CMA to refer Just Eat acquisition to Phase 2 investigation: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) intends to refer its review of Just Eat’s proposed acquisition of riva; Hungry House to a “Phase 2” investigation. A statement from Just Eat said: “Just Eat looks forward to cooperating with the CMA and is committed to demonstrating to the CMA that the market is, and will remain, competitive following completion of the proposed transaction. In the meantime, Just Eat will continue to operate its business as usual.” In December 2016, Just Eat announced it would pay £200m to buy Hungry House, its biggest UK competitor, from the German group Delivery Hero. It has promised to pay another £40m if the company hits performance targets. “Through this transaction, we would extend our market presence in the UK and sustain high levels of growth given the considerable opportunity in this market,” said Just Eat’s chief executive, David Buttress at the time. Just Eat, which listed in 2014, earns commission on restaurant orders placed via its website and apps. Hungry House is the second-biggest player in the UK market after Just Eat. At the time the deal was announced, Just Eat said Hungry House would generate topline operating profits of £12m to £15m in 2017 excluding exceptional integration costs of about £1m.

Whitbread boss named as Vevue Cliquot’s business woman of 2017: Alison Brittain, chief executive of Whitbread, has been named as Veuve Clicquot’s business woman of 2017. She joined Whitbread in 2016, becoming one of only a handful of women running FTSE 100 firms. Receiving the award she follows in the footsteps of Body Shop founder Anita Roddick and former Pearson boss Marjorie Scardino. The judging panel said Brittain was “a role model for women striving to reach the top of large organisations and working across a range of traditionally male-dominated sectors”. “I have a huge passion for people and a huge passion for customer-orientated businesses,” said Brittain. “I have a lot of energy, and I love complex problems and I’m hugely curious about things in the world.” Brittain joined Barclays Bank as a graduate trainee and later became head of retail banking at Lloyds Banking Group. She was appointed chief executive of Whitbread, which says it is the UK’s largest hospitality company, in January 2016.

Domino’s franchisee secures licence to operate 22 hours a day: Domino’s Pizza UK franchisee DPSK, which operates circa 200 Domino’s sites and has more than 20 with 24 hours licences, has secured a 22-hour licence on appeal. Walaiti Rathore, a licensing specialist at Licensing Law Consultancy, worked with DPSK to secure a premises licence to allow a Dominos store to operate between 5.00am and 3.00am the following morning. DPSK applied for a new licence for their store at Midland Way, Nottingham to extend their offer until 3.00am with a 24-hour delivery service. Without a premises licence the business could only operate between 5.00am and 11.00pm. The applicant worked with the police during the application process and agreed conditions which enabled the police to support their application. Many of the local residents provided letters in support of the application. However, following a special licensing panel hearing at Nottingham City Council in December 2016, the application was only granted until midnight. The reasons given for this were based on concerns raised by the environmental health department who objected to the application and feared that a late licence would cause public nuisance to nearby residents. DPSK appealed the licensing panel’s decision to the Magistrates’ Court. Walaiti Rathore said: “We are pleased that the Council took on board further evidence which we provided during the appeal process and supported our arguments for a late licence to be granted. This resulted in constructive negotiations between the parties and an agreement was reached for later hours to be authorised without the need for a contested hearing. This agreement has now been approved by the Magistrates’ Court.” DPSK is part of the SK Group which operates other national brands such as Za Za Bazaar , the UK’s largest restaurant based in Bristol. The SK Group has also secured the rights to introduce Canadian café concept, Tim Horton’s to the UK and has an expansion plan to open a few hundred stores in all major towns and cities including Nottingham in the next few years. 

Eagle Eye hires chief operating officer: Eagle Eye, the SaaS technology company that validates and redeems digital promotions in real-time for the grocery, retail and hospitality industries, has hired David Aylmer as chief operating officer with immediate effect. The company stated: “David’s arrival in the new role of chief operating officer follows the rapid growth of Eagle Eye and strengthens the company’s commitment to delivering as a leader in the digital marketing industry. Having extensive experience on the system provider side as well as client side, David has a thorough understanding of customer service and delivery. He will leverage his experience to ensure first class operations and delivery across Eagle Eye’s network of customers. David will report directly to chief executive officer Tim Mason, further strengthening Eagle Eye’s senior management team. David has formerly held executive positions in fast moving and rapid growth organisations within the technology and financial services sector for over 20 years. He joins from DPR Consulting Ltd, a long established retail finance technology company, where he was a Senior Manager responsible for client delivery, and prior to this he was IT Director at Acenden Ltd.” Tim Mason, chief executive of Eagle Eye, sad: “David’s background and expertise will be extremely valuable as we continue to expand our capabilities and grow the business. I am delighted to welcome David to the Eagle Eye senior management team and look forward to working together as Eagle Eye continues to deliver on its growth strategy.”

Dalata Hotel Group reports progress: Dalata Hotel Group, Ireland’s largest hotel operator, is holding its AGM today at 11.30 am at The Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road, Dublin 4, Ireland. At the AGM, John Hennessy, Chairman of Dalata, will make the following statement: “Following another year of significant growth in the size of our portfolio and earnings in 2016, trading performance in the first four months of 2017 has been marginally ahead of expectations. RevPAR growth in our Dublin and Regional Ireland properties has been in line with expectations. We have experienced strong RevPAR growth in our London and Northern Ireland portfolios. RevPAR growth in our provincial UK properties has been marginally ahead of expectations. Management is very satisfied with the trading performance of the Group’s hotel portfolio in the first four months of the year. The outlook remains positive for the markets in which we operate. Progress continues to be made on our development pipeline of over 1,200 new hotel rooms. Construction of the Clayton Hotel Charlemont, Maldron Hotel Kevin Street, Maldron Hotel Belfast and Maldron Hotel Newcastle is well underway and progressing on target and within budget. Construction of the 140-room extension at Clayton Dublin Airport will commence later this month. Construction is due to commence later this year on our new Maldron hotel in Cork as well as the extensions to our Maldron Hotel Parnell Square, Maldron Hotel Sandy Road and Clayton Hotel Ballsbridge. All projects are due to open at different stages of 2018. Investment in the Clayton and Maldron brands continues with a targeted capital refurbishment programme and brand awareness campaigns. We also continue to invest in the training and development of our people as they are key to our continued growth and performance. 2017 will see further investment in information technology to deliver ongoing improvements in internal controls, the quality of management information and process efficiencies. We continue to look for opportunities to purchase the freehold interest of some of our existing hotels in Ireland. We are also looking to expand our Clayton and Maldron brands in the UK and are encouraged by the current pipeline of potential opportunities.”