Boparan Restaurant Holdings announces major expansion programme to open more than 300 new Harry Ramsden’s sites, plans to grow FishWorks brand to 50-strong estate: Fish and chip brand Harry Ramsden’s is set to open over 300 new sites in the UK and Ireland in the next five years in a major expansion programme by parent company Boparan Restaurant Holdings. Boparan said some 5,000 jobs would be created as a result of the openings, which would be both company-owned stores and franchises. The group also operates the London-based FishWorks brand, which currently has two sites in Swallow Street and Marylebone High Street, and it plans to open further venues – albeit at a slower rate than Harry Ramsden’s – with the aim of growing to circa 50 outlets throughout the country. Boparan has funding support to accelerate an ambitious expansion agenda, spearheaded by Harry Ramsden’s. Its plan is to increase the number of Harry Ramsden’s outlets in the UK and Ireland from 41 sites to over 300 in the next five years. Harry Ramsden’s chief executive Joe Teixeira said: “Following the successful turnaround of Harry Ramsden’s in the last three years, we have a clearly defined strategy driving the reinvigorated brand, focusing on customers and our people to grow aggressively offering the Harry Ramsden’s proposition to a wider demographic profile”. Boparan believes the Harry Ramsden’s brand has high levels of recognition and appeal with a reputation as a highly respected and much loved British institution, building on the popularity of fish and chips as one of Britain’s favourite dishes, which makes this a roll-able proposition. Consequently, the ambition for growing Harry Ramsden’s includes overseas, with the first outlet opened recently in Qatar to be followed by Saudi Arabia, and Boparan believes the brand has significant roll-able potential in markets such as China, Dubai and New York.

Oxford University research reveals local pubs are good for you: New research from Oxford University reveals that people who use a ‘local’ pub are not only significantly happier than those who don’t but also have higher life satisfaction and more close friends. The report, written by Professor Robin Dunbar of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) and released today (25 January), highlights the “integral role of pubs in providing a venue to meet people and build friendships”. Dunbar undertook a series of studies which found that people who use a ‘local’ or community-type pub have more close friends on whom they can call on for support. They also feel more engaged with their wider community. Dunbar said: “Friendship and community are probably the two most important factors influencing our health and wellbeing. Making and maintaining friendships, however, is something that has to be done face-to-face: the digital world is simply no substitute. Given the increasing tendency for our social life to be online rather than face-to-face, having relaxed accessible venues where people can meet old friends and make new ones becomes ever more necessary.” Tim Page, CAMRA chief executive, said: “Nothing is more significant for individuals, the social groupings to which they belong and the country as a whole as our personal and collective wellbeing. The role of community pubs in ensuring that wellbeing cannot be overstated. For that reason, we all need to do what we can to ensure that everyone has a ‘local’ near to where they live or work.” The report concludes with a series of recommendations to the government, publicans and city planners to keep more pubs open.

Amazon rolls out restaurant food delivery service to sixth US city: Amazon has rolled out its restaurant food delivery service to Chicago. Amazon Restaurants already provides the service in five other US cities and has now launched it at almost 80 Chicago restaurants, with plans to add more daily. Customers who pay $99 for an Amazon Prime subscription receive free delivery on restaurant orders. Amazon Restaurants general manager Gus Lopez said the average delivery time by its drivers in the other five markets was 39 minutes. He added: “We want people to try the service, but we may introduce a delivery fee down the road.” Competition in Chicago will be fierce as Dunkin’ Donuts has just started deliveries in Chicago, joining an already packed market with companies such as GrubHub and DoorDash, Caviar and Seamless offering similar services with varying delivery fees. Uber is also introducing a full-scale meal delivery service in ten cities, including Chicago, the Wall Street Journal reported.

John Gaunt Solicitors alerts wholesalers to AWRS scheme cut-off point: John Gaunt Solicitors is alerting UK businesses which ‘wholesale’ alcohol to other companies at or after the duty point that they must register for Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS) approval by 31 March. AWRS, which became live on 1 January, affects all brewers and many tenanted pub companies. Failure to register will render the operator liable to heavy penalties and possible forfeiture of stock if trade continues after 31 March. HMRC will assess all applicants via a ‘fit and proper’ test before approval. A year later – 31 March 2017 – HMRC will process and ensure applications from traders have been dealt with then, from 1 April 2017, obligations commence on trade buyers and all applicants will have been advised whether they have been approved. An online service will be available for trade buyers to check approval status of their suppliers. Examples of wholesale activity which would require approval includes a merchant or broker who specialises in supplying UK duty-paid alcoholic drinks to the on- or off-trade, a specialist wine merchant supplying UK duty-paid alcohol to a business enterprise for resale, and a brewer, wine producer or cider-maker supplying their own products duty-paid to trade buyers.

Craft Beer Rising 2016 announces full line-up for February: The full line-up of breweries, talks and partnerships has been confirmed for CBR London 2016, which will showcase more than 600 beers and ciders next month. The Society of Independent Brewers is official partner of the event at The Old Truman Brewery on 26-27 February, while Australian steel keg rental innovator Kegstar is trade sessions sponsor. Sheppy’s Cider is sponsoring the new dedicated cider room – Lost in Cyder Space. Talks include broadcaster Melissa Cole, in conjunction with Kegstar, on one-way kegs, tech services and cellar management. Cole is also part of the home-brew workshop – Thirsty gardeners: How to cook with beer – alongside Scott Williams, of the Williams Bros Brewing Co. Best-selling beer writer Pete Brown will talk about cider education, while the Simply Hops Panel will discuss experimenting with alternative hops to avoid shortages. Des De Moor will talk about his new book, London’s Best Pubs. Capacity has increased for this year’s event to include 150 exhibitors.

Group VIPs takes control of 100% of Starbucks Coffee Spain shares as new phase of expansion begins: Spanish multi-brand company Group VIPs announced on Friday (22 January) it had signed an agreement to take control of 100% of Starbucks Coffee Spain shares. Group VIPs has repurchased 49% of Starbucks Coffee Spain equity it sold to Starbucks EMEA in September 2013. The companies also extended their license and development trademark agreement until 2030. Enrique Francis, Group VIPs chief executive officer, said: “The group’s financial health has made it possible to once again control 100% of Starbucks Coffee Spain equity, a brand for which we have major future development plans. As a group, we’re beginning a new phase of growth and expansion.” Group VIPs and Starbucks signed a 50% joint-venture agreement in 2001, which led to the opening of Starbucks’ first store in Spain a year later. Starbucks Coffee Spain operates 90 stores in the country, with plans to open 12 stores and refurbish ten others this year.

Mark Wahlberg forces Lucky Chip burger name change: A small pop-up restaurant in north London has been forced to change the name of its Mark Wahlberg burger, after it got a letter from the actor’s lawyers, The London Evening Standard has reported. Lucky Chip introduced the meal, made using 35-day aged Long-horn beef and braised short rib, earlier this month at the Old Queen’s Head pub in Islington and named it after the Ted star. It was one of a series of creations in honour of American pop culture icons including the Beastie Boys and Kevin Bacon. But word reached Wahlberg, who owns a restaurant in America called Wahlburgers with brothers Donnie and Paul, and a cease and desist letter from his lawyers arrived by email just days later. The letter thanked Lucky Chip for wanting to “honour” the actor, but said they were competing with his brand and giving the false impression he endorsed their product. Founder Ben Denner told The London Evening Standard: “We named it after him because I’m just a big fan, I think he’s a great dude. I’m a fan of a lot of his movies. When I saw the email I opened it and thought at first it was a joke. I was a bit surprised to be honest.”

Greene King to create beer cafe at Bury visitor centre: Greene King is to carry out a major refurbishment of its visitor centre and museum in Bury St Edmunds that will see the creation of a “beer cafe”, alongside a new gift shop and historical exhibitions. It will be closed until early spring while the work is carried out, with the nearby Brewery Tap becoming the temporary home of the gift shop and the meeting point for brewery tours, which will continue as normal. The new cafe will be open from Monday to Saturday, serving Greene King and Belhaven beers, homemade food and locally roasted coffee, with the offer including beer tastings and food pairing platters. A centre-piece bar and cafe will occupy the ground floor, with a glass window offering a striking view through to the working brewery cellar, alongside a shop selling Greene King beers and merchandise. The first floor will become the new space for the popular beer tastings that conclude the brewery tours. Cathy Truin, Greene King brewery visitor centre manager, said: “The new cafe will be the home of great beer, food and hospitality in the heart of Bury St Edmunds. Our brewery tours are already extremely popular among locals and tourists and these changes will give people even more reasons to visit us and the town, whether for a tour, beer tasting in the cafe, or just for a coffee and catch up with friends.”

Nando’s returns to its roots with new brand look designed to hold off growing competition: Nando’s has unveiled a new visual identity based on its South African heritage in what is the first shake-up of the brand’s image in ten years. Andrew Rayner, marketing director for Nando’s UK, told The Drum: “It was a natural choice that our visual identity should be rooted in our South African heritage. It not only tells the story of who we are and where we’ve come from but, importantly, it puts our people at its heart.” The new look has been created by design agency Sunshine Gun in collaboration with Nando’s and South African artists and designers. The changes include a Pantone colour, PERi Red, and a Nando’s Hand typeface. The Pantone shade matches the red of the African Bird’s Eye chilli, which is used in Nando’s Peri-Peri. The cockerel on the Nando’s logo has also received a makeover. South Africa-inspired, oversized graphics and pictograms complete the brand image overhaul.

BrewDog set to start work on 200HL brewhouse at US brewery, identifies potential sites for brewpub in Columbus: Scottish brewer and retailer BrewDog is set to start work on a state-of-the-art 200HL brewhouse at its new 100,000 square foot brewery in Columbus, Ohio, in the US and has identified potential sites for a brewpub in the city. The company stated: “We have now dialed in a fantastic partner to begin the manufacture of our US brewery. The Bavarian engineering company Esau & Hueber are soon to begin work on our state-of-the-art 200HL brewhouse, which once shipped and installed is destined to supply the freshest BrewDog beer to the good people of the Buckeye State and beyond.” It added: “In October we published a blog post on the hunt for a downtown Columbus location for a BrewDog bar – and it generated a huge amount of discussion. Thanks to (employee) Katie (Murphy’s) patience and determination in following up all of these leads, we’ve identified fantastic potential sites for BrewDog Columbus in East Franklinton. The exact location will be revealed soon – but rest assured it will not only be amazing, it will be a fully-fledged city-centre brewpub!” BrewDog has also launched a dedicated US website and plans to build its community further by giving people in America a chance to invest in BrewDog USA by extending its share offer there later this year. 

Geof Collyer – Wetherspoon will have fewer pubs in estate by FY18E than FY15, despite adding £450m of development: Deutsche Bank research analyst Geof Collyer has predicted that JD Wetherspoon will have fewer pubs in its estate by 2018 financial year than in its 2015 financial year, despite the company spending £450m of development capex during the past four years. He said its margin problem stemmed from the mix shift and staffing strategy. Collyer said: “Over the past 15 years (inc. FY16E), Wetherspoon’s Ebita margin will have fallen by circa 560bps, including the -91bps fall for this year. Some of this has been driven by the significant movement in the sales mix. Lower gross margin (and usually lower net margin) food sales have grown at twice the pace of drink sales, whilst high margin machine income has dropped from 4.8% to 2.9% of the mix. Higher wage costs, due to the shifting sales mix as well as Wetherspoon’s own staffing strategy, have taken circa 780bps off the margin, with repairs accounting for a further circa 170bps reduction. Helping to offset some of this has been an aggregate benefit of circa 700bps from lower rent/central overheads/depreciation as a percentage of sales. Wetherspoon’s has invested £450m of development capex during the past four years, adding circa 120 new pubs, yet we forecast FY16 Ebita will be below that of FY12. This, far more than the margin issue, is what troubles us and, we suspect, the investing community. At this stage, we see it as prudent to assume that the Ebita margin guidance for H1 for the group persists going forward. This takes circa 35bps off our FY16/17/18 forecasts. Quarter Two like-for-likes were +3.3% and total sales were +6.3%. H1-16 margins are now expected to be circa 110bps down (versus -75bps H1- 15). We were already looking for -58bps for FY16E (DBE -98bps in H1; -18bps in H2), after last year’s -82bps fall, so commentary here was worse than expected. New pub rollout plans have come down to circa 13 from circa 20, with our year-end estate forecast now to be ten pubs lower for FY18 than FY15, assuming that the 50 pubs on the market are sold by then. The average house pub should gently rise as a result. We expect FY18E house Ebitda to be +4% above the FY01 level as a result.”

Remarkable Restaurants rebrands as Remarkable Pubs as it evolves offer, eyes further expansion: Remarkable Restaurants, the privately owned 14-strong London pub company led by Elton Mouna, has informally rebranded itself as Remarkable Pubs as it evolves its offer. Mouna, who joined as managing director in September, told Propel it would trade under the new name because “it says what we are”. He added: “The business has evolved brilliantly over the last 30 years under the stewardship of founder Robert (Thomas). I’ll be building on that, but it is also my view that all aspects of every business can be improved and this applies to Remarkable Pubs. I’m an advocate of ceaseless and constant improvement.” Mouna is working to evolve Remarkable’s links with London’s food and drink culture with the company’s overall ethos to be “excellent retailers operating the best pub in our local trading area”. This has included having several local street food operators running pop-ups at its venues while it is working with Riccardo Pulcinelli from the Clouded Minds Brewery in Oxfordshire on some “when its gone, its gone” keg beers at its Dragon micro-brewery at the George & Dragon in Acton. Areas such as lighting, décor and, music have also been revamped with each pub having a jukebox. Mouna added: “For Generation Y, the millennials, our job is to keep the pub relevant. For this generation, a big night out is often a big night in with a box set from Netflix, a meal from Deliveroo, and something cheap yet more than acceptable from Aldi to drink. The biggest cost of the evening is the Uber cab to and from your friend’s house. Generation Y will bypass the pub unless we make it appealing.” Mouna said the aim is to capture the spirit of the independent coffee shop market, with excellent service in a laid back style. He added: “We’ll certainly be taking social media to a new, more effective level. We won’t be guessing what this generation want, we’ll be asking them. I am a great believer in gathering people round a table and talking to them to find out how we keep the pub really relevant. You’ll see more pop-ups in our pubs, you’ll see brilliant quizzes run by people with real personality, and, of course, better coffee.” Mouna said further growth is on the agenda and revealed Remarkable was on the shortlist to take over the Old Brewery bar and restaurant in Greenwich after it was vacated by Meantime Brewery but ultimately missed out on the lease. He added: “We seriously consider all acquisitions and I can’t wait to grow the business. It will come through good, well researched, organic growth. We haven’t got a target, or anyone else to please other than ourselves, which is a very nice place to be.”

Friska outlines expansion plans as it aims to grow in regional cities outside Bristol: Independent healthy eating brand Friska has outlined its expansion plans to Propel as it aims to grow in regional cities outside of its native Bristol. The company, which has six stores in Bristol, is launching its first venue outside the city with an opening in Birmingham next month at Eleven Brindleyplace. Bath University graduates Ed Brown and Griff Holland, who co-founded the concept in 2009, said they were now targeting three or four sites in Birmingham as it looked to build up a cluster of stores in the city. Holland said: “It’s become a brand now in Bristol and people recognise it; operationally it is also easy to manage when all the stores are within one area. That idea is at the heart of how we want to expand. We will start growing the brand outside of Bristol but within each city we want to have at least three stores.” In 2017, it aims to move into Manchester and then Leeds, and then possibly other cities, such as Reading. “Those are the cities that we think will work strategically and geographically for us,” added Brown. The pair have also not ruled out opening further sites in the brand’s home city and explained why they selected Bristol as the starting point. “It wasn’t as expensive as London and it was somewhere we both knew,” said Holland. “It is cosmopolitan and a big enough platform to grow within and to add more stores.” This year the pair also plan to focus more on the speed of service, which they said has become increasingly important as the venues get busier at key periods. “We are looking at launching a ‘click and collect’ feature within our loyalty app, so that people who order in advance can queue jump,” said Brown. Last year the company achieved 20% like-for-like growth and is now taking £3.5m annually. Holland said: “The budget for this year is more than that. In terms of revenue growth it’s been almost double every year, and adding more stores will increase that.”

Prezzo to open restaurant in Ruislip High Street: Prezzo will open a restaurant in Ruislip High Street in the spring. The 3,500 square foot unit, which will have more than 100 covers, was formerly The Duck House pub. London-based agent Restaurant Property, which advised the Italian restaurant chain on the deal, said it involved a 15-year reversionary lease, with a £250,000 premium paid. Matthew Englender, of Restaurant Property, said: “We acquired this site off-market for Prezzo from The Restaurant Group. Ruislip has been on our requirements list for a while and we are thrilled to have acquired such an excellent location within the town.” Restaurant Property said it had acquired about 15 sites every year for the past five years on Prezzo’s behalf.

Hotel Chocolat plans more cafes after record Christmas: Hotel Chocolat is planning more cafes after a record Christmas that saw sales rise 18.4% in the four weeks to 27 December. Chief executive Angus Thirlwell said: “Chocolate has followed the same path as coffee. We used to just be happy with a cup of instant with artificial creamer, and now we won’t be happy unless we see a barista making it from scratch. The same is happening with chocolate.” Online sales also enjoyed double-digit growth. Thirlwell wants to take on the coffee houses by opening more hot-chocolate drinking shops after a Hotel Chocolat cafe in Cambridge proved successful. He added: “Chocolate historically was the drink of choice, but the government taxed it and we turned to coffee. But it would be nice to rebalance history and turn chocolate drinking into the ritual it once was.”

Casual Dining Group hires LightBrigade for Cafe Rouge brief: Casual Dining Grouop has hired LightBrigade to lead a consumer-focused public relations push for its Cafe Rouge brand, PR Week has reported. Cafe Rouge is celebrating its 26th birthday this year and is undergoing a rebrand that includes the launch of a new menu in March. LightBrigade will champion classic French dishes and cooking techniques, and engage consumers through ‘do it yourself’ cookery demonstrations. The agency will also deliver brand campaigns to reflect the restaurant’s personality. LightBrigade managing director Alan Twigg told PR Week: “It is a genuine privilege to restore a heritage brand to glory days and pay homage to all the French food classics and Parisian bistro style. We are excited to have the LightBrigade team join us on the journey, which will include launching new sites, menus, food innovation and new dining concepts. LightBrigade understands the dynamics of the fast-moving and shifting casual dining market in the UK and its passion for what we do and clarity of thinking struck us immediately. This is just a fabulous brand and the work going on to rejuvenate it is really impressive. As more and more dining concepts appear what seems like every week, it’s time we celebrate a true classic and ensure Cafe Rouge is consistently promoted as authentic, established and expert in its field.”

Cote to open £1m venue in Leamington Spa on 1 February: French brasserie Cote is opening a venue in Regent Court, Royal Leamington Spa, on 1 February. Cote spent about £1m fitting out the 142-cover restaurant, which will create about 50 jobs. Alex Scrimgeour, Cote Restaurants chief executive officer, said: “Cote’s position in Regent Court, slightly set back from Regent Street, will offer a retreat for a cosy breakfast, lunch or dinner to locals, shoppers and tourists. We are delighted to be bringing further choice to this thriving town and feel confident that our combination of warm and welcoming service, simple, freshly prepared French food, and excellent value for money will be popular in Leamington Spa.” Cote has more than 70 restaurants across the UK.

Beetroot Restaurants to open Cue Barbecue next month: Beetroot Restaurants is to open a new smokehouse concept, Cue Barbecue, in Aberdeen next week (Tuesday 2 February). It has shipped in a state-of-the-art smoker from America to serve up authentic Southern barbecue. Chris Tonner, managing director of Beetroot Restaurants, said the new wood smoker would cook meat ‘low and slow’. He said: “It has been a really unique journey renovating and researching the restaurant where we have employed the skills of artists, craftsmen and foodies. Our Ole Hickory wood smoker proved an extreme challenge when trying to get it into the kitchen due to its size and weight, but thankfully after breaking through the second floor kitchen window we managed to use a crane to lift the beast in.” To add to the southern states atmosphere, Cue will also feature city’s first bourbon bar, Chris added.

Nightclub operators to open authentic pizza concept in Exeter: Nightclub operators Paul Mathews, Janice Millgate and Brian Phillips, are to open an ‘authentic pizza concept’ PS, in early February on Exeter Quay. The new restaurant which occupies the premises of former nightclub Revelry, is next to the nightclub, Move, that the trio operate. Brian Phillips said the new restaurant will bring something different to Exeter. He added: “PS stands for Pizza Stein and our ethos is to make pizza following the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, which we are going to call the Napoli Rules. Our pizzas will be the only pizzas in Exeter to follow the Napoli Rules to make authentic Italian pizzas. We are the only restaurant to have a wood-burning pizza oven in Exeter at the moment, which makes us different from other pizza restaurants. All of our dough is hand-made, using San Marzano tomatoes with water buffalo mozzarella – this is what makes us authentic. The starters will be simple dishes using the best Italian ingredients and alongside the pizza we are serving draught beer in stein glasses as well as a selection of cocktails.”

Le Pain Quotidien appoints Starbucks’ Satzman as US chief executive: Belgian restaurant and boulangerie brand Le Pain Quotidien has appointed Doug Satzman as its US chief executive. Satzman will oversee 87 restaurants and three bakery production centres in the US. During his 14-year tenure at Starbucks, latterly as a senior vice-president, Satzman led teams that helped increase store count from 2,000 to 20,000 worldwide. He will spearhead a transition to carbon-neutral stores in the US following a successful pilot in New York. Satzman said: “I have long admired Le Pain Quotidien’s values and share a personal passion in supporting sustainable practices that are good for our bodies, our environment and our society.” Le Pain Quotidien enjoyed a record year in 2015, with double-digit gains in revenue and profit. The company recently launched a mobile app and integrated loyalty programme, with a “pay at the table” functionality to be rolled out in the spring. The company has 238 locations in 18 countries, with the newest market, Hong Kong, to open in the spring. 

Owner to turn Reading town centre shopping arcade into culinary destination: The owner of King’s Walk in Reading town centre is turning the shopping arcade into a “culinary destination”. John Sykes, chairman of Atlantis Properties, said he planned to spend “quite a few million” on the arcade, which he will rename Atlantis Village. He said: “I want it to be a culinary destination with authentic food and restaurants. I want it to be bars and restaurants and that’s all it will be. The Oracle (rival Reading shopping centre) is full of chains but this is going to be different, with one Thai restaurant, one Italian, one Lebanese, one Indian, one Chinese, etc. I have a head chef coming over from France for one of them. These restaurants will be authentic in that food will be prepared fresh on the location and there will be a bakery on site too.” Other new features will include a Sports Bar, a coffee shop for day trade and a vegetarian restaurant. Sykes said he expected to see activity in the centre within six months, but there would definitely be three restaurants up and running and a new Mix Bar by “the end of this year”.

Former GB swimmers open new health and fitness restaurant concept in Glasgow: A new health and fitness restaurant concept has opened in Glasgow. Former GB swimmers Lee Forster and Charlie Turner have launched Prep Fitness Kitchen in Bath Street. Prep offers customers a variety of formats to allow them to stick to their goals. It houses a 60-cover restaurant with all waiting staff hand-picked based on their various health and fitness qualifications and backgrounds, including sports nutritionists and personal trainers. There is also a takeaway section and protein/juice bar for those on the go. Customers can choose from an array of balanced prep meals, super salads, protein shakes, natural pre and post work out cold-pressed juices and freshly baked protein snacks. Also on offer is a fully bespoke weekly meal plan delivery service. Forster and Turner told the Daily Record: “Prep Fitness have identified a gap in the market that even covers at home, takeaway and dine-in eating. You can spend more time focusing on working out while Prep takes care of your calorie intake and daily macronutrients.”

Whitbread submits plans for £5m 79-bedroom Premier Inn in Ulverston: Whitbread has submitted plans for a 79-bedroom £5m Premier Inn in Ulverston, Cumbria. The company has applied to South Lakeland District Council to build the hotel on the former abattoir site in North Lonsdale Terrace, creating 30 jobs. If approved, work will start in the spring with the hotel expected to open in the summer of 2017, reports In Cumbria. James Anderson from planning consultancy firm Turley said: “The plans include a 79-bedroom hotel and a 74-cover restaurant. The restaurant will be serving lighter meals as Premier Inn recognises that guests go out to eat in the area they are staying.” Whitbread held a public consultation prior to submitting the application and as a result Anderson said the height of the building had been reduced, the disabled parking had been relocated so it was closer to the entrance and two areas of outdoor seating, one of which would be alongside the canal, would be created.

Starbucks closures not the end for Teavana brand: Starbucks will convert three of its Teavana venues in New York to full Starbucks stores and close its Beverly Hills tea bar, saying the move would allow the company to focus on new product innovation. Starbucks acquired Teavana in December 2012 and, in its last financial year, Teavana-branded teas generated almost $1bn in sales through Starbucks stores in the US, a rise of 12% over the previous financial year. Starbucks said the tea category in its stores has been growing double-digits in the US and Canada and it hoped to build the Teavana business to more than $3bn during the next five years. The company added that the changes to the Teavana portfolio of more than 350 stores would allow the company to focus on new product innovation and “elevating the Teavana tea experience” through its Starbucks stores, reaching more customers. The company stated: “Teavana continues to be a strategic priority for Starbucks, recognising the significant opportunity that tea presents as a $125bn global category.” It added that the company would continue to expand Teavana globally, bringing Teavana-branded, handcrafted tea to CAP and EMEA in FY16.

Full speaker programme for Propel Multi Club Conference on 16 March unveiled: The full speaker programme for the Propel Multi Club Conference on Wednesday, 16 March at Congress Hall, London, has been unveiled. Multi-site pub, restaurant and foodservice operators can book up to two free places by emailing Adam Dickinson on adam.dickinson@propelinfo.com. The conference series is the best-attended in the sector. Speakers are: Nicola Knight, analyst at insights firm Horizons, investigates the key trends in the UK foodservice market, including major menu trends, growth areas and discounting – and looks ahead to the key trends of 2016 and beyond. Adrian Blair, chief operating officer for Just Eat, provides an overview of the company’s role in the takeaway market, current key trends and future potential for operators to develop revenue. Steve Kenee, partner at investment firm Downing, talks about the firm’s long term investment partnership with Antic London, developing an estate of more than 30 London pubs, the businesses USPs, the risks and rewards of operating near the leading edge of urban regeneration and the development of non-licenced premises. David Singleton, vice-president of hospitality for Al Tayer Group, provides an overview of the foodservice landscape in the United Arab Emirates, the brands that are winning, the potential for UK brands and his company’s approach to growing sales. Punch Taverns chief strategy director Neil Griffiths outlines the company’s evolved strategy, involving as much as £300m of investment over five years, developing operator and trading agreements, expanding its fledgling concepts and brands, taking greater control of its retail offer and realising additional value from its property portfolio. Simon King, managing director of Burger & Lobster, talks about the progress of Burger & Lobster in London and elsewhere, the unique thinking and philosophy behind the brand, sourcing quality ingredients, recruiting and training staff, evolving the offer, expanding outside of London and international prospects. Phil Sermon, managing director of Vapiano, talks about progress in the UK as well as the company’s fresh approach to recruitment, training and development of its people and interaction with its guests. David Mooney, co-founder of New Moon Pub Company, arguably the UK’s most versatile food pub operator, talks about the company’s approach at country and city pubs, its Beef and Pudding concept, New York-influenced The Bronx brand, its pizza concept Casa Matta, evolution and future plans. Roberto Morretti, chief operating officer of Bill’s, talks to Elliotts managing director James Hacon about the brand’s USPs, trading all-day, developing a retail dimension and staying true to the brand founder’s vision. Henry Dimbleby and Jonathan Downey, co-founders of London Union, set out their progress in creating neighbourhood food markets based on experiential food discovery, crowdfunding, their plans to create the world’s greatest food market and the development of 12 London neighbourhood markets.

ALMR National Restaurant Association Study Tour to Chicago open for bookings: The Propel and Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) 2016 Chicago Study Tour is open for bookings. The trip, sponsored by CPL Training and Sky, takes place between Thursday, 19 May and Monday, 23 May 2016. The National Restaurant Association (NRA) draws 58,000-plus industry professionals from all 50 states and 100 countries, seeking the newest innovations and up-to-the-minute information about trends and issues. The ALMR trip provides: insights from industry experts on the rise in fast-casual dining, social media, new and emerging brands, menu development, staff management and a host of other issues – with 70 free education sessions at the NRA show. It also involves two tours of Chicago’s hottest concepts and a market overview briefing sessions from US experts. Paul Charity, managing director of Propel Info, said: “The NRA show combined with our tour of Chicago is a fantastic opportunity to find fresh inspiration and understand the emerging trends shaping the fast-changing US market.” To get more information or to book, email jo.charity@propelinfo.com