PizzaLuxe set for expansion after securing Edition Capital backing: PizzaLuxe, the Paul Goodale-led premium fast casual concept, is set for further expansion after securing new backing from Edition Capital, Propel has learned. Edition, which also backs Incipio Group and Watch House Coffee, has committed up to £1.5m of equity investment in exchange for a minority share in PizzaLuze, which was previously wholly owned by Goodale, Harrods’ former director of food. The investment will be further supported by new banking facilities provided by NatWest Commercial in Manchester. PizzaLuxe currently has sites in Leeds Trinity Kitchen and Manchester airport (with SSP), with second sites in both cities also now secured. The business is set to open in Halle Place, the new dining quarter at Manchester Arndale, this year along with a second Leeds opening at The Light and a refurbishment of its original Trinity Kitchen unit. Propel understands the company plans to build a core estate in the north of England and will also explore new growth avenues, including a franchise model aimed at pubs. The new investment will also see a particular focus on growth in travel locations. The business operates an assisted counter-service model, which provides “fast service and staffing efficiencies”. Propel understands the company plans to capitalise on opportunities presented by this flexible format under the new deal. Goodale said: “We have worked very hard over the past few years to develop a clearly differentiated food and service proposition in what is a crowded and challenging market. I am very proud of the food and drink we serve, the excellent customer feedback we receive and the teams that make this possible. Thanks to Edition’s support we are now well placed to take PizzaLuxe forward to its next stage of growth.” Edition Capital Partner Harry Heartfield said: “We are delighted to have invested in such an innovative operator. We were immediately impressed by Paul’s vision and the unique business model behind the brand. We are excited to bring our experience and support to help grow the PizzaLuxe brand across the UK.” SSP business development director Andy Webb said: “The first PizzaLuxe store opened with SSP in October 2018 in Manchester airport’s Terminal 1. We have been delighted with the performance of the unit in commercial and customer feedback terms. Paul and the team are excellent brand partners and we look forward to developing this relationship further.”

Dozens of operators take advantage of Propel Premium Club offer: Dozens of operators have signed up to the new-look Propel Premium Club to save money by receiving a pair of free tickets to one of four conferences in 2020. Propel Premium subscribers also receive their morning newsletter 11 hours early, at 7pm the evening before our 6am send-out, discounts to attend Propel conferences and events, and regular columns from insights editor Mark Wingett. Subscribers also receive access to our database of multi-site companies, which has grown to 1,500 businesses. Meanwhile, subscribers to the new-look Propel Premium Club can choose to use a pair of free tickets to one of the following conferences – The Delivery Conference (Tuesday, 21 April), The Finance and Investment Conference (Thursday, 14 May), The Casual Dining Summit (Monday, 12 October) or The New Concept Conference (Monday, 19 October). The normal cost of two tickets to these events is £490 plus VAT for operators and £690 plus VAT for suppliers. An annual premium subscription costs £395 plus VAT for operators and £495 plus VAT for suppliers. Email anne.steele@propelinfo.com

Proposed new immigration system will be ‘disastrous’ for sector: The government’s proposed new immigration system will be “disastrous for the hospitality sector and the British people”, according to UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls. She said: “Ruling out a temporary, low-skilled route for migration in just ten months’ time will be disastrous. Business must be given time to adapt. These proposals will cut off growth and expansion and deter investment in Britain’s high streets. It will lead to reduced levels of service for customers and business closures. Hospitality is already facing an acute labour shortage despite investing significantly in skills, training and increasing apprenticeships for the domestic workforce. We are facing record low levels of unemployment, a dip in young people entering the labour market and have the highest vacancy levels of any sector. This announcement fails to recognise hospitality is at the heart of every community in the UK. Damaging the hospitality sector will have a knock-on effect for schoolchildren and the elderly, who rely on the sector for their meals. The government says it is making allowances for staff in the NHS but it has totally ignored the catering companies that supply the meals to patients and staff. We understand the government’s desire to deliver on the referendum result and its aim of moving to a skills-based immigration system. We fully support the ambition to upskill the domestic population and provide opportunities for people in every part of the UK. These proposals fail to deliver on the government’s own objective of providing an immigration system that works for the UK’s economy and its people.”

Average weekly wage levels highest since 2008: Average weekly wages in the UK have reached their highest levels since before the financial crisis. Weekly pay reached £512 in the three months to December, which – adjusting for inflation – is the highest since March 2008. Excluding bonuses, earnings grew at an annual rate of 3.2% in the three-month period, official figures show. Employment rose by 180,000 to another record high of 32.93 million, while unemployment stayed at 1.29 million. The figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the number of women in employment increased again – this time by 150,000 in the three months to December to a record high of 15.61 million.

Beers and Peers launches #HospitalityProud campaign: Employer-led industry networking group Beers and Peers, which is partnered with Hospitality Jobs UK, has launched a campaign via offshoot Hospitality Impact to address the perception of careers in the industry following negative comments about the sector being an “unskilled profession”. Under the hashtag #HospitalityProud, the campaign aims to raise awareness of careers in the industry by prompting people to post on social media how proud they are to work in the sector or proud of someone close to them who works in hospitality. Beers and Peers has now held three keynote events that bring the people professionals of the hospitality industry together to provide a support network and discussion forum to promote and drive industry-wide conversations and initiatives.

Flooding closes Drayton Manor until the end of the month: Drayton Manor Theme Park will be closed until the end of the month because of severe flooding. Staff are pumping thousands of litres of water out of the site near Tamworth in Staffordshire after heavy rainfall caused the main park lake to burst its banks on Sunday afternoon. Damage is “due to be assessed” in the coming days, a park spokeswoman said. Drayton Manor Theme Park, which initially shut for three days due to the flooding, will now be closed until Saturday, 29 February. The extensive clean-up operation is under way, with the park closed for the duration of the traditionally busy half-term break.

Denny’s UK appoints former Loungers operations manager as managing director: Denny’s, the US diner chain, has appointed Hector Main, formerly of Loungers, as UK managing director. Main joins the two-strong UK business after almost five years at Loungers, the Lounge and Cosy Club brand operator. For the past two and a half years he has been regional operations manager for the Nick Collins-led business, overseeing 22 sites in the south west. Denny’s launched in the UK in early 2018 with an opening at Parc Tawe in Swansea. The company followed this with an opening at a former Toby Carvery near Intu Braehead in Glasgow. At the end of 2017, Denny’s franchisee Magic Brands Group, which is owned by Leon Esfahani, secured a seven-figure funding package from HSBC to help with the roll-out of the 24-hour diner brand. Harold Butler and Richard Jezak founded Denny’s in 1953. It has grown to more than 1,700 restaurants worldwide.

Nuno Mendes to step down from Maos: Nuno Mendes is stepping down from Maos, the restaurant he co-founded with James Brown within Blue Mountain School in 2018. Brown said: “Maos looks forward to continuing its success since being awarded its first Michelin star last year with executive head chef Edoardo Pellicano. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Nuno and wish him the best of luck with his ventures. We’re thrilled Edoardo, who has been with us since we opened and has led the kitchen creatively since early 2019, will continue to push the project alongside his talented kitchen team, our original front-of-house team and general manager Alex Casey.”

Flight Club to launch in Leeds: Darts concept Flight Club will expand into West Yorkshire in June with the opening of its Leeds venue. Located at the heart of Leeds city centre in Park Row, the venue will house 13 oches (darts playing areas) and will have a total guest capacity of 350. Flight Club’s version of the traditional game involves a series of multiplayer games using unique patented dart-tracking technology designed by Flight Club’s own “astrophysicist”. Each oche will allow 12 people to play at once, while tournament technology can connect up to 150 players within the venue. Instant scoring eliminates any need for counting and reimagines matches into “fast-paced, exciting social experiences”. Flight Club Leeds will be the third venue outside London following openings in Manchester and Birmingham. The venue will also include a feature bar with tables for team drinks, birthday parties or an impromptu night out. Full or partial venue hire options are also available. Chief executive Steve Moore, who founded Flight Club with Paul Barham, said: “We are delighted to announce the upcoming opening of Flight Club Leeds as the next step in our quest to spread ‘social darts’ across the UK. Our venues have brought unexpected, ridiculous joy to three UK cities so far and we’re confident the wonderful, vibrant energy in Leeds makes it the perfect next chapter in the Flight Club story.”

Triple Two Coffee lines up 14th site: Triple Two Coffee has agreed terms to open at Manchester’s landmark City Tower, its first venue in the north of England. It has struck a deal with Schroder Real Estate to take more than 1,600 square feet of space across the ground floor on a ten-year lease. The venue is expected to open at the end of this month. Rob Cosslett, investment manager at Schroder Real Estate, said: “This addition reflects our strategy of continuously improving the retail offer at City Tower and will be a positive addition to Parker Street. This is a national, fast-growing food and drink chain, which will complement and enhance the existing offering. Triple Two Coffee is set for rapid expansion all over the UK and we feel privileged City Tower has been selected to be the first destination in the north.” City Tower is a joint venture between Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust, the actively managed UK REIT, Schroder UK Real Estate Fund and Immobilien Europa Direkt. Triple Two Coffee was founded in 2016 and has plans to grow to 100 sites.

BrewDog launches equity for cans initiative: Scottish brewer and retailer BrewDog has launched a “shares for cans” exchange programme to incentivise recycling. Cans for Equity will see BrewDog swap shares in its business for empty aluminium BrewDog cans. Anyone who trades in 50 cans in a UK BrewDog bar will be given a voucher for a share in the Scottish brewer. The initiative will go live in BrewDog’s European bars from Tuesday, 25 February, with the programme running until the company’s latest crowdfunding round closes in April. The move is the first initiative from the company’s new sustainable business charter, BrewDog Tomorrow, which features six environmentally focused pledges and a £1m-a-year investment to support environmental research and charitable causes. Cans for Equity is a partnership with First Mile Recycling. BrewDog co-founder James Watt said: “Ever since BrewDog was founded in 2007, our business practices have challenged the norm. Our ground-breaking Equity for Punks programme has been vital in helping us accelerate our growth and build a community of 130,000 passionate shareholders in the process. It’s time for it to evolve in line with BrewDog Tomorrow. The BrewDog beer in your fridge can now reward you twice – once when you open it and again when you hand it back to us.” Last week, Propel revealed BrewDog had appointed Karen Bates as people director. 

Juliano’s to open second site: Lincolnshire Italian restaurant brand Juliano’s is to open a second site, this time in Bourne. Franco and Anna Juliano have taken over a shop in North Street that previously housed the Euro Food Shop. The first Juliano’s is in Wharf Road, Grantham. Anna Juliano said: “We are very excited about opening in Bourne. The main reason we decided to open another restaurant is because there’s no Italian in town.” The brand’s Grantham venue, which is rated 5-star and fourth out of 104 restaurants in Grantham on TripAdvisor, recently celebrated its ninth anniversary. The couple had been searching for somewhere to showcase their cuisine in Bourne for two years. Next door to Juliano’s will be a Wetherspoon pub, which will go in a unit formerly occupied by the Jenny May and JH Wand shops. The company will invest £2.5m into the pub with the opening creating 45 jobs in the town.

Stonegate looks to roll out self-serve drinks table and bottle shop concept following Brentwood refurbishment: Stonegate Pub Company is looking to roll out its self-serve drinks table and bottle shop concept following the refurbishment of The Merchant in Brentwood, Essex, Propel understands. The High Street venue has reopened following a £300,000 investment to feature a “tap table”, where customers can pour their own drinks, and a bottle shop offering 16 beers. Both features are bookable. The pub has also been refurbished in a retro, open-plan style, with booth seating, hand-stretched sourdough pizza and new plasma screens for sport. A Stonegate Pub Company spokeswoman told Propel the company was looking to roll out the concept in “further investments” but it was down to the “space and size of the venue”. Paul Marshall, general manager of The Merchant, said: “It is exciting to unveil our new look to the people of Brentwood.”

Taco Bell to open in Eastbourne next week: Mexican restaurant brand Taco Bell is to open its 45th UK restaurant, in Eastbourne, next week. The 47-cover venue will launch in Terminus Road in the East Sussex resort on Thursday, 27 February. Taco Bell UK marketing lead Lucy Dee said: “Eastbourne is a place we’ve had our eye on for a while. The town has high footfall with people looking for entertainment and, of course, a bite to eat, providing us with the perfect spot to expand our portfolio in the area. We look forward to welcoming even more Taco Bell fans and first-timers through our doors.” Last week Taco Bell submitted plans to open its second site in Kent, in Maidstone, close to rivals McDonald’s, KFC and Burger King. The other Taco Bell restaurant in Kent is at Chatham Dockside. The brand recently launched a “craving value” menu across its UK estate. The permanent menu offers eight items including a cheesy roll-up, fries or nachos with a nacho cheese dip for £1. The £2 options include a crispy chicken taco, while customers can opt for a £5 Chalupa Box, which includes a chalupa supreme, a taco, fries, cinnamon twists and a soft drink. There are more than 425 Taco Bell sites across 27 markets outside the US, with the goal to expand the brand’s international presence to 9,000 restaurants by 2022. 

Big Smoke Brew Co to reopen Wokingham pub for fifth site: Surrey-based brewer and retailer Big Smoke Brew Co is to reopen The Raglan in Wokingham, Berkshire, for its fifth pub. The venue in Denmark Street has been closed for more than a year but will reopen under its original name, The Lord Raglan, in mid-March following a £350,000 refurbishment that will create 15 jobs. Big Smoke Brew Co is known for teaming up with local breweries and focusing on real ale and cider. Its food menu includes burgers, ribs, salads and sharing plates. Rich Craig and James Morgan founded Big Smoke Brew Co in 2014. Craig told Wokingham Today: “We like the town. It has the right demographic for us and we feel we can bring something a bit new and different to the area. We’ve got a lot of confidence in the area, especially with the redevelopment that’s going on in the town centre. We’re already planning to partner with local breweries Siren and Elusive, which are based in Finchampstead, and also Double-Barrelled, which is in Reading. We love to collaborate with people from the area who are producing something unique, not just beer. Pubs are about community and it’s one thing we’re mindful of. We want to find out what makes the area tick and become part of it.” Esher-based Big Smoke Brew Co has undergone a period of rapid growth, especially in the past 18 months, and operates a brewery, gin distillery and four other pubs – The Antelope in Surbiton, The Albion in Kingston, The Flintgate in Weybridge, and The Hole In The Wall in Chichester.

Dublin pub Gibney’s to open London site below Richard Corrigan restaurant: Renowned Dublin pub Gibney’s is to “cross the pond” to open a site below Richard Corrigan’s Daffodil Mulligan restaurant in Shoreditch. Gibney’s opened in Malahide more than 80 years ago and will launch in London’s City Road on Thursday, 12 March offering eight draft beers, including Gibney’s Stout, 120 Irish whiskies and cocktails. Corrigan has created the bar snacks himself, which will include cheese toasties and salt chilli chicken with chorizo mayonnaise. Gibney’s London will host comedy nights and live music and feature two bookable snug booths, each with a screen and able to host ten people. Tony Gibney told Hot Dinners: “My family has been in the Dublin licensed trade for five generations so opening across the pond is a big move for us. Moving beneath Daffodil Mulligan, which was named after the daughter of Biddy Mulligan, a legendary Dublin street seller, made perfect sense.” 

Former Fifteen head chef to launch solo venture in Cornwall: Andy Appleton, former head chef of Fifteen Cornwall, is to launch a solo venture in the county. Appleton, who worked with Jamie Oliver at Fifteen London before heading the kitchen at the Cornish site, will open Appletons with wife Lyndsey in the centre of Fowey. The 40-cover venue will open on Sunday, 1 March spanning two floors of a site in Fore Street and featuring a lounge gallery overlooking a standalone cocktail bar. Appleton told Cornwall Live: “A lot of people are saying Fowey is on the up. When we saw the building, we knew it was right. We did a pop-up at Fowey Christmas market and were bombarded. It felt like the locals were interviewing us to see if we were suitable. It helps that Lyndsey went to school in Fowey.” Fifteen Cornwall was one of the last outposts of Jamie Oliver’s UK restaurant empire but closed in December with the loss of 100 jobs. The Watergate Bay restaurant used the chef’s name under licence but was owned and run by a charitable trust. The closure came after Oliver’s UK restaurant business, including the Jamie’s Italian chain, Fifteen in London and Barbecoa, collapsed in May with 1,000 staff made redundant.

Starbucks comes under fire over transgender charity support: Starbucks has come under fire for launching a campaign to raise £100,000 for a controversial transgender charity. Every time a customer buys a Mermaids biscuit at a Starbucks counter, the company will donate 50p to the British charity of the same name. It has also produced an advert lauding its cafes as “safe spaces”. Critics said the Starbucks cookie sale would swell the coffers of a charity they claim wants to push teenagers into transgender treatment too early – with life-changing consequences. Stephanie Davies-Arai, of parent group Transgender Trend, said of the Starbucks campaign: “Customers won’t be aware they are supporting a charity that thinks it’s fine to tell children who – for a wide variety of reasons – don’t feel comfortable in themselves that it might be because their body is ‘wrong’ and in need of medical fixing. This is not a fun world of rainbows and mermaids. It is a world of puberty blockers, experimental hormones and sterilisation of children who face a life on medication.”

Beautiful Pubs to exit Leicester venue: The Beautiful Pubs Collective, the Leicestershire-based independent operator led by Sam Hagger, is to exit the King Richard III pub in Leicester. The company reopened the Highcross Street pub in June 2019 following a £110,000 redevelopment to include a chophouse. The pub had been closed since the previous tenant left in January that year. Hagger told Leicestershire Live: “While the venture at King Richard III has been a success, the size of the food trading area isn’t aligned with long-term ambitions for our businesses. We are already experiencing fully booked weekends at King Richard III but the size of the restaurant doesn’t allow the scalability we seek long-term. I hope to find another property with a large enough footprint to develop the offer further.” The pub’s owner, Everards, is now looking for someone to take on the venue. Business relationship manager Matt Crehan said: “We will get a lot of interest in this opportunity. Until a new business owner is found, we’re delighted The Beautiful Pubs Collective will continue to run King Richard III.” The Beautiful Pubs Collective also operates the Rutland & Derby Arms and the Knight & Garter, both in Leicester, and The Forge Inn in Glenfield. Last month the company appointed Marcin Blaszczyk as operations manager – food, joining Rosalie Hagger, formerly of Peach Pubs, who is operations manager – people and experiences. Hagger is also behind non-profit recruitment company Hospitality Minds. He founded Ssoosh Inns – or The Beautiful Pubs Collective as it is known locally – in 2008.

The Patate opens debut bricks and mortar site: Beef bourguignon in a bun concept The Patate has opened its debut bricks and mortar site, in Kentish Town, north London. The concept, which is the brainchild of Paul-Henry De Vassoigne and Martin Le Boulc’h, has launched in Kentish Town Road. In October, Propel revealed The Patate had secured the former Beef & Brew site that closed following four years of trading. So far, The Patate has operated a street food business including sites at Camden Market and various locations in the capital with Kerb. Jake Bernstone, of Stonebrook London, acted on the Kentish Town deal.

Travelodge opens two London hotels: Travelodge has opened two hotels in London, boosting its portfolio in the capital to 77. The hotels, which are in Beckton and Dagenham, represent an investment of £22m by third-party investors and have created a combined 55 jobs. London Beckton Travelodge, a 113-bedroom hotel, is the group’s first hotel in Beckton. It represents a multimillion-pound investment by landlord SEGRO and has created 35 jobs. Travelodge said the hotel was a “key part” of the recently completed SEGRO Park Newham, a former landfill site that has lain unused for more than 40 years. London Dagenham East Travelodge is the group’s second hotel to open in Dagenham in the past 12 months. It represents an investment of £7m by the landlord and has been built in partnership with Barking and Dagenham Council and Be First, the council’s regeneration organisation. The launches mean Travelodge has opened ten hotels in London in the past three years and created 320 jobs. This includes the company’s new-build 395-bedroom flagship hotel, London City Travelodge Plus. The ten openings represent an investment of about £200m by third-party investors. Travelodge’s 77 London hotels include 39 properties with on-site The Bar Café restaurants and 27 that offer the brand’s premium SuperRooms. Travelodge said London remained a “key growth area” and it expects to open at least 20 more hotels in the capital during the next five years.

JKS Restaurants reopens Gymkhana: JKS Restaurants, led by Karam, Jyotin and Sunaina Sethi, has reopened Michelin-starred restaurant Gymkhana. The venue in Albemarle Street, Mayfair, has undergone a major refurbishment following a blaze in June. Executive chef Jitin Joshi has created new dishes, while redesign of the interiors has been spearheaded by JKS Restaurants design director Samuel Hosker. The ground-floor space is inspired by mansions in Kolkata and Pondicherry, with leather booth seating and Edwardian-inspired banquettes. Original features combine with new wall hangings, photography and taxidermy to “preserve the clubhouse feel”. The ground-floor bar is inspired by an Edwardian drawing room, while the basement has been remodelled to create a “club lounge feel”. The bar has been reconfigured to a jewel box shape, while the private dining vaults have also been remodelled. Last week it was revealed JKS Restaurants received a £2.6m insurance payout for the Gymkhana fire. Propel understands the company, which recently opened a third site for its Hoppers brand, in King’s Cross, has four openings lined up for 2020 and is considering “several opportunities for 2021”. 

Fusion pizza concept East West launches in Tufnell Park: Fusion pizza concept East West has launched in Tufnell Park, north London. East West has opened at the former Stingray site in Fortress Road combining southern Italian-style pizza with home-cooked recipes and flavours from northern India. The 48-cover restaurant near Tufnell Park station features terracotta and turquoise seating, exposed brickwork and navy blue tiles. The concept is the brainchild of Devinder Singh, whose pizzas include butter chicken, masala jackfruit and saag paneer. Fusion sides include paneer bruschetta with roasted masala tomatoes, and arancini variations such as tandoori chicken. Desserts stick to the Indian theme but drinks follow the fusion route with options such as chai martini. Singh said: “East West is about reimagining age-old north Indian recipes passed down through generations and found on dinner tables across the region and bringing them together with the western pizza culture. I have always been a huge admirer of how Italians from the southern regions, Puglia in particular, make their pizza. The light and gentle base provides the perfect stage for punchy Indian flavours.”

Marston’s gets go-ahead for new-build pub in Gloucestershire village: Marston’s has been given the go-ahead for a new-build pub and restaurant in the village of Bishop’s Cleeve in Gloucestershire. The company has had its plans approved by Tewkesbury Borough Council for the venue, which is earmarked for the new Greenacres estate. The two-storey, 150-cover pub restaurant will be built in Sapphire Road and feature a garden and children’s play area, reports Punchline Gloucester.

Shepherd Cox acquires Lincolnshire hotel out of administration: North of England-based hotel group Shepherd Cox has acquired The Olde Barn Hotel in Marston, near Grantham, from administration. New Barn Hotel, which owned the site, entered administration in August after the Lincolnshire business suffered from “acute cash flow pressures”, administrators from RSM Restructuring Advisory said. The 103-bedroom hotel, which also features a restaurant and leisure club, has remained open during the administration process. Joint administrator Adrian Allen told Insider Media: “This deal minimises creditor losses, secures the ongoing employment of hotel staff, and honours all room and function bookings.” Shepherd Cox Hotel Group owns and operates 20 hotels in the UK under brands such as Holiday Inn, Best Western, Travelodge and Accor. The sale was facilitated by agent Avison Young.

Revolucion de Cuba swaps in Havana Club for Bacardi: Revolución de Cuba, the rum and cocktail brand operated by Revolution Bars Group, is launching a new cocktail menu featuring Havana Club rum as its new house pour replacing Bacardi – the bar’s signature spirit since it opened in 2011. Launching on Tuesday, 25 February, the menu collaboration will introduce 20 new and exotic drinks ranging from a Coconut Bramble to a Cuban Iced Tea. James Lavin, marketing manager, said: “This new menu brings our customers all the thrills and glamour of Havana in its heyday, with modern spirits and an incredible range of flavours. It’s inspired by Carteles, a Cuban pre-revolution lifestyle magazine iconic for its bold, art deco-style illustrated covers and rebellious attitude.”