3Sixty Restaurants reports £200,000 sales dip after sale of Mayfair restaurant: 3Sixty Restaurants, the operator of Ego Restaurants and four Rocket sites, which is backed by Luke Johnson and led by James Horler, has reported a £200,000 dip in turnover in the year after the sale of a key site in Mayfair. It reported losses of £456,250 in the year to 31 March 2014 compared to a profit of £2,374,706 the year before when it made a gain of £2,755,513 on the disposal of the site. Turnover was £13,112,654, down from £13,365,667 the year before. Like-for-like sales were up in excess of 5% in the year. A source close to the company told Propel: “This was the period without the sales and profit of the site we sold. To have lost the site and delivered sales only £200,000 down is a solid performance. The company had positive Ebitda of £395,000.” The company has £2,924,917 in cash on the balance sheet and net assets of £4,862,118 (2013: £5,318,368) plus shareholder loan notes of £710,000 to make a total of £5.6m. In September, the company opened its ninth Ego venue and first within a pub, in Stockton Brook, Stoke on Trent. The brand, which describes itself as a Mediterranean restaurant and bar, with the menu covering Moroccan tajines to Greek meze, Neapolitan pizzas to Spanish tapas, steaks, pasta and risotto, spent £300,000 refurbishing the former Hollybush pub, on Stanley Road. It is a Mitchells & Butlers franchise with a tie on beer with an exception for a guest Joules beer. “Trading so far has been significantly ahead of budget and expectations,” the source said. The company also opened its latest Rocket site in Holborn in September. Trading in the current financial year to the end of September has seen like-for-likes up by more than 5%. Ego has 68,500 members of its Ego Club and 36,000 followers on Twitter, one of the strongest regional restaurant brands in terms of followers per site. 3Sixty Restaurants abandoned a sale process in November 2013 after deciding bids for the company were too low and it would focus on expansion instead.

Restaurant offer app wins innovation award: A greater Manchester digital business that has created a mobile app for shoppers telling them about the latest offers as they walk past a store or restaurant has been crowned Innovation Business of the Year at Venturefest. Oldham-based OfferMoments, launched by entrepreneurs Abdul Alim and Shahzad Mughal, has created an app for shoppers, telling them about special offers emitted by OfferBeacons only as they walk past stores and food and drink establishments and, once opened, they have a limited time to redeem them. OfferMoments will now receive a £30,000 value prize that is made up of a range of items designed to accelerate business growth. IT expert Aliml said the app took eight months to develop and was launched a month ago following a successful trial in Manchester’s ‘curry mile’. They have already sold a license for the app to Australia, and it’s due to launch in Dubai and Scandinavia. Retailers to sign up so far include Greggs, Starbucks, and Subway. “What’s great about this app is that it works in real time and is a huge time saver for consumers as they can get real time offers when they walk past a shop or restaurant,” said Abdul.

France reclaims title of world’s largest wine producer: France has reclaimed its crown as the world’s biggest wine producer after a poor 2014 harvest saw Italy’s wine production drop 15%. French vignerons will produce around 46.2 million hectolitres of wine – about 6.16 billion bottles – this year, up 10% from a year earlier. Italy, whose winemakers have out-produced France’s for the last two years, will produce 44.4 million hectolitres of wine in 2014, according to figures released Thursday by the Paris-based International Organization of Vine and Wine. Total world wine production is set to fall 6% this year to 271 million hectoliters. Spain, which leapfrogged France into second place in 2013, will see its wine production fall 19% this year to 37 million hectolitres, the organisation said.

Research reveals big increase in sector EIS schemes: Research by Radius Equity has found a big increase in the number of sector firms seeking funds for expansion under the enterprise investment scheme. The number of pubs, bars and restaurants seeking EIS funding rose by 42% last year to 85, up from 60 the year before. Gary Robins, director at Radius, said: “Investors are keen to capitalise on consumers’ growing confidence and see restaurants and gastropubs as good investment opportunities.”

Scotland to reduce drink-drive limit from 5 November: Scotland is to reduce its drink-driving limit in time for Christmas, with motorists advised not to get behind the wheel if they have drunk any alcohol whatsoever. The reduction from 80mg to 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood means that drivers could be breaking the law if they have drunk a small glass of wine or single pint of beer. The new limit brings the country into line with Northern Ireland and most of Europe, while the limit in England and Wales remains at 80mg. From 5 December, traffic police will be able to breathalyse drivers at the reduced limit as the force launches its annual festive crackdown. Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, the Scottish justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, said the plans to reduce the drink-drive limit had “broad support”. A previous government consultation found that almost three quarters of the public backed the proposed change. MacAskill added: “The support comes not just from the police and law enforcement. It comes from those involved in road safety.” Asked on the Good Morning Scotland show why a joint approach had not been agreed with the Westminster government, MacAskill said: “We did seek that, but it was the United Kingdom government that decided not to lower the limit despite, I think, a great deal of public support for it being lowered down there.”

Auction house raises £113m: Auction house Allsop Commercial raised £113m on Tuesday and Wednesday last week in the fifth sale of the year with a success rate of 74%. A total of 199 lots were sold including 32 lots for over £1m, of which four were over £3.5m. The current total raised for the year by Allsop is £432m at a success rate of 83%. A total of 700 lots have been sold of which 113 were over £1m. Partner Duncan Moir said: “The strength of the market continues, with investors from the UK and overseas keen to acquire all grades of investment property. Pricing remains key as buyers continue to be selective, but demand for correctly priced assets is good.” There were 14 leisure properties for sale. Highlights were the sale of a freehold in Crawley High Street let to Ask Italian on a rent of £102,000 per annum until 2024 that sold for £1.5m, a yield of 6.75% and the freehold of The Albany pub in Twickenham, let to Scotsand Estates on a rent of £85,000 per annum until 2040 that sold for £1m, a yield of £8.65%. The freehold of the Kona Kai cocktail bar in London’s Fulham Road, let to Enterprise Inns for a rent of £150,000 per annum (and sub-let to Apollo Bars) until 2045 failed to sell – and is available for £3m.

Red Hot World Buffet operator Buffet Restaurants reports losses: Buffet Restaurants, the name of the holding company for the Red Hot World Buffet business in the wake of its acquisition by Luke Johnson’s Risk Capital Partners, has reported losses for the five months after purchase from the Dhaliwal family in August 2013. Buffet Restaurants saw turnover of £9,761,144 in the five months to 31 January 2014 with an operating loss of £410,938 and interest payments of £410,764 to produce an overall loss before tax of £821,702. A source close to the company told Propel: “The figures are for five months trading only. They include the write down of previous carrying asset values, £1m plus deal fees expensed through the P&L, various redundancies and the write down of the Northampton restaurant which was burnt down.” The company was incorporated as RCP Newco on 16 September 2001 and changed its name to Buffet Restaurants on 30 September 2013. A Companies House report stated: “The directors consider the overall performance of the group to be in line with expectations and are confident the new group will continue to grow over the coming years.” During the period, £17,500 was paid to Risk Capital partners for the services of Luke Johnson and Ben Redmond. Buffet Restaurants added Ed Passey to its board of directors in July this year and opened its first new-build site under Risk Capital ownership in Leicester.

McDonald’s gives first UK site a radical revamp: The first McDonald’s to open in the UK in Woolwich has been given a high-tech makeover to coincide with its 40th anniversary of trading. The Powis Street restaurant, which began serving Woolwich residents in November 1974 following its October grand opening, has been given a transformation, which has created 20 new jobs. The store now features new self-service kiosks, digital menu boards and tablet computers to compliment a modern interior and exterior as well as comfortable seating and free Wi-Fi. Local franchisee Taimoor Sheikh, who owns and operates three McDonald’s restaurants in Woolwich and Thamesmead, told the local newspaper: “This November marks the 40th anniversary of McDonald’s in Woolwich, so we are thrilled to be able to commemorate this by rolling the next stage of our reimaging programme. Staying ahead of customer expectations is vital and the new technology we’ve introduced in this restaurant recognises the way people live their lives today. I’m also very keen to continue to invest in my community and expect to increase staff numbers by 20 as a result of the upgrade.” McDonald’s employees will benefit from a new ‘crew room’ with comfortable seating, a television and a computer where staff can study for nationally recognised maths and English qualifications offered to employees by the company.

C&C Group considers partnership for Spirit bid: The Sunday Times has reported that Magners cider producer C&C Group is considering a partnership to make a full cash bid for Spirit Pub Company. The move comes after Spirit rejected a C&C Group bid last week even though it is thought to have contained a larger cash element than a Greene King offer. The newspaper claimed that C&C Group is considering a partnership to clinch the deal by offering Spirit shareholders an all-cash deal. A source close to C&C Group told The Sunday Times that a combination of C&C Group and Spirit offered benefits “much bigger than people realise”.

Pret A Manger hands UK staff bonus after sales rise: Pret A Manger is giving its UK staff a bonus and a pay rise as it enjoys strong sales. Sales are expected to rise 17% this year as the privately owned sandwich chain turnover over more than £10m a week in the UK and opens in China for the first time. Clive Schlee, chief executive, said: “The improved economy has helped us but the main driver is that people eat more throughout the day. It’s not just at lunchtime but in the afternoon and early evenings.” Sales at UK stores open more than a year are up 10%. He said Pret was boosting performance with new items such as macaroni cheese, which has lifted sales by up to 3%. The chain is selling 50,000 boxes of prosciutto or kale and cauliflower-flavoured pasta a week. Fruit smoothies and cold pressed juices helped sales in the summer and in January, Schlee is planning to introduce hotpot stews to the mix. The group’s 6,000 British staff will all receive a £50 bonus next month. They will also get a 1.5% pay rise, taking their pay to £6.90 an hour – 40p above the national minimum wage – as a “gesture to ensure the money goes to team members doing all the work,” according to Schlee. The vast majority of staff also regularly earn a £1-an-hour bonus based on customer service assessments, which takes their pay above the living wage. Pret is opening or expanding 25 stores a year in the UK and adding 15 more overseas annually. Schlee said Pret’s first store in China was already open with a quarter of the Shanghai-based outlet’s sales made up of coffee.

Goodman Restaurants to launch Lobster Deli concept next month: Burger & Lobster operator Goodman Restaurants is to open its new deli concept Lobster Roll Deli on Binney Street, just off Oxford Street in London on Monday 3 November. It follows Burger & Lobster’s limited menu format, serving lobster rolls and a few other items. Goodman Restaurants, which operates ten steakhouses in Moscow, has rolled its successful Burger & Lobster brand to six sites in London – with a seventh site in St Ann’s Court being built.

YO! Sushi to report earnings increase to £12.3m: YO! Sushi is set to report an underlying earnings increase to £12m in the year to next month, up from £9.3m last year, according to an interview with chief executive Vanessa Hall in The Times – like-for-like sales have risen 4% during the year. The brand will start to test a stand-alone takeaway kiosk selling hot and cold food without a conveyor belt at Charing Cross railway station in London at the end of November in partnership with transport hub specialist SSP. The company has ten more openings lined up for the UK in the coming year, as well as openings in Copenhagen airport, Oslo station, two Dubai sites and two shopping mall venues in the US. 

Tokyo Industries withdraws Leeds hours application: Tokyo Industries, led by Aaron Mellor, has withdrawn a controversial application to extend its opening hours in Leeds after both police and university bosses voiced concerns over alcohol-induced crimes and anti-social behaviour. Tokyo Industries (Ultimate) Ltd, which owns Halo on Woodhouse Lane, previously applied to extend the venue’s opening hours from 3.30am to 6am, and add two outdoor bars. The decision was due to be discussed at a Leeds City Council licensing meeting this week – but council officials confirmed the application had been withdrawn just days before.

Starbucks set to be accused of Dutch tax sweetheart deal: Starbucks is set to be accused of profiting from illegal state aid in a European Commission report, according to The Sunday Times. The newspaper claimed that the commission’s anti-trust division will claim that the Netherlands and Starbucks struck a secret arrangement to lower the tax rate for the company’s subsidiary in Amsterdam. The company reduces its taxable profits in big overseas markets such as the UK by legally funneling royalty payments through the Dutch division. Brussels will publish a formal notice of findings on Starbucks and the Netherlands within a fortnight, the newspaper claimed. The commission has already launched formal proceedings against thee other multinational under state aid rules.

TCG completes menu mapping to ensure allergen compliance: Managed pub and bar group TCG has mapped all its menus to ensure that full allergen information is now available for every dish sold across the business. In addition, allergens training now forms part of TCG’s core staff training programme, ensuring that both kitchen and front of house staff understand their responsibilities under the new legislation, know where to find the information about their menu when asked, and can advise customers as well as recognise the symptoms of an allergic reaction. From 13 December 2014, all food businesses in the UK will be required to provide details of any of 14 allergens contained in food and drink to their customers on request. As well as being aware of how to access the information about the food on offer, there are a number of other obligations for staff which need to be incorporated into employee training. TCG has developed new autumn menus for all three of its segmented food formats. These include the premium Henry’s Café Bar businesses, the mainstream Good Honest Food menu, and the branded community pub King’s Feasts food operation. TCG director of operations Ben Levick said: “Compliance with the new legislation was built into the planning process for autumn menus from the word go. We’ve worked with our menu consultant FoodWorks to ensure that we have a full list of the ingredients used in all the dishes served across the business, both established favourites and new additions.”

Jamie Oliver closes Recipease sites: Jamie Oliver has closed two Recipease sites – one in Brighton and one in Clapham Junction – to focus on flagship site in Notting Hull. A spokesman said: “As part of a restructure within Recipease, the business will be focusing its energies on the flagship Notting Hill branch. As a result, the Brighton and Clapham Junction stores have closed. Staff are being re-employed wherever possible within the Jamie Oliver restaurant and retail businesses and we will be working hard to keep redundancies to a minimum. All suppliers will be paid their outstanding bills and customers with lessons booked or vouchers bought will be able to redeem them in our London Notting Hill store or get their money back by contacting us.”

Domino’s set to unveil Xbox partnership: Domino’s UK is to set to unveil a Xbox partnership next month that will allow player to order a pizza through a delivery app installed on the Xbox One console, according to The Sunday Times. Gamers will be able to call up Domino’s delivery menu by saying “Domino’s feed me” while playing games or watching a film. Alternatively, they can access the app by waving their hands. They will be able to monitor the progress of their order via an on-screen tracker. It is thought to be the first time British consumers will be able to buy a physical product via the Xbox. 

Titanic Brewery opens new conference facilities to businesses part of expansion: New conference and meeting room facilities have been opened to businesses for workshops, meeting and seminars at the weekend as part of the expansion of Titanic Brewery. The Sample Room at the Burslem company provides professional-standard visitor facilities for the first time. Around £300,000 has been spent on new offices, a brewery shop and a remodelled brewery with new up-to-the-minute cooling tanks and additional cool stores. Titanic Brewery has hosted brewery tours for several years, but the new Sample Room gives visitors a place to relax and enjoy a drink and a bar meal. “Titanic has grown from a brewery producing just seven barrels to more than 2.5 million pints per year during 11 years in our Callender Place home,” said director Dave Bott. “We now have 20 staff at the brewery and over 100 in our pubs. We were effectively bursting at the seams, but by expanding the number of buildings we occupy, we have been able to remodel the brewery to create good quality visitor facilities. The refurbishment gives us space to grow and we plan to make our hospitality facilities available for companies and charities holding corporate events and training workshops.” Co-founder Keith Bott also unveiled plans to add 22 pubs to existing estate of eight. He said: “We run eight pubs currently and the plan is to have 30. We are committed to opening community pubs, which appeal to a wide age range and are part of the fabric of their local area. A good pub is at the heart of the community and we are extremely proud to say that every pub we have opened so far has formerly been closed down. A good pub is an integral part of our culture and it is very satisfying to play a part in the revival of the great British pub.”

Scottish buffet restaurant sells for just under £1m: The Wok ‘n’ Spice buffet restaurant in Glenrothes has been sold to new owners for £940,000. Anonymous purchasers have taken over the dining venue, located on a prime business site at Bankhead, part of the A92 corridor. However, the sale price of £940,000 is still significantly below the initial asking price of £1.2 million. Confirming that the business would continue to trade as normal, Jonathan Reid, commercial partner at Shepherd Chartered Surveyors, said: “We are delighted to conclude this sale, after much interest in this property, to a buyer who will continue to operate the existing restaurant.”

Rick Stein’s new restaurant in Porthleven comes a step closer: Notices have gone up in the windows of the Clay Quay restaurant in Porthleven, Cornwall confirming the intention of Rick Stein to open a new business. It is the first official confirmation that the celebrity chef plans to open a restaurant there. Located on the harbour front, the building was renovated earlier this year by the Porthleven Harbour and Dock Company. Before this year, the Clay Quay building had not been used. It is recognised as the first depot in Cornwall for loading ships with china clay, which was first discovered on Tregonning Hill. The building was extensively refurbished and extended by Trevor Osborne’s dock company, which also owns and leases out many of the other principal buildings on the harbour.

London Velvet goes into ‘over-funding’ on Crowdcube: London Velvet, the brand that launched in June 2013 and is made from a blend of London style Porter Ale and West Country Cider, has seen an investment surge that means it has now raised £55,000, 157% of the £35,000 it was seeking to raise in return for 21.71% of its equity. London Velvet’s founder David Green hosted an event last week at the Lord John Russell pub in Marchmont Street, London when investors could sample London Velvet but also hear about the company’s plans and ambitions for the future. London Velvet is currently stocked in over 50 Tesco supermarkets, a number of independent pubs and off licence retailers.

Swindon juice bar owners crowdfund to open raw food restaurant: Swindon’s first raw food restaurant is set to open after the owners of juice bar The Core successfully crowdfunded the cash to pay for it. Last month, Kris Talikowski, who owns the niche food outlet in Devizes Road, appealed to the public to help him raise £10,000 to grow his healthy eating empire by extending the bar and building a theatre kitchen in the Old Town premises in order to be able to prepare and serve raw food, which uses uncooked ingredients for dishes and aims to preserve the organic vitamins and minerals. With just 24 hours to go The Core had successfully gathered £10,090 in pledges and now Talikowski plans to open the new restaurant in three or four weeks’ time. He said: “The Core team and I are obviously over the moon that we have hit our target and that we can now go about bringing amazing healthy food to Swindon. It does seem like it’s a niche market but there is clearly demand for it in Swindon. It’s all part of my hope to really teach Swindon about healthy eating and nutrition, and just how easy it is to be healthy.”

Plans for Marston’s new-build in Sheppey unveiled: Plans for the new-build Marston’s pub at Neats Court, Queenborough, Sheppey in Kent have been unveiled. The venue is due to open in spring or early summer next year. It will be situated behind Morrisons in the plot which houses the B&M and Iceland stores which opened at the £30m retail park in September. Giles Haywood, of LXB, the developer behind the Neats Court, said a planning application regarding the pub has been submitted to Swale council.

Loungers opens in Letchworth: Loungers, the cafe bar brand headed by Alex Reilley and Jake Bishop, has opened in Letchworth. Cultivo Lounge has taken over a disused shop on Leys Avenue, which overlooks Leys Square and the RHS community gardens on The Wynd. Loungers has invested £550,000 in the site, creating 25 jobs. Reilley said: “We’re extremely hopeful that our all-day, informal offering will be well received within the town and will give shoppers somewhere else to go during the day as well as attracting more people into the centre in the evening.” This is the second new venue opening in Letchworth this year with Prezzo opening opposite Broadway Cinema in June.

Carlsberg UK hires Fleet Street Communications: Carlsberg UK has appointed Fleet Street Communications, led by former trade journalist Mark Stretton, to manage its UK trade PR and media relations with immediate effect. Over the coming months, Carlsberg UK will reveal marketing plans to support its brands, as well as unveiling the latest insight carried out by the company to benefit its customers. Fleet Street Communications will be working closely with Andrew Roache, Carlsberg UK external communications manager, and supporting the business as it looks to reinforce its unique on-trade credentials and build upon its strong reputation and trade media relationships.

Cozy Pubs set to secure Marco Pierre White’s site in Lavenham: Cozy Pubs, run by Lee Cash’s sister Leanne Langman and former Orchid Pub Company executive Timothy Doyle, is set to buy the lease on The Angel in Lavenham, Suffolk. The chef has not proved entirely popular with Lavenham’s locals since he arrived in the village in 2011. Almost immediately after taking over the 15th Century market square pub he withdrew several popular draught drinks including lager and cider, claiming they attracted the “wrong kind of clientele”. A spokesman for Cozy Pubs, which runs The Eight Bells in Saffron Walden, The Cricketers Arms in Rickling Green and The Saracens Head Hotel, told local media the sale was coming “fairly close to completion” but said it would be unfair on the current owners to comment further. However, he added: “We are in negotiations and hope to complete the transaction in the next two weeks. But obviously until the paperwork is signed, sealed and delivered, nothing is definite.” The spokesman said that all staff currently employed at The Angel would be kept on and more would be recruited.

Marco Pierre White adds Mo-burger to menu: Customers across Marco Pierre White’s New York Italian and Steakhouse Bar & Grill restaurants can lend their support to the Movember campaign by ordering a special dish that has been created for the duration of the popular event. The restaurants will donate £1 from every Mo-burger meal sold to the Movember Foundation, a charity that raises awareness about men’s health including prostate and testicular cancer. Going on sale from 1 November, Marco’s Mo-burger will be available at 13 restaurants including those in Glasgow, Newcastle, Chester, Liverpool, Hoylake, Media City in Manchester, Exeter, Birmingham, Syon Park in Brentford, Cambridge, Sheffield, Stratford and Bristol. Marco’s Mo-burger is a 8oz steak burger with a stiff upper lip ‘spicy’ dressing, ‘hairy’ lettuce, melted cheese, tomato and mayonnaise in a brioche bun and served with seasoned paprika fries.

Busaba Eathai lines up two more openings: Busaba Eathai has lined up two more London openings to bring its estate size to 13. The new venues are set to open in the O2 in Greenwich, as well as in Shoreditch in east London. The O2 site is expected to open first. Meanwhile, the Shoreditch site will occupy two floors at the base of a Telford Homes development between Sclater Street and Bethnal Green Road.

Friska award makes it three in a row for Bristol ethical foodservice: Bristol-based fresh fast food chain Friska, has been named Best Ethical Restaurent in this year’s Observer Food Monthly Awards. Founded in 2009 by Griff Holland and Ed Brown, Friska has a focus on an ethical approach to food and coffee. This win marks the third year in a row that the award has gone to a Bristol restaurant, with the last two previous winners being Poco and The Ethicurean.

Analyst – Spirit shareholders should sit tight after C&C Group entered the fray: Peel Hunt leisure analyst Nick Batram has argued that Spirit shareholders should sit tight after the bid process livened up with C&C Group entering the fray. He said: He said: “The leftfield approach from C&C has been quickly dismissed by the Board of Spirit. Press speculation has been around an 115p offer of which around a third would be cash. Whilst this suggests a higher cash component, overall an offer at this level is not materially above the current value (113p) of the Greene King approach. The synergies also look clearer and easier to deliver and therefore we can see why the Spirit Board has rejected the approach. C&C’s bid logic is very different from that of Greene King and with a market cap of circa £1.1bn, Spirit would be a transforming deal for the drinks group in terms of financial as well as operational. It is no doubt an ambitious approach and strategy for C&C and it could be this that drives them to raise their bid. It is difficult to quantify at this stage the scale of upside that Spirit can deliver to C&C. For Spirit shareholders, the odds (which already looked pretty long) of no successful bid at the end of this process have lengthened, therefore the right strategy looks to sit tight and let the situation play out. Our interpretation of events is that Greene King’s offer is reasonable but clearly no knock-out. C&C’s leftfield approach has made what was looking a rather routine bid process a little bit more exciting. Some might dismiss C&C’s gate crashing as opportunistic but it is such a differentiated strategy that we wouldn’t rule out a higher offer. Whatever, happens the likelihood of a successful bid (whoever that may be) has increased and therefore Spirit shareholders should sit tight and wait for the process to play out.”

Jamie Oliver to open pub, restaurant and creative centre in King’s Cross: A row of early Victorian offices at King’s Cross left derelict for more than 30 years is to be converted into a new Jamie Oliver dining complex, The London Evening Standard has reported. The 17,500 sq ft scheme for the Fish & Coal buildings and Wharf Road Arches on the banks of the Regent’s Canal was given planning permission by Camden council last night. The chef will open a pub and restaurant in 2016 and will also move his company’s “creative centre” offices and test kitchens into the buildings. The Fish & Coal offices were built in the early 1850s to accommodate the army of clerical staff needed to handle the paperwork generated by the coal traffic and later fish freight coming into King’s Cross from Scotland and the North Sea ports. They had fallen into disuse by the 1980s and were gutted by fire in 1983. An application to have the unlisted brick buildings demolished in 1985 was overturned after a public campaign to save them.

SA Brain hires new head of pub operations: Welsh brewer and hospitality retailer SA Brain & Co has hired Kris Dungey as its group head of pub operations from Monday 27 October. He joins the Brains business from SSP Limited, where he held the role of operations director and previously held senior level positions at JD Wetherspoon and the Spirit Group. Dungey said: “I am delighted to be joining Brains at such an exciting time. Their rich heritage, driven people and enviable portfolio of brands and property make them well placed for continued growth. I am looking forward to meeting the full operations team over the coming weeks, and I am relishing the opportunity to work with the Brains team on exciting plans to deliver a successful future for the business.” Chief executive Scott Waddington said: “The combination of Kris’s proven track record of team leadership, operational experience, industry insight and cultural fit made him the outstanding candidate for the position. I am delighted to be welcoming Kris to the senior management team and have every confidence that he is the right operator to drive the delivery of our plans in our pub estate.” Dungey’s appointment follows a senior management restructure at Brains in early 2014, which saw the appointments of Bruce Newman as group head of marketing and Jon Bridge as group head of people.