Camerons to continue Head of Steam expansion with Nottingham and Leicester sites: Camerons Brewery is to continue expansion of its The Head of Steam brand by opening sites in Nottingham and Leicester. The Nottingham venue is due to open in mid-April at a site in High Pavement in the city centre that previously trading under the Living Room and Missoula Montana names. The pub will feature 19 keg lines including rotating craft beers. The Leicester venue will open in Market Street on the site of the Reynard pub towards the end of April offering 20 keg beers. Both sites will feature eight cask ale lines with beer sourced from the local area as well as brewers across the UK. Food will include stone-baked pizza, burgers, 12-inch hotdogs and the new “Flight of the Besler” tapas and cask beer flights. Camerons will open a Head of Steam pub in Birmingham city centre in May, which will take the brand’s number of sites to 15. Its most recent launch was in Didsbury, Manchester. Camerons chief executive Chris Soley said: “We have spent a lot of time looking for venues across the UK, in particular the Midlands. Nottingham and Leicester were cities we were keen on and we’re delighted we were able to secure venues for both in prime city centre locations. We continue to look for other opportunities to add to our growing retail estate this year.” Camerons’ estate consists of more than 70 venues. It acquired The Head of Steam brand in 2014. In late December, Camerons reported revenue from its pub estate soared £16,910,712 for the year ending 30 April 2017, compared with £9,960,665 the year before.

McDonald’s signs Six Nations sponsorship deal to promote ‘gourmet’ Signature Collection range: McDonald’s has signed to sponsor ITV’s coverage of the NatWest Six Nations rugby union tournament, marking the brand’s biggest move into the sport to date. McDonald’s is known for its investment in football sponsorships, at grass-roots level with the Football Association and as a long-term partner of the Fifa World Cup. However, McDonald’s has signalled a change in its approach at global level. Now the brand has decided to use the upcoming Six Nations, which famously attracts a more affluent audience, to promote its “gourmet” The Signature Collection range, including The Classic, The BBQ and The Spicy burgers. The deal, brokered by ITV and McDonald’s media agency OMD UK, starts on Sunday (4 February) and includes sponsorship of the broadcaster’s live coverage of England and Ireland’s home games, as well as highlights shows and online content on ITV Hub. “A Touch of Class” idents, created by Leo Burnett, continue the brand’s humorous creative approach, introducing McDonald’s “unexpected” new range to rugby players in a range of scenarios. The campaign will be supported by television, press, out of home, cinema and digital adverts. McDonald’s marketing manager Marco Ruggeri told Campaign: “The Signature Collection is one of our biggest permanent menu innovations in 44 years and has been incredibly well received during the trial stages. Now the range is available in more than 1,000 stores, the partnership provides us with a great opportunity to signpost our target audience to The Signature Collection. We look forward to working with ITV over the course of the tournament.”

Cineworld shareholders back Regal takeover: Cineworld shareholders have backed a £2.5bn takeover of US operator Regal Entertainment Group. In total, 87% of shareholders voted in favour of the deal, which included a £1.7bn rights issue to raise cash for the takeover. Cineworld chairman Anthony Bloom said: “As will be seen from the proxy votes, there was very strong support from shareholders for the acquisition. The board would like to express its appreciation to shareholders for this support, and to reiterate its confidence in this important development in the company’s history.” Cineworld said at the time the deal was agreed in December: “The acquisition will create a globally diversified cinema operator across ten countries and allow Cineworld to access the attractive North American cinema market, which has the largest box office market in the world with an industry box office of greater than US$10bn in each year since 2008 and stable admissions in excess of 1.25 billion in each year over the same period. Following completion of the acquisition, Cineworld and Regal will have a combined 9,542 screens across the US and Europe, making it the second-largest operator in the world (by number of screens).”