TGI Friday’s opens first fast track restaurant today in Manchester: TGI Friday’s is opening its first ‘fast track’ restaurant today (6 August) at Manchester Piccadilly Station. Located within the Upper Concourse of the station, the restaurant is equipped with technology for commuters including power sockets, USB charging sockets, Wi-Fi and individual seating options. Able to serve 135 diners at any one time, the interior has a rustic colour scheme and memorabilia inspired by travel, local artists from Manchester, with a particular nod to the most famous train station in the world – Grand Central Station. An open-plan kitchen will offer guests a glimpse of Friday’s food as it’s being cooked, including the new handcrafted burger range and classic American-inspired breakfasts with a Friday’s twist –including waffles, maple bacon and Jack Daniel’s-candied sausages. The food has been created to meet the demands of the busy commuter, ensuring that all main meals can be served to guests quickly. Jane Sadler, general manager for TGI Friday’s Manchester Piccadilly, said: “It’s a great pleasure to be opening the first of Friday’s ‘fast track’ restaurants, and it couldn’t be a more perfect location than in one of the busiest railway stations in the country. We’re really looking forward to what is expected to be a busy opening period and can’t wait for our guests to get a flavour for the fast track restaurant.”

Operators to attend Propel Operators and Investors dinner: More than 50 of the UK’s outstanding small and medium-sized multi-site operators will attend the sector’s first ever dinner for leading emerging multi-site operators and the investment community, organised by Propel Info. The event, which takes place on 9 September and is sponsored by ZEO, is a chance for up-and-coming multiple and medium-sized operators to network with leading private equity companies, venture capitalists, investment funds and major lenders. Propel managing director Paul Charity: “The demand for places has been extraordinary – and we are now running a waiting list.” Attendee operating companies include: Real Eating Company, Urban Pubs and Bars, Burning Night Group, ETM Group, Beds and Bars, Bulldog Hotel Group, Oakman Inns and Restaurants, Faucet Inn, Hache, Pug Pubs, Coal Bar and Grill, Ed’s Easy Diner, Meatailer, Cote, Barrio Bars, Pieminister, Yummy Pub Company, Flat Iron Steak, Strada, Cambcuisine, K10, Square Pie, Inglenook Inns and Taverns, Kurobuta, Anglian Country Inns, Innventure, Ignite Group, Harris + Hoole, TLC Inns, Friska, Velo Café, Oxfordshire Hotels, Chicago Leisure, Malvern Inns, Mountain Range Restaurants, TCG, Crussh, Oak Taverns, Palico, Castle Rock Brewery, LT Pub Management, All Our Bars, Barburrito and British Street Food. Senior executives from Punch Taverns, Enterprise Inns, Hawthorne Leisure and Spirit will also attend in an investor capacity as well as a large number of banks, private equity firms and other finance firms.

Cork operators move into Dublin: Two of Cork’s best known operators have opened premises in Dublin. Ernest Cantillon and Benny McCabe have each opened Dublin branches of their Cork venues – Sober Lane and Arthur Mayne’s, respectively – with further openings planned in the future. “Huge numbers of Corkonians have moved up to Dublin over the past number of years,” said Cantillon. “There has always been big traffic between the two cities, so it seemed a good idea to bring a bit of Cork style to the capital’s attractions. You could say we decided to bring Mohammed to the mountain, so to speak.”

Flavoured malt beverages boom in the US: Flavored malt beverages (FMBs) are booming in the US. Anheuser-Busch InBev BUD and MillerCoors have launched apple-flavoured line extensions of their FMBs, called the Apple-Ahhh-Rita and Redd’s Wicked Apple, respectively. Both have 8% alcohol by volume. Flavored malt beverages are beers that are either mixed with another alcoholic drink, such as a spirit, or could be a mixture of beer with some sort of flavouring or mixer, like lemonade. Growth for the segment has been stronger than craft beers. According to Nielsen, FMBs have 4% of the overall malt-based alcoholic beverage volume in the US, but are contributing 31% of volume growth based on the total of all segments that are posting growth.

Victoria in Australia moves to ban smoking outdoors: Smoking outside at restaurants, cafes and pubs will be banned completely in Victoria, Health Minister David Davis announced on Monday. The Western Hotel owner Dan Cronin said he was frustrated at the implementation of the ban in what he called a “turnaround” from the state government. “We spent a lot of money on works that comply with local and state regulations, and a turnaround saying it is now banned is disappointing,” he said. Beyond saying the ban would apply to “outdoor dining areas”, Davis did not release details of the plan, or when it would be implemented. 

McDonald’s under siege on three continents: An analyst has claimed that McDonald’s is having one of its toughest times ever – “under siege” on three continents. In the final days of July, its China business was hit with a food-safety scare involving a key supplier, the chain got ensnared in the West’s sanctions standoff with Russia and staff at US restaurants claimed an incremental win from the National Labor Relations Board in their fight to hold McDonald’s responsible for the actions of franchisees. Not least, results showed Quarter Two profits dropped more than expected. “They’re under siege on three continents,” said Howard Penney, restaurant analyst at Hedgeye Risk Management, an investment research firm. “McDonald’s is a pawn in many instances around the world. It’s an easy target.”

New York hotel fines guests $500 for bad reviews: A hotel in New York is charging wedding couples $500 for every bad review left online by its guests. The Union Street Guest House (USGH) said that it levies the fines because visitors “may not understand” its vintage interior and period furniture. “If your guests are looking for a Marriott type hotel they may not like it here,” it added. A couple making a wedding booking will have the fine deducted from their deposit “for every negative review of USGH placed on any internet site by anyone in your party,” according to the hotel’s wide-ranging terms and conditions, The Telegraph reported. The hotel said that it will refund the fee when a bad review is taken down.

Jamie’s Italian passes £100m turnover mark: Jamie’s Italian turnover passed the £100m mark in the year to 5 January 2014, although Ebitda fell 9% to £11.9m as the management invested in the infrastructure for international expansion, the new Jamie’s Trattoria brand and the roll-out of its Gold Card. The business opened sites in Aberdeen and Greenwich in the year and one site under the Jamie’s Trattoria band in Richmond. “The Trattoria in Richmond is exceeding expectations and paving the way for the growth of the brand alongside growth in the traditional format,” the firm stated. Internationally, sites opened in Perth, Canberra, St Peterburg, Singapore, Dubai and Instanbul to reach an overseas estate of eight. Licensing agreements were signed for expansion into Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. The company has created 3,000 jobs in its six years of operation.

New Roy Ellis venture gets off to a flyer: The first venue opened by Roy Ellis and Neil Macleod, founders of the Revolution vodka bar operator Inventive Leisure, and their business partner, the chef Simon Rimmer, the Elephant Pub and Bakehouse has got off to a flying start. Ellis told Propel: “We got the Elephant pub and bakehouse open last week. It’s been packed every day since. We have had to draft in our restaurant team to cope with demand!” A total of £4m has been raised from seven investors in an EIS-qualifying business, Flying Pig and Lobster, to roll out two new brands. Ellis told Propel that the cash will allow the company to open its first six sites. The two brands are located two adjacent sites at the same location, The Elephant, a Star Pubs & Bars venue in the Woolton Village neighbourhood of Liverpool. Takings at the site were “not far off” £2m when it was acquired and Ellis estimates turnover will rise to between £2.5m and £3m when both brands are launched. The company has developed a modern British pub concept and an American comfort brand, the Liberty Tavern, which will see a soft opening next week. 

PizzaExpress lines up Intu Potteries opening: PizzaExpress will open a restaurant at the new £20 million Intu Potteries leisure development next year. The brand has become the latest name to sign up for the 60,000 square foot extension, joining Chiquito, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Cineworld and Frankie & Benny’s. Martin Breeden, regional director for Intu, said: “We have an 850,000 catchment without a PizzaExpress, so it’s sure to trade fantastically. We know that our customers are crying out for great restaurants for the whole family. We are looking forward to announcing the next addition to the line-up.” Construction work has already started on the site and is due to open in August 2015.

Bella Italia reports success with gelato cart offer: Tragus Group’s Bella Italia brand has reported success in the first week of its new gelato cart offer at its Reading Oracle site – customers consumed over 100 litres of ice cream in week one. Honeycomb and Cocotella (coconut with Nutella) were the favourite varieties. Reading has reopened as part of the brand’s on-going expansion and refurbishment project, which will see around 20 restaurants refurbished, and another 15 new sites opened, over the next year. Nick White, managing director at Bella Italia, said: “We’re thrilled with the feedback received so far from the local people of Reading, following the reopening of the Bella Italia at the Oracle. As predicted, the town has taken to the new Gelato Cart offering and we fully expect the new Italian ice cream selection to continue to go from strength-to-strength as it makes its way to all of our new and refurbished sites this year.”

Caledonian Heritable reports profit jump: Caledonian Heritable, the Edinburgh-based company that runs pubs, restaurants, hotels and a golf club among other interests, has reported a profit increase. The company saw turnover rise to £36,271,843 in the year to 31 October 2013, up from £33,916,028 the year before. Pre-tax profit rose to £5,379,582 compared to £2,050,701 the year before when there was an impairment charge of £1.5m in relation to the carrying value of some pubs. The company reported operating profit rose by £300,000 in the most recent year. 

Five Guys to open at Cambridge Leisure Park: Five Guys, the leading American burger and fries brand, is to open a new restaurant in Land Securities’ Cambridge Leisure Park. The 3,912 square foot site will be adjacent to Frankie & Benny’s, Bella Italia and Chiquito. Commenting on their selection of Cambridge Leisure Park for the continuing growth of Five Guys, Richard Collier, property director at Five Guys UK, said: “Five Guys’ expansion across the UK is highly dependent on the locations chosen, and leisure parks were always the next phase. Cambridge Leisure Park stood out due to its prime position and accessibility, and further extends our regional offer to the British consumer. We look forward to introducing our carefully sourced burgers, fresh ingredients and simple but fully customisable menu choice there.” The site was secured for Five Guys by agent Shelley Sandzer.

Itsu hires PR help: Itsu, the 50-strong Asian-inspired healthy food chain led by Julian Metcalfe, has appointed Aneela Rose PR to raise brand awareness and manage the launch of its new site in Brighton, opening September 2014. Aneela Rose will be targeting regional consumer and business media to raise brand awareness over the next three months, reporting to Itsu’s head of marketing and communications, Jo Cash. The shop in Brighton marks the second Itsu venture outside of the capital and it plans to open further regional sites this year. 

BrewDog co-founder to take part in London Beer City Week: BrewDog co-founder James Watt is to take part in British Beer City Week, which runs across the capital between 9 and 16 August to promote craft beer. Watt will be at BrewDog Shepherds Bush for the evening on Monday 11 August to talk about UK craft beer and taste some of his favourite brews.

Timothy Taylor completes £12m investment: Timothy Taylor’s, the Keighley-based brewer, has completed a £12m investment programme with the installation of a new boiler costing £500,000. The expansion programme has included the building of new offices, the development of a transport depot, a £2.7m extension to the brewery, and the creation of a new cold hop store and an effluent treatment plant. Second Brewer Andrew Leman said: “Our existing boiler is now 16 years old and in today’s terms is no longer cost-efficient to run. It is also only just keeping up with peak demand. The need for a larger, more efficient boiler became pressing.”

The Cock in Smithfield come onto the market: The Cock Tavern, located beneath the Poultry Hall of London Central Market, commonly known as Smithfield Market, is being offered on new lease terms after the City of London Corporation appointed agent Davis Coffer Lyons to find a new tenant to take over the basement public house and bar. The premises provides around 4,220 square foot of space over basement and sub-basement levels and benefits from a 6:00am-2:00am licence for sale of alcohol Tuesday-Friday and 8:00am-2:00am Saturday- Sunday and 6:00am-11:00pm Monday. Chris Bickle, associate director at Davis Coffer Lyons, said: “The EC1 and Smithfield Market area is currently one of the Capital’s most vibrant and active locations, from a commercial and licensed leisure perspective. We have completed a host of prominent deals over recent months. The Cock Tavern is already generating interest as it meets the criteria for many operators in the pub, bar, restaurant and general leisure sectors in particular, being nil premium, free of tie, with a good layout and late licence.”

P.F. Chang provides more details of credit card security breach: Credit and debit cards at more than 30 P.F. Chang’s restaurants in the US may have been compromised, the restaurant brand revealed Monday. On 10 June, 2014, the Secret Service contacted the chain about a possible data breach that put customers’ payment information at risk. The restaurant said the problem was contained by the next day but information shows the problem goes as far back as October 2013 at 33 stores. P.F. Chang’s card processing system was compromised, and ID thieves may have stolen credit and debit card information, including card numbers and, in some cases, customers’ names and card expiration dates.

Stonegate Pub Company converts another site to technologically-advanced pub: Stonegate Pub Company has invested another £215,000 converting a site in Epsom, Surrey to a technologically-advanced pub catering to the modern-day student and worker. The Faraday – named after the Surrey-born scientist Michael Faraday – has opened at the former Vestry site. The Faraday is also offering customers superfast broadband, a Wi-Fi printer, sockets and USB ports for charging. Staff also hope customers will digitally interact with the jukebox system, which allows people to play music from their phone or instantly download a song they have heard. The pub has also introduced a loyalty card scheme, which rewards customers for talking about it on social networking sites. General manager Josh Massen said: “There’s a phenomenal change to the pub. The refurbishment has allowed us to think out of the box and create an environment that offers both the great traditions of a pub, while blending in practical elements that make it viable for today’s technology savvy customer.”

Warehouse Project in Manchester on hold: The Warehouse Project’s plans to move into a train depot opposite Piccadilly station in Manchester has hit problems – after the building’s owners pulled out. A planning application for a massive arts space – which would have also housed a successful club night – was submitted last month. Just three weeks ago developers described the Mayfield depot the ‘biggest forgotten space in the city centre’ and vowed to plough in £2m of investment. But the building’s owners London Continental have now backed out. They instead want to regenerate the site as quickly as possible – taking advantage of the new Northern Hub rail masterplan. The original vision would have created a versatile arts venue including a 1,100 seat theatre. Sacha Lord, the club night’s founder, said he was ‘disappointed for Manchester’ that it would not go ahead. But he insisted he does have both a ‘plan B’ and a ‘plan C’, adding: “The tenth anniversary of the Warehouse Project is going to be incredible. It’s going to happen, 110%. There is absolutely no doubt.”

Soaring demand for up-market desserts from Mitchells & Butlers, Greene King and Spirit creates 60 jobs: Soaring demand for up-market desserts has led to the creation of 60 jobs at a food manufacturer. Barton & White, of Coalville, will increase its workforce to 90 when it relocates to a larger factory near to its current site later this year. It comes after the business was bought by Bespoke Kitchen Foods, of Barrow-upon-Soar, for a six-figure sum, from Proper Pies, of Southam, near Rugby. Bespoke specialises in vegetarian food, but also makes desserts, an area it wants to expand. Co-owner Tony McCarron said: “We have a lot of new contracts from large restaurant and pub chains. We supply vegetarian and dessert food. Vegetarian food is a big growth area at the moment. It’s not just non-meat eaters, it’s people who are concerned about eating red meat. Barton & White are quite artisan in their approach. It fits in with our current business model and we thought we could feed it into a wider market.” The combined business has a turnover of £10 million, which the company wants to double within the next three years. Bespoke, which employs 40 people and had a turnover of £7 million last year, makes vegetarian burgers under the Fat Chef Co brand. The customers of both Bespoke and Barton & White include Mitchells and Butlers, Spirit Group and Greene King.

Greene King’s Scottish division to re-open Dalgety flagship site: Greene King’s Scottish division Belhaven is to re-open The Clubhouse, off Dalgety Bay’s Harbour Drive, as The Compass tomorrow (Thursday 7 August). A spokesman said: “The pub will be offering great value to all the family and a friendly service, and with the work that has been done will feel brighter and more welcoming.” There was little warning that the popular bar and brasserie was going to close until signs went up in March saying it was closed for “essential maintenance”. Former tenant Bryan Reid admitted on Facebook days later that The Clubhouse was shut for good. He stated: “Due to margins being squeezed so tight with direct overheads and costs the past year, the company could no longer breathe and meet commitments. We were ‘called in’. To dispel any further rumours, there were no other reasons for closure.”

McDonald’s renews sponsorship of UK football associations: McDonald’s has renewed its sponsorship of the UK’s football associations for a further four years, pledging to supply 250,000 kits to local football clubs. The company, which first signed up as the Football Association’s (FA) Community Partner in 2002, said it remains committed to raising the standards of football facilities at a grassroots level. The brand revealed the renewal of its agreement with the English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish associations with an event hosted at west London club Larkspur Rovers, attended by Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey. Larkspur Rovers is one of 7,200 FA Charter Standard-accredited clubs that will receive a brand new Adidas- or Nike-manufactured kit each season. McDonald’s UK managing director Mark Hawthorne said: “McDonald’s has worked alongside the UK FAs for the last 12 years and during this time has helped thousands of UK clubs, enabling over four million kids to play good quality football. Our new partnership focuses on raising the standards at grassroots clubs from better safety, and better advice, to better kit and better recognition for volunteers. Over the next four years, each year we will work with the four Home Nation Football Associations and their official kit suppliers to give away brand new kits to every accredited club with a youth team across the UK.”

Luke Thomas to expand into Chester next month: Celebrity chef Luke Thomas will open his first restaurant in Chester, Luke’s Eating House, in September. He has the same agent as Jamie Oliver with TV appearances on BBC3’s Britain’s Youngest Head Chef and BBC2’s Great British Menu. His career began at just 12 years old when he helped out at Soughton Hall and Stables Bar and Restaurant near Mold and at 15 he won FutureChef, beating 7,500 people to the title. He currently runs Luke’s Dining Room/Sanctum on the Green in Berkshire, having been made head chef at 17, and Luke’s Broadway in the Cotswolds. The Chester venture is a joint initiative with Odysian Holdings Ltd. The 80-seater Luke’s Eating House, which may be rolled out as a chain, will feature specialist bar Gin Rickey’s on the ground floor, featuring more than 100 different gins and with the restaurant on the floor above. Thomas said: “The food is modern British/European. It’s going to be based on what I call social food, which is becoming a lot bigger – lots of lovely sharing food, grills, platters.”

Peach to create 30 jobs with new pub opening in Birmingham: Peach Pub Company will create 30 jobs when it opens a new High Field gastro-pub opening in Edgbaston, Birmingham next month. “We’re making good progress on the refurbishment of the building and are all set to open our doors in mid September,” said The High Field manager Sarah Robinson. “We’re looking for people to come and work behind the bar, in the restaurant and also in the kitchen.”

Harrods unveils multi-million pound revamp of restaurant: Harrods has unveiled a multi-million-pound renovation of its flagship restaurant and tearoom The Georgian, the London Evening Standard has reported. After more than a hundred years of service, the space – which first opened in 1911 – closed its doors for six weeks as everything from the carpets to the Art Deco skylight, installed in 1928, was restored. Designer Christopher Guy Harrison, who loved the restaurant as a child and asked to be involved in the project, created more than 500 pieces of furniture for the space. The renovation of The Georgian is the latest part of £250 million of investment in the store by Qatar Holdings, owned by the Qatari royal family, over the past four years. Director of store development Martin Illingworth told the newspaper: “This room is pure elegance and is everything Harrods stands for. The renovation of The Georgian is part of a jigsaw puzzle when it comes to the development of the store.”

Freedrinks hires new marketing director: Freedrinks, the company behind soft drinks brand ZEO, has appointed a new marketing director, Ian Greengrass, following the departure of David Smith. Greengrass, who has over 22 years as a Global FMCG Marketing Director across iconic food and drink brands including Häagen-Dazs, La Vache Qui Rit, Mini Babybel and Nutrition Bel, said: “I’m delighted to join the team at Freedrinks at such an exciting time and look forward to growing the ZEO brand both in the UK and at an international level.” With an extensive background in drinks marketing, at a local and global scale, and two years with Freedrinks Ltd, firstly as commercial director and then as marketing director, Smith is leaving the business to seek a new challenge. During his years at ZEO he saw the brand move from test market, through a robust press test, to full launch in 2014 with key customers such as Tesco, Co-op and Greene King coming on board.

Greene King lines up Hungry Horse site in Perth: Greene King is lining up a new Hungry Horse in one of Perth’s prime economic development sites. Efforts have been made over a number of years to attract offices and businesses to the Broxden Business Park on the city’s Western Edge, to join the Scottish Government, Scotland Transerv, Bank of Scotland and NHS Tayside’s Broxden Dental centre. However, with no concrete interest in the plots available, it appears that Perth and Kinross Council and will sell the site to pub retailer and brewer Greene King.

Former Spirit Pub Company PR boss reports second year success: A public relations consultancy firm launched by two former workers at Spirit Pub Company is celebrating a 50% jump in turnover and clients. Limegreen Communications, which specialises in leisure, retail and technical PR and does the public relations work for nightclub company Luminar, has increased turnover by 50% in its second year of trading, together with picking up a raft of new clients. Limegreen has added materials science company Advanced Interactive Materials Science Ltd (AIMS), and plastic mould tool specialist Promold International Limited to its client list. It was established by Sarah Perrins, former head of public relations and communications for Spirit Pub Company and Punch Taverns, and Jo Mathers, who led Spirit’s public relations activity.

Loungers hits 50 site milestone, sales up 47.7%: Loungers, the Bristol based cafe/bar group, will reach 50 sites with the opening of Como Lounge in Witney, Oxfordshire tomorrow (Wednesday). Loungers started life in 2002 as a ten-table café/bar in the Southville suburb of Bristol and initially grew fairly slowly, only reaching double-figures of sites in 2009. However since then the group has expanded at an ever-increasingly rapid rate and has over doubled in size the last two years and looks well set to reach 90+ sites by 2017. Split over two floors the Witney site is located in former nightclub premises in the centre of the Oxfordshire town and at nearly 6,000 sq ft is one of the groups’ largest sites. In addition to 160 covers internally a 70-seater roof terrace has also been created to the rear of the first floor by removing a section of the flat roof. Loungers, which added sites in the Birmingham suburb of Shirley (Desco Lounge) and Torquay (Visto Lounge) in July is set to add further Lounge sites this year in Kettering, Letchworth Garden City, Keynsham, Stroud, and Peterborough as well as opening their eighth Cosy Club site in Leicester in October. Speaking of the milestone of reaching 50 sites Loungers managing director Alex Reilley said: “It’s a tremendous achievement for the business to have reached 50 sites and it’s certainly way, way, way beyond what Jake and I dared to dream back in 2002. We’re extremely proud of the business and most importantly the key role our people play in making what we do a success. Our next great challenge is to reach 100 sites, which we’re pretty confident can be achieved by early 2017.” The group also revealed that like-for-like sales for July were up 9.3% and that year-on-year sales for the month were up 47.7%. Loungers chief operating officer Nick Collins said: “We enjoyed a very strong July and have seen some very good like-for-like sales across the group. In addition year-on-year sales continue to grow at a very strong rate, which is driven not just by our busy roll-out program but also by the strong performance of new sites, which is helping to drive average unit sales (and unit Ebitda) upwards.”

TCG pledges to cut prices on Tax Equality Day: Managed pub and bar operator TCG has pledged to support Tax Equality Day on 24 September. All 69 of the company’s sites will take part, by cutting the price of food and drink by 7.5% on the day. TCG supported the first Tax Equality Day last September and is once again getting behind the event with posters, leaflets and staff in all pubs and bars explaining the campaign to customers. The aim is to raise awareness of the high rate of VAT paid on food and drink in pubs, compared to the near-zero rate paid by supermarkets. TCG chief operating officer Nigel Wright said: “The current 20% VAT rate continues to hit the hospitality industry hard. By taking part in Tax Equality Day, we’re able to take the key messages about the VAT campaign to customers across our diverse estate, from our world famous Tattershall Castle floating pub on the Thames, to city centre bars and local pubs. Our industry is a large employer, particularly of young people, and a major contributor to the Treasury. We think it’s fair to ask the government to show support for pubs and bars, especially since projections show the cut in VAT revenue would be balanced by increased taxes generated by higher levels of trade and more jobs in the sector.” Meanwhile, Whiting & Hammond founder Brian Whiting has set out the reasons why his company will be supporting Tax Equality Day in an open letter to his customers, which appears in the latest edition of his in-house magazine. He states: “The difference that currently exists between the vat treatment of supermarket sales compared to sales of food and beverages in pubs, restaurants and hotels is simply unfair and something has to be done about it. Supermarkets have the audacity to brand a selection of their products as “Gastro Pub Style” in direct competition to us. Alongside this, they run campaigns encouraging their customers to eat in for £10 as opposed to dining out where they have the additional 20% vat on their bill. Whiting & Hammond is a group of eight pubs that has been in business for 11 years. From a standing start we now employ 337 staff and over the last 12 months have paid £1,160,374 in VAT alone. If a percentage of this huge figure was freed up, we would definitely look to open up additional sites, thus creating more jobs, which in turn would support the local community.”