Pint Shop plans southern cities roll-out: Pint Shop, the highly regarded Cambridge-based operator that specialises in British meat and beer, has announced plans to expand to a second UK site. Off the back of a successful first six months for the original Pint Shop site, located on Peas Hill in Cambridge, the team has started to look for a suitable location for their second venue. While Pint Shop is keen to open another site in Cambridge, they are also looking at other cities in the south of the country, including London, Bath, Oxford, Bristol and Brighton. This new site will echo the premium casual dining experience of the existing Pint Shop, with the balance between good food and drink that has proved incredibly popular, but is likely to have a slightly different offering. The team is also keen to explore sites that are not necessarily existing pubs or restaurants. The Pint Shop in Cambridge is located in a converted office building, providing a blank canvas without preconceptions, which the team was able to model specifically to their requirements. Richard Holmes, co-owner of Pint Shop, said: “The results of our first six months have really exceeded expectations, and encouraged us to begin the search for our next site. We’re keen to expand to another part of the country, with the aim of having a presence in all the big southern cities, and one northern location, within the next five years. While the look and feel of the new site will be consistent with what we have done before, with meat, bread and beer at its core, it won’t be overly formulaic.”

Private restaurant investors debut with Italian opening: A new syndicate of private investors are backing an Italian start-up restaurant La Tagliata, which is to replace The Gulshan Indian restaurant, close to Liverpool Street Station. The 1,088 sq ft ground floor restaurant and basement at 11 Sandy’s Row, is the launchpad for the new syndicate of unnamed investors. The new Italian restaurant will open on 14 July. It has taken an assignment of the existing lease, which expires in July 2018 at a rent of £50,000 per year. Sally French, who brokered the deal for Restaurant Property, said: “The area between Liverpool Street and Brick Lane in the City was traditionally regarded as a bit off pitch, but it has always had an eclectic mix of great little restaurants that have been favourites with City workers and local residents. Recent regeneration means it has become much more sought after by bigger operators now too.”

Punch Taverns completes 250th refurbishment since September 2013: Punch Taverns has completed its 250th refurbishment since the start of its financial year in September 2013. The Jolly Drovers, near Consett in County Durham, reopened after a £450,000 refurbishment. Punch will invest a total of £40m this year in upgrades to more than 400 pubs. Last year, it completed 450 refurbishments at a cost of £45m. The programme has already successfully transformed pubs from Aberdeenshire to Cornwall and from Newport to Kent. Operations director Paul Pavli said: “The success of the programme is down to a huge task force. As well as using good repairs and decorating contractors, every refurbishment calls on our in-house specialists in cellar management, catering, menu planning, accounts, business management, marketing, event management and stock control. To get this right, we set up a new business development team to co-ordinate and oversee refurbishments. This team then stay and work closely with our partners for six months after the refurbishment, making sure that all aspects of the business are right for our partners and ourselves.”