Fourth – aggressive discounting damaging productivity in restaurant sector: Aggressive discounting has damaged productivity in the restaurant sector, according to new research by Fourth, the software partner to the hospitality industry. The key measure of sales per labour hour now sits at £30.65 in restaurants – a 43p reduction since May. Over the same period, productivity across the wider hospitality industry fell by 62p to £34.01. The numbers are mined from Fourth Analytics data on the hourly pay of thousands of hospitality workers in the hotel, restaurant, quick-service restaurant and pub sectors. The analysis also revealed wages as a percentage of sales have risen 1.3% in the restaurant sector, and 0.9% in the wider hospitality sector over the same period. Fourth said the figures have been impacted by heavy discounting across the restaurant and casual dining sectors, with many groups pursuing aggressive discounting policies in the UK over the past four to six weeks. Furthermore, cost pressures from decreasing productivity have been exacerbated by continued, but steady, wage-cost inflation, with the average hourly wage in the hospitality industry now sitting at £8.28, a rise of 2% since May, which is 3% above the government’s target of reaching £8.05 by April 2018. Mike Shipley, Fourth analytics and insight solutions director, said: “Our figures show a domino effect of aggressive discounting in the hospitality industry, particularly the restaurant sector, has taken a heavy toll on productivity as brands compete for custom in a very competitive market place. Compounding the issue, the latest figures from the Coffer Peach Tracker, show managed pubs, bars and restaurants like-for-like sales were down 0.9% in September. This trend is indicative of the wider hospitality industry, with significant cost headwinds taking their toll as operators battle to maintain and build sales. Discounting is a quick fix to this complex situation and with Brexit looming on the horizon, it’s imperative operators scrutinise all aspects of their operation to understand where they can cut costs, such as smarter scheduling software and renegotiating procurement deals in line with the market. As with all adversity, there is a silver lining and, ultimately, the businesses who successfully navigate this period, streamline their business models and increase efficiency of labour and procurement, will be well placed for growth when the market reverts.” The research also showed the regional pay gap has remained the same at 13p in line with May and for most of 2016, with areas inside the M25 paid £8.35 an hour on average and areas outside paid £8.22. The gender pay gap, which favoured women by 2p in December 2016, before reverting in favour of men in May, has stabilised, now sitting at 14p in favour of men. Meanwhile, under-21s in the hospitality industry are currently paid on average £7.23 – £1.63 more than the National Minimum Wage for their age group. The wage rate for under-21s has been consistently tracking the increases to the wage rate for over-25s since the introduction of the National Living Wage rather than the lower under-21 minimum wage rate, indicating wage rate parity was becoming increasingly common.

 

Last chance to enter new Propel awards event recognising sector marketing and innovation: The closing date for a new awards scheme to recognise marketing excellence and innovation within the sector is on Friday (10 November). Propel has partnered with Think Hospitality to launch the Restaurant Marketer & Innovator Awards. The inaugural awards evening will be held on Thursday, 18 January at Firmdale’s Ham Yard Hotel in London. A total of 14 categories have been created to recognise excellence in different disciplines of marketing and innovation, and the awards are open to multi-site restaurant, bar and foodservice operators. The categories are Restaurant Launch of the Year, Best Use of Social Media, Best New or Improved Visual Identity, Integrated Campaign of the Year, Digital Campaign of the Year, Best Video, PR Campaign of the Year, Best Use of Research/Insight, Innovator of the Year, Marketer of the Year, Best New Website, Best Use of Technology, Best Direct/Loyalty Programme and Young Marketer of the Year. A panel of ten senior business leaders has been assembled to judge the awards. For more details about the awards and how to enter click here. The awards will be delivered alongside Restaurant Marketer & Innovator, the most comprehensive marketing conference the sector has seen with a two-day event. Prices for the two days are £525 plus VAT for operators and £795 plus VAT for suppliers. A one-day rate of £345 plus VAT is available to operators only. To book, click here. For more information or any queries contact Jo Charity on 01444 810304 or jo.charity@propelinfo.com or Anne Steele on 01444 817691 or anne.steele@propelinfo.com

Boxpark chief – future retail developments aren’t going to last more than 20 years: Boxpark founder and chief executive Roger Wade has said future retail developments will last fewer than 20 years, with the majority of foodservice operators lasting half that time. Speaking at the Propel Multi Club Conference, Wade said: “Some leaders love the words ‘security of tenure’, I’m not sure customers do. I believe the future major retail developments have a limited timespan. Put simply, the customer gets bored. The future retail developments aren’t going to last more than 20 years and many food and beverage fascias out there aren’t going to last more than ten or 20 years. Of course there’ll be your Wagamamas and PizzaExpress’ but for every one of them there’s ten other fascias out there that haven’t succeeded. It’s not sometimes about security of tenure, it’s about keeping things fresh and thinking ‘I’ve got to constantly reinvent the wheel for my customer’. You’ve got to constantly innovate, constantly think about what you can do to make the customer experience better.” Wade pointed out many of Boxpark’s best innovations were the result of mistakes, adding: “I don’t think mistakes are a bad thing, they’re a creative opportunity to reinvent yourself. Rather than a business plan, I’d rather have a fantastic entrepreneur who moves with the times because we’re facing some uncertain times with Brexit. Those entrepreneurs who are able to adjust their business plans are the ones who will succeed. Retail is fundamentally about entertainment. If you’re not special to that customer, no matter what your apprentice programme or roll-out strategy, you’re not going to exist. Operators need to ask themselves all the time what makes them special.” Asked by Propel managing director Paul Charity how Boxpark manages to churn and reinvent its brand offer, Wade replied: “We have operators that sign up to five-year leases and, naturally, for some guys it’s just not working. We’ve got a waiting list of operators wanting to come in and we don’t see that as bad. Sometimes new brands come to the site and it doesn’t work out. Sometimes you get even smaller guys and it’s literally their first unit and a totally different kettle of fish operating 365 days a year rather than every weekend at a market. We don’t see churn as necessarily a bad thing – we look at it as an opportunity to freshen up the offering we’ve got.”

All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group chairman – Brexit could benefit pub industry by giving UK beer duty control: All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group chairman Mike Wood has said Brexit could benefit the British pub industry by giving the UK control over beer duty. Wood, who is MP for Dudley South, said European Union legislation made it impossible for Britain to lower the amount of tax on beer sold in pubs. The Conservative MP said there was a huge potential for policy changes that would benefit pubs after Britain leaves the bloc in March 2019. High beer duty rates are cited as one of the reasons why the British pub trade is struggling. Wood told the Express & Star: "We are going to want to look at whether beer duty should be restructured altogether to reflect the particular contribution that [sales in pubs] makes, and have a reduced rate of duty for beer served in pubs and bars. Obviously we cannot do that within the EU, but from spring 2019 that would be an option that would be available to the treasury. At the moment we can't legally charge different rates of tax for beer that is sold in pubs to what is sold in supermarkets. And it is difficult for us to give relief for medium strength beers because, for example, the Belgians would argue we are discriminating against their stronger beers." Wood chaired a parliamentary debate on the impact taxation was having on the beer and pub sector last week. The latest Beer Barometer from the British Beer & Pub Association showed pub beer sales fell 3.6% in the third quarter – the worst third-quarter performance for five years.

Cinemas to give 65% of ticket sales from new Star Wars film back to Disney: Cinemas showing the new Stars Wars film will be forced to give 65% of their ticket sales back to Disney. Operators have been left reeling over the studio's stringent release requirements, which forces them to hand over a larger-than-usual chunk of their sales. Cinemas can only show The Last Jedi, released at Christmas, if they agree franchise owner Disney gets almost two-thirds of the ticket sales – the largest cut a studio has asked for, reports the Wall Street Journal. If a cinema breaks the terms of the agreement, Disney will take an additional 5% of the ticket sales. The move has angered cinema owners, particularly independent firms, who claim the move could cripple their business and so are now refusing to screen Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Pub18 opens for registration: Pub18, the only trade show dedicated to the UK pub industry, is now open for registration. The event, which is returning for its fourth year, will take place at London’s Olympia on Tuesday, 6 February and Wednesday, 7 February. It will feature a new brew area and wine and spirit lounge for the first time. Pub18 will cover every aspect of running a pub. Complementing the beer writers’ bar is the new wine and spirit lounge, set to celebrate international wines and spirits as well as consumption trends. The launch of the new brew area will see a section solely dedicated to supporting young breweries and cider producers. Pub18 commercial manager Alex Booth said: “The pub industry is a vibrant and dynamic world to be in right now. The pub has been revolutionised with the rise of experience pubs, craft beer specialists, endless food trends and everything in between. Pub18 has such an exciting line up of features, sessions, speakers and suppliers this year and demonstrates how fantastically diverse and exciting today’s pub landscape truly is.” To register click here.

CAMRA names pub of the year finalists: The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has named the best four pubs in the country as part of its Pub of the Year 2017 competition. The finalists are the Weavers Real Ale House in Kidderminster, a relatively new one-room micro-pub; the Stanford Arms in Lowestoft, East Anglia; Wigan Central in Wigan; and the Cricketers in St Helens, Merseyside. All of the pubs in the competition were selected by CAMRA volunteers and judged on their atmosphere, decor, welcome, service, value for money, customer mix and quality of beer. The four finalists now have a chance to win the National Pub of the Year title for 2017, which will be announced in February. National Pub of the Year co-ordinator Andrea Briers said: “While each of these pubs offers something unique to their visitors, they all share the foundation of what makes a great pub – a warm and welcoming atmosphere, excellent service and a fantastic range of beers.” The four finalists will be presented with their super regional award at local events over the coming weeks.

 

City Pub Group to float, aims to raise £30m: Independent pub operator The City Pub Group has announced its intention to proceed with an initial public offering. The company, which owns and operates 34 pubs across southern England, intends to apply for admission to AIM, a market of the London Stock Exchange, and conduct a placing of new ordinary shares, raising £30m of primary gross proceeds. The City Pub Group intends to use the funds from the placing to accelerate its acquisition strategy as it looks to double its portfolio over the next three to four years. Liberum Capital is acting as nominated adviser and joint bookrunner and Berenberg is acting as joint bookrunner in relation to admission, which is expected to occur by the end of the month. The City Pub Group chairman Clive Watson told Propel he believed it was the “right time” for the company to float. He said: “We have a strong and experienced management team, all our supply agreements are in place for the next few years and there is a good acquisition pipeline. There are of course headwinds but these costs have been factored in. Our current track record is very strong and the FTSE is at an all-time high. I think all things considered this is the right time to push ahead with our plans.” The company has added to its portfolio after securing a site within the ticket office at Cambridge station and Watson said trading in the past five to six weeks had been “very strong”. He added: “I think we are very well placed to not only grow the size of the business but sales within the existing estate as well. Since inception in 2011, the company has prudently built a high-quality, largely freehold, cash generative and profitable estate of non-branded pubs focused on the needs of their local markets. I think people are bored with the chain pub and we are seeing the return of the updated wet-led pub. We want to continue to grow but continue to stay true to our values. Our staff are the lifeblood of the company. If you have good staff then you have good sales. If you have good sales then you have happy shareholders – it’s a virtuous circle.” The company has historically traded as two companies – City Pub Company (East) and City Pub Company (West). The City Pub Group was formed on Wednesday (1 November) through the all share merger of City Pub Company (East) and City Pub Company (West) by way of a scheme of arrangement of City Pub Company (West). Watson said the business had to change its name to The City Pub Group as the City Pub Company was already taken by another company that was currently in liquidation.

Fuller’s boss – new in-house digital platform had 160,000 page views in first 24 hours: Fuller’s Inns managing director Jonathon Swaine has said its new digital platform, Fuse, had 160,000 page views in the first 24 hours. Speaking at the Propel Multi Club Conference, he said: “We launched Fuse with the goal to link the 5,000 minds in our business – the people who are the closest and most important to our customers. We had 160,000 page views in the first 24 hours. It really has exploded and this is exciting for us because we can start to harness the ideas of our boys and girls in the front line and better communicate with them – show them a great new IPA or idea and use training in an innovative way.” Swaine said Fuse was one of five key goals Fuller’s had set out to become the “best employer in the pub sector”. He said another goal was to grow its talent to include a further 200 chef apprentices by 2020. The company currently has 186 chefs at one of three levels in its Fuller’s Chef’s Guild and Swaine said Fuller’s would “continue to double its investment” in the development programme. He added that of Fuller’s staff, about 37% were EU nationals, a figure rising to 50% in London, while 73% of kitchen staff came from the EU. He said: “In terms of resourcing for the future, this presents a significant strategic challenge and the battle for talent is the key challenge that underscores everything for us. In response to Brexit, we’re trying to think creatively around how we recruit and, crucially, reward chefs. We’re not only looking at salaries but chefs having one or two weekends off in a given time period. I think the chefs of today want different things to the staff in our food teams who were chefs 20 years ago and we have to recognise that chefs aged 25 want a different style of life and our contracts have to be as flexible as possible to ensure we’re attractive, competitive and retain that crucial talent for the future. We’ve put proper structure behind our training programmes in our kitchens, from apprentice through to head chef and beyond. We’re looking at an evolved scheme that takes a head chef to an executive chef with a degree-level qualification. This is critical for us to maintain our growth in food, which has been driving our like-for-likes.”

 

Bonnie Gull outlines roll-out plans for new fast-casual concept Salt 'n' Sauce: British seaside restaurant concept Bonnie Gull, which is embarking on a £200,000 crowdfunding campaign, is set to roll-out its new fast-casual concept Salt 'n' Sauce in two phases as it targets affluent university towns and tourist hotspots outside London. The first site will open in March at the Westgate Centre in Oxford within a shared seating space called The Social, where it will be one of six operators. It then plans to embark on its first phase of expansion with sites proposed in Bath, Brighton, Cambridge and Exeter. The second phase would see restaurants added in Edinburgh, Manchester, St Andrews, Winchester and York and it eventually has ambitions to go international. It stated: "While sites in London are not ruled out, they are not planned for the initial phases. With high rents and rates and oversaturation of the market place we believe the brand will have faster success in regional locations where the audience is easier to reach and where the brand can be a dominant force. Salt 'n' Sauce will look to open in affluent, university towns. Tourism is also a major factor and these towns enjoy a high volume of American and Chinese tourists who come looking for the ultimate British fish and chips. Salt 'n' Sauce has the potential to be an international brand in cities where the fish and chip concept translates to the local population. We believe it can flourish as a franchise model in English speaking cities with a connection to the UK such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Cape Town and San Francisco." Its menu includes regular triple cooked beef dripping chunky chips/skinny fries for £2.50 and jumbo beer battered haddock with chunky chips for £12.50. The "healthy choice" is a fresh hand-picked crab salad for £12. Bonnie Gull, founded by Alex Hunter and Danny Clancy in 2011, is offering an 11.11% equity stake in return for the £200,000 investment it is seeking on crowdfunding platform Crowdcube. So far, 54 investors have pledged £44,210 with 27 days remaining.

 

Online brewing industry market place BrewBroker closes crowdfunding campaign after raising £390,000: BrewBroker, which describes itself as an online market place for the global brewing industry, has closed its fund-raise on crowdfunding platform Crowdcube after raising £390,000. The company was aiming to raise £380,000 and was offering a 45.60% stake in return for the investment. A total of 415 investors pledged £390,000 and the campaign has now been completed. The largest investment was £100,000. The aim of BrewBroker is to enable businesses to search, sell and buy brewing services from one another. It likens itself to Airbnb and Uber by “taking an established industry at a certain stage and disrupting it using a sharing economy model”. The company was founded last year by drinks marketing expert Toby Chantrell and Ben Morgan-Smith, a digital industry veteran. They have been advised by Craft Beer Rising founders Daniel Rowntree and Chris Bayliss. BrewBroker said a huge rise in consumer demand had led more breweries to contract-out production or sell excess capacity to maximise efficiency. BrewBroker said providing a “simple digital platform to facilitate mutually beneficial relationships between two parties” would “transform the way the industry operates”. The pitch stated: “A total of 59 breweries and suppliers have registered their interest through our website to use the platform including West Berkshire Brewery, which has a new contract brewing operation. The funds will be used for platform development – launching in the first quarter of 2018, sales and marketing, and staff and operational costs. After 24 months perfecting the model in the UK, we’re planning another raise for a global roll-out.”

 

Subway outlines south coast expansion plans: Subway has outlined its targets for new store development on the south coast, with plans in place to grow its portfolio of stores from 109 to more than 130 by the end of 2018. Operated by local franchisees, the Subway stores across Hampshire, East Sussex, West Sussex and Isle of Wight already supports more than 1,000 jobs. The new sites will create a further 200 jobs, as well as providing the opportunity for new Subway franchisees. All development of the Subway brand on the south coast is overseen by regional development agent Mark Bradley. He told Insider Media: "We have ambitious plans to grow the Subway brand across Hampshire, East Sussex, West Sussex and Isle of Wight, so I am really keen to hear from local people who are looking to fulfill their dreams of owning their own business and becoming their own boss." Subway launched its first store in the UK on the south coast, opening in Brighton more than 20 years ago. There are now 2,500 Subways in the UK and Ireland, with plans to increase that to 3,000 by 2020, creating about 5,000 new jobs.

London Cocktail Club launches ninth site, in Liverpool Street: London Cocktail Club, the cocktail bar group, has launched its ninth site, this time in Liverpool Street. The venue in Bishopsgate is a vintage fairground-themed basement bar haunted by Zoltar, Tom Hanks’ favourite fortune telling robot! The decor features big-top-styled faux-leather banquettes, ouija board tables, contortionist portrait paintings, and a tiger’s cage. The company, which is owned by bartending entrepreneur JJ Goodman and James Hopkins, was founded in 2008. Its other venues are in Bethnal Green, Covent Garden, Goodge Street, Islington, Oxford Circus, Shaftesbury Avenue and Shoreditch.

 

Hop Stuff Brewery secures third taproom site, first outside London: Hop Stuff Brewery has secured a site for its third taproom – and first outside London. The company, which earlier this year, raised almost £750,000 on crowdfunding platform Crowdcube towards expansion is aiming to build a five-strong bar estate. The new site, the location of which has not been revealed, will add to the brewery’s flagship bar, The Taproom SE18, and the SE8, which will open in the Market Yard in Deptford later this year. Fit-out of the bar is expected to start this week. Founder James Yeomans said: "I’ve kept this quiet while we focus on taproom two but I have agreed a lease for taproom three, our first site outside of London.” Earlier this year Yeomans said the company was growing sales 136% a year and is targeting revenue of £5m in the next two years.

Greene King lodges plans for 20-bedroom hotel next to Salisbury pub: Brewer and retailer Greene King has lodged plans for a 20-bedroom hotel next to a pub in Salisbury. The company has applied to Wiltshire Council to demolish derelict garages in the grounds of the Greyfisher in New Bridge Road and build the hotel. Under the scheme, a two-storey hotel block would be constructed at the back of the pub, with a paved and covered link between the two. There would be ten bedrooms on each floor, reports the Salisbury Journal. The application stated: “The hotel will be built and managed by Greene King and will be marketed alongside the pub in order to boost the pub business. The hotel will therefore not only create new employment but will also support the existing jobs at the public house.”

Escape Live gets go-ahead for fifth site, in Leamington Spa: Escape room operator Escape Live has been given the go-ahead to open its fifth site, in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. The company has been granted permission by Warwick District Council to open the venue in The Parade, which would have two rooms. It will convert the second and third floors of a building that was previously used as office space by Kip McGrath Education Centre and Infinite Pixel until January last year and has been empty since, reports Insider Media. Escape Live has venues in Birmingham, Essex and Coventry with another opening shortly in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Street food restaurant The Good Egg closes crowdfunding campaign after raising more than £635,000: Street food restaurant The Good Egg has closed its fund-raise on crowdfunding platform Crowdcube after raising more than £635,000 to open its second site. Founder Joel Abraham opened his first venue in 2015 in Stoke Newington after raising £182,000 from investors via Crowdcube. He returned to the platform to raise £500,000 in return for an 18.18% equity stake to bring the all-day neighbourhood “Montreal deli meets Israeli street food offer” to Soho’s Kingly Court. The campaign has now closed with 457 investors pledging £636,420. The pitch stated: “We’ve now secured a 100-plus-seater site in the West End to feature a bakery and retail area that serves Israeli-inspired baked goods and extended brunch and dinner menus for eat-in, takeaway and delivery. Funds raised will be used for capex and pre-opening costs for our second restaurant site. This represents the realisation of a dream, fulfilling many aspects of the business we have had on hold in site one, such as our extended bakery offer. We plan an exit in three years when the group has three restaurants.” The Soho restaurant is due to open on Monday, 27 November.

 

Buzzworks invests £400,000 in Ayr venue refurbishment with enhanced food and drink offer: Buzzworks Holdings is investing £400,000 refurbishing its site in Ayr, which will reopen with an enhanced food and drink offer. The company has closed the Treehouse, which is one of its five House brand venues across the west of Scotland, for the modernisation, which will relaunch with the slightly altered name – The Tree House – at the end of November. The interior will be transformed with a contemporary design incorporating natural materials and light modern tones, complementing the existing characteristics. The restaurant’s capacity will also increase to 100 covers, with the addition of booth seating and a private dining area for up to 20. A new open kitchen will be fitted with the enhanced food and drink offering including speciality and sharing dishes. The bar will serve cocktails, craft gin and beer along with wine. Buzzworks Holdings chairman Colin Blair said: “After ten years of trading, we believe now is the time to reinvest and modernise The Tree House as part of our wider growth strategy. It’s a fantastic building and we will retain elements of its original concept including the external terrace, and this investment will allow us to enhance the experience we offer to visitors.”

 

Our Bakeries owner gets five-year director ban for failing to pay taxes: The owner of Our Bakeries, the south west cafe bakery brand, has been banned from acting as a director for five years for failing to pay taxes. Cobb is the second director of the Plymouth-based company to be disqualified in the past two years. Cobb's ban follows an Insolvency Service investigation that last year resulted in another director, Alexander Qaun, being disqualified for four years. The investigation found Cobb and Quan were responsible for the company failing to pay VAT, PAYE and national insurance from at least May 2013. This led to arrears of £130,361 with the total amount owed in unpaid tax when the company went into liquidation in October 2015 coming to £142,666. The secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, Greg Clark, has accepted a disqualification undertaking from Cobb, effective from 7 November. This follows an undertaking from Quan that was accepted on 15 November last year. Insolvency Service chief investigator Sue MacLeod told Devon Live: "These actions have resulted in honest taxpayers losing out. If you run a business in a way that is unfairly detrimental to any of its creditors, including tax authorities, the Insolvency Service will investigate you, and you may find yourself disqualified from acting as a director."

Premier League footballers among investors backing Birmingham boutique hotel project: Premier League footballers and Olympic rower Sir Steve Redgrave are among the investors backing the regeneration of the former home of Snobs nightclub in Birmingham city centre. Plans have been lodged to transform the Beneficial Building, in Paradise Circus Queensway, into a 130-bedroom boutique hotel with retail and commercial units on the ground floor. The applicant is Beneficial House (Birmingham) Regeneration, a company incorporated in 2013 and that lists 95 members at Companies House. Among those named as backing the company are Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero, Bournemouth goalkeeper Asmir Begovic and Sir Steve. No end user of the hotel has been named in the application, reports the Birmingham Mail. The building has been largely vacant since 2008 when its previous owners fell into administration. It was the home of nightclub Snobs until September 2014 when the owners shut to move to a new home nearby in Smallbrook Queensway.

Yorkshire-based La Casita to open fourth site, plans UK-wide expansion: Yorkshire-based Spanish bar and restaurant concept La Casita is to open its fourth site, in Leeds, as part of plans to expand across the UK. The company, owned by Simon Miller, Oliver Renton and Ben Riley, is launching the venue on Friday, 17 November at Granary Wharf. La Casita offers traditional Andalusian tapas and a hand selection of wines and cocktails. The bar will also have a local gin, martinis, cava’s, sherries, sangria and Spanish craft ales. Miller told The Business Desk: "Myself, Oliver and Ben are excited to be introducing our authentic concept in Leeds. We have ambitious UK-wide expansion plans for La Casita. We recognise there is a lot of competition in the city centre, but we are confident our offer is unique and our success to date brings with it a great reputation for fantastic traditional tapas and more importantly great service.” La Casita opened its first site in Ilkley in 2014, followed by restaurants in Boston Spa and Horsforth.

Signature Living lodges plans for first Manchester site: Aparthotels developer and operator Signature Living has lodged plans for its first site in Manchester. The company has applied to the city council to transform a pair of grade II-listed buildings in Castlefield into a hotel and restaurant. It plans to convert the properties in Liverpool Road into a 39-bedroom hotel, 100-seater restaurant and a lounge bar. One of the buildings set to be converted is the former Commercial Hotel, reports the Manchester Evening News. The application stated: “Both buildings are grade II-listed and have a need for substantial and comprehensive refurbishment and investment to bring them up to a level which will secure their future." Signature Living operates a number of hotels in Liverpool while other projects in the pipeline include a George Best-themed hotel in Belfast.