Holiday Inn hotels and one Best Western Plus in key trading locations from Glasgow to Plymouth. The group has benefited from an extensive multi-million pound refurbishment programme with recent investments in key assets including Crowne Plaza Glasgow, Holiday Inn Stratford-upon-Avon and Crowne Plaza Chester. The hotels are: Crowne Plaza Chester, 160 bedrooms; Crowne Plaza Glasgow, 283 bedrooms; Crowne Plaza Nottingham, 210 bedrooms; Holiday Inn Doncaster, 102 bedrooms; Holiday Inn Harrogate, 214 bedrooms; Holiday Inn Luton South, 140 bedrooms; Holiday Inn Peterborough West, 133 bedrooms; Holiday Inn Plymouth, 211 bedrooms; Holiday Inn Solihull, 120 bedrooms; Holiday Inn Stratford-upon-Avon, 259 bedrooms; Best Western Plus Reading Moat House, 129 bedrooms. Jeremy Hill, of Christie + Co, said: “A portfolio of this standing presents an unmissable opportunity to acquire a high quality, well-invested nationwide group of hotels with a profitable trading profile and a leading management team in place. It is a particularly attractive proposition given the growing momentum in the regional hotel marketplace.”

Pleisure reports double flood blow: Pleisure, the award-wining multi-site pub retailer led by Nick Griffin, has reported a double blow from the floods, with its pub in Maidstone, Kent closed for several months, and new fixtures and fittings required although the company’s insurer went bust shortly before the flooding. Griffin told Propel: “Our Maidstone pub, Drakes saw water coming in to bar level on Christmas Eve – we don’t expect to be open for a few months yet. Now, I know I’m not the luckiest chap on the planet, but even I didn’t think I was so unlucky to have a flood in a pub just a matter of days after our insurance company went into administration! Milburn Insurance went pop in December just before the floods. Like they say, it never rains, but it pours.”

Punch in U-turn over plan to rename pub Cromwells: A plan by Punch Taverns to rename a pub Cromwells after its £180,000 refurbishment has been dropped after villagers objected. Villagers argued that The Old Oak in Hoghton, Chorley, Lancashire had been a hub of the community for generations of Hoghton residents, and that the name Cromwells was inappropriate and could cause offence. Oliver Cromwell is still hated in Ireland over the way he crushed Catholic resistance with massacres during the English Civil War period. Punch Taverns has now said that when the local campaign to retain The Old Oak name was brought to the attention of new tenant Adam Chapman and the company, both “immediately took note of the comments and passion expressed by the local residents”. Punch Taverns’ Andy Slee said: “We decided to change the name of the pub in order to give the pub a fresh beginning to go with the new look. We take the concerns of the local community very seriously and when we became aware of the affection for the existing name in the area we were always going to listen. It became obvious to retain The Old Oak as the pub’s identity.” The pub is due to close today and re-open after its refurbishment in early April.