Wetherspoon kick-starts Northern Ireland expansion with two new sites: JD Wetherspoon is to kick-start renewed expansion in Northern Ireland with two new sites planned for Belfast in a £4m investment, the first new openings in about a decade. The sites are a former JJB Sports store on Royal Avenue, and a former Methodist church close to Queen's University. Founder and chairman Tim Martin said the success of the new pubs could lead to further expansion of its business throughout Northern Ireland. Wetherspoon currently operates nine bars across Northern Ireland, with just one, the Bridge House, in Belfast city centre. Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Martin, who grew up in Northern Ireland, said plans were now progressing well. "It's early days for the new pubs and we have to go through the planning and application process. It's been very successful so far, and I'm hoping for between £3m to £4m being invested between the two outlets, creating 100 jobs. I believe people will think it'll help improve the scene in the city." He said the new bars could be open for business within six months to a year.

Spirit Pub Company completes its 20th conversion of the pubs it acquired from Orchid earlier this year: The Fox and Pheasant in Stoke Poges opens today (Wednesday) as a Golden Oak Inn – the 20th conversion of the 22 Orchid sites it acquired earlier this year. Chief executive Mike Tye said: “The team has worked extremely hard and efficiently to ensure smooth and swift transitions for all of our new sites. Our latest investment has undergone a huge transformation. The Fox and Pheasant is a lynchpin of the Stoke Poges community, so we’re pleased to be able to offer even better surroundings and a great new menu to existing loyal guests and new guests alike.” The first Orchid conversion was The Little Mester in Sheffield, which opened in October. Since then the investment programme has seen 20 pubs incorporated into the Spirit brand portfolio including Golden Oak Inns, Flaming Grill, Taylor Walker, Fayre & Square and Wacky Warehouse. January will see the final two sites acquired from Orchid converted into Flaming Grills.

Pubs and restaurants feature in Allsop auction: An Allsop commercial auction raised in excess of £77m last week with a success rate of 80%. A total of 114 lots sold including 20 lots for more than £1m, of which five were more than £2m. A McDonald’s in Dover sold for £1.4m, producing a yield of 7.16%, The Lamb in Edmonton Green in London, let to Stonegate Pub Company, sold for £625,000, producing a yield of 4.8%, the Cask and Glass in Palace Street, Westminster, London, let to Shepherd Neame, sold for £1.65m, producing a yield of 4.74%, a property let to PizzaExpress on the High Street in Epping Essex sold for £1.7m, producing a yield of 6.35% and the Shakepeare’s Head pub in Brighton, let to Laine Pub Company, sold for £775,000, producing a yield of 9.57%. The current total raised for the year is £520m with a success rate of 85%. A total of 839 lots have been sold of which 134 were more than £1m. Duncan Moir, an Allsop partner and auctioneer, said: "It was a very satisfactory end to the year, particularly breaking through the £500m mark. Buyers appear to have broader appetite for the management intensive lots, particularly where there is development potential."

 
Gloucester Brewery reveals bar-and-charcuterie plans: Gloucester Brewery has revealed its plans for its current home at Gloucester Docks when it moves to new premises at Fox’s Malthouse, a disused dockside building nearby. A bar and charcuterie will take the place of the current brewery, with a nanobrewing operation left behind as well. Jared Brown, a joint director of Gloucester Brewery, told the Gloucester Citizen: "The main production side of the brewery will be moving over to Fox’s Malthouse, but we will be retaining the current site as a bar and a nano-brewery. There is a big demand now for artisan beers and we will be continuing to brew at the current site once a week. There will be a craft beer bar with a charcuterie specialising in cheeses that complement our products. People will be able to arrive and see the brewing taking place so it will be interactive. We will need a full team to run the new bar,” he said. “That will mean at least three full-time and around five or six part-timers to work there."
 
Costa agreed terms on 25th drive-through: Costa Coffee, represented by the property agent Savills, has agreed terms for its 25th new drive-through store at Marsh Mills Retail Park in Plymouth, Devon with Universities Superannuation Scheme. The coffee retailer has agreed a new 15-year lease on the 1,775 sq ft (165 sq m) store, which opened in early December. Other occupiers on the park include DFS, PC World, Homebase and Halfords. Costa has opened eight new drive-through locations across the UK this year, which include Meadowhall Shopping Centre, Sheffield and North Lincolnshire Shopping Park, Scunthorpe. There are a further four stores to be opened soon in Birmingham, Swansea, Norwich and Didcot. Clive Power, a director in Savills retail team, said: “This is a fantastic milestone for Costa’s drive-through concept and its popularity with the customer has cemented its appeal with landlords and developers by proving its ability to enhance a scheme. We look forward to continuing our work with Costa to find the best locations across the UK.” Savills has worked with Costa to acquire a number of stores out-of-town and in-town as the retailer looks to expand its portfolio in key locations.
 
Crosstown Doughnuts opens first bricks-and-mortar outlet: Crosstown Doughnuts, the artisan doughnut concept backed by Adam Wills, co-founder of Gourmet Burger Kitchen, has opened its first bricks-and-mortar outlet, a pop-up shop at Piccadilly Circus Tube Station in Central London. The new venue, open seven days a week from 7am to 7pm, joins four London market venues, at Leather Lane on weekdays, Bishopsgate Market on Fridays, Broadway Market on Saturdays and Wapping Market on Sundays. Crosstown, which has a bakery in Vauxhall, South West London where it makes doughnuts including quince and cranberry, sea salt caramel and banana, and peanut butter and berry, was founded in May this year. Directors and shareholders include Marcus Miller, founder of Miller’s Bespoke Bakery of Wimbledon, entrepreneur Jian-Peng Then and Peter Gordon, executive chef and co-owner of Kopapa and The Providores & Tapas Room in London.
 
Drake & Morgan backs Mencap: Customers enjoying a meal in one of Drake & Morgan’s seven bars and restaurants can donate their spare "electronic change" to help the UK’s leading learning disability charity, Mencap. The London-based group has partnered with Mencap to allow customers paying by card to donate 50p via Pennies, the electronic charity box. The move is part of Drake & Morgan’s continued support of several charities, with proceeds from Pennies split between both Kids Company and Mencap. Drake & Morgan raised £35,000 between January and November 2014 for vulnerable inner-city children at Kids Company. Gabi Clipp, head of people at Drake & Morgan, said: “We’re proud and delighted to be given the opportunity to support such a fantastic charity. We’re looking forward to raising money to help those with a learning disability as well as their families and carers so they can lead better lives.”
 
Nando’s confirmed for Corby scheme: Nando’s has been named as the first of three restaurant brands to arrive alongside the new Savoy multiplex cinema due to open in Corby next year. Nando’s and another, as yet, unnamed restaurant will be located adjacent to the six-screen multiplex which is being built near the former Tresham College site. Savoy Cinemas’ managing director, James Collington, said: “We are thrilled to have a premier eatery such as Nando’s next to our latest multiplex in Corby, as it will be great asset to the leisure complex and a real family favourite. There is 9,000 sq ft of restaurant space adjacent to the new cinema, for which we will be announcing two further restaurants over the coming weeks.” Mulberry Property Developments, the firm building the £6m cinema, said the scheme was now taking shape in time for an opening next spring. Once completed, the cinema will be the fourth opened by Savoy, an independent Nottingham-based cinema group.

McDonald’s opens applications for young farmer programme: McDonald’s is seeking new farmers to take part in its training scheme, which encourages young people to consider a career in agriculture. The company said the programme was timely after research that revealed there was a critical skills gap in the UK farming sector. Statistics released by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills earlier this year found skills deficiencies impacted recruitment for 28% of farming roles, a more persistent and concentrated shortage than in almost any other sector. Connor McVeigh, director of supply chain for McDonald’s UK, said: “As one of the biggest customers of British and Irish farming, we care about the future success of the industry. We want to play our part by helping to cultivate the best of British farming talent. To us, this means creating opportunities for new talent to have access to the most progressive farmers and latest technology, which includes young people with and without farming backgrounds to consider a career in agriculture.”

Rebranded Cardiff barbecue bar and grill closes after just four months: A tapas restaurant in Cardiff that rebranded itself as a barbecue bar and grill, with the menu containing US classics such as buttermilk fried chicken, the Double Everything burger, buffalo wings and creamed corn, has closed after just four months. In August, the Westgate Street venue's owner and chef, Dave Griffiths, said: “We had a great run with Pica Pica and it had become a well-respected name on the Cardiff food scene but a change is as good as a rest and with the rise in popularity of barbecue-style cooking as a dining out option, we thought we’d go for it and try something new.” However, according to the Wales Online website, a sign has appeared in the restaurant's window stating that "the lease is forfeited and the premises have been secured" by the landlord. The venue was competing against three other barbecue outlets in Cardiff, Smoke House in Pontcanna Street, Smoke Haus, a Swansea-based operation that opened a Cardiff branch in the former Hooters restaurant site in Mary Ann Street in August, and the pop-up Hangfire Smokehouse. Food blogger Jonathan Swain who writes as The Plate Licked Clean, told the Wales Online website: “I’m not surprised Feather & Bone closed. I have visited it and tried the menu. There were parts of it that were very good, but it seemed a bit like bandwagon jumping. It’s very easy for someone looking round to realise the hot ticket is BBQ food, but Hangfire Smokehouse do that better than most."

Enterprise launches new website to drive recruitment: Enterprise Inns has launched its new website, which includes a number of industry-leading features designed to encourage recruitment among potential publicans. The innovations include existing publicans talking about their experience of running a pub with Enterprise as well as staff highlighting the step-by-step recruitment process.  and staff, 360-degree photographic tours of featured pubs and an industry-first facility enabling visitors to compare the amenities of up to four pubs alongside the one they are viewing. Over the past few months the site, enterpriseinns.com, has undergone a complete redesign and build to make it, Enterprise says, far easier for prospective publicans to navigate it. To encourage potential publicans to consider more than one business option, visitors are able to see other available pubs in a given area which have similar attributes and features such as food opportunities.
 
Mumbai Street Food plans pop-ups around Manchester: Mumbai Street Food, the catering supplier whose food is already on the winter menu in 39 out of the 173 JW Lees pubs in the north west of England, is planning pop-ups at Spinningfields, Manchester Piccadilly train station, Manchester Airport and at both Manchester United and Manchester City football grounds. Neil Court-Johnston, who founded Mumbai Street Food with Raj Somaiya, the boss of Britain's leading Indian wedding food supplier, said: "Manchester is ready for us, because of the vibrancy of the street culture and markets around the city now. The Manchester public are not daft. Asian food has been over-hyped for many years and this venture is about authenticity. We are confident of getting in at both Manchester United and Manchester City." Mumbai Street Food, which is on target to make £3m turnover in its first year, employs 25 people in a 5,000 sq ft unit in Wythenshawe, ten of whom are Indian chefs trained in Delhi making dishes such as Mumbai quicks, ready-to-eat snacks, and Kati rolls, as well as Mumbai sides and Mumbai fillers, which will be available at the pop-ups.