Boom Battle Bar founding team set to launch new Mexican bowling concept, eyeing 40 Putt Putt Noodles and 20 more Flip Outs by 2026: Boom Battle Bar founder Elliott Shuttleworth is set to launch a new Mexican bowling concept later this year, as he eyes 40 Putt Putt Noodles and 20 more Flip Outs by 2026, Propel has learned. Shuttleworth, who is no longer involved with the 27-strong XP Factory-owned Boom Battle Bar brand, is planning to launch Guacabowlé, which will involve Mexican-themed bowling with a food offering to match, in the third quarter of 2023. We Do Play, which recently launched as a parent company for all three brands, has secured a flagship site in a prominent east London location for Guacabowlé’s debut, alongside a Putt Putt Noodle and Flip Out. “It’s been about six months in development, and because it’s a bigger investment than mini golf, you have to wait for the right site,” Shuttleworth told Propel. “It will be a similar development path to Flip Out, big box leisure from 15,000 square feet, and will be opportunity and deal led. We can see it growing to perhaps 15 or even 20 over the next three years.” Of the other concepts, Shuttleworth said he can see Flip Out’s current estate of 30 doubling its footprint by 2026, and can “see no reason” why Putt Putt Noodle, which currently has a single site trading, growing to 40 sites over the same period. This will be achieved through franchising operations and a strategic food partner which already has significant brand presence in the sushi space; which will be announced in the coming weeks. Ten Putt Putt Noodles are set to open this year alone, including Bedford, Lancaster and Ealing in the third quarter. Joint Putt Putt Noodle and Flip Out sites are set to open in Telford and Poole in May, while the second quarter will also see a 35,000 square-foot Flip Out open in three former retail units in Liverpool. “We have three supercentres in the pipeline – Telford, London and Poole – which will all open in the second quarter and third quarter of this year,” Shuttleworth added. “We’re also working on standalone Putt Putt Noodle sites – we’ll open around ten of those this year, depending on location availability. We’re replicating what we did with Boom – cherry pick the best locations with the best property deals to leverage the natural intrigue created by exciting, destination-led, experiential venues in places with existing night-time economies.”

 

Propel becomes Your D+I media partner: Propel has become the media partner of Your D+I, which supports businesses on their diversity and inclusion journey. Your D+I uses workshops, audits and consultancy support to help businesses create truly inclusive workplaces by educating teams on diversity. Founder and director Chris Allan and his team will also be on hand at Propel Multi-Club Conferences to provide guidance and support to help operators shape their operations so equality and inclusion are at the heart of the agenda. Your D+I is also hosting Diversity and Inclusion – The Good, The Bad and The Amazing! at Turtle Bay in Ealing on Thursday (2 February) from 10am-2pm. The speaker line-up includes Jo Cole, head of people at Turtle Bay; Rosie Marsh, head of sales at Swingers; Jo Major, founder of Diversity in Recruitment; Devi Virdi, head of diversity and inclusion at Centrica; and Katie Maycock, a stress and burnout specialist. To book tickets, which are free of charge, click here. Propel managing director Paul Charity said: “We are delighted to partner with Your D+I and have Chris and his team joining us to provide our team and operators with support and guidance as we continue on the journey to support diversity and inclusivity in the sector.” Allan added: “We are delighted to announce our partnership with Propel to help shape its diversity and inclusion journey and to provide support for the hospitality industry to help embed fully inclusive practices into its operations. This is the first step of a continuous learning journey and moving forward in being a more inclusive organisation and industry.”

 

Cluster of London bar operators to feature in next edition of The New Openings Database, 12,700-word report included: A cluster of London bar operators will feature in the next edition of The New Openings Database. The database will show the details of 267 newly announced site openings and upcoming launches for Premium subscribers when it is published on Friday (3 February), at midday, including which company has opened a site or its plans to open one in the future. It will have details on what type of site it is and its location, and there will also be a website link to the businesses. The database is published on a monthly basis, and the next edition features Viajante87, an “innovative and experiential” cocktail bar, co-founded by Markus Thesleff, which has opened in London’s Notting Hill. Also added is Bruno’s, launched by chef Lorcan Spiteri, which has opened in Regent’s Canal, next to Caravel, the restaurant Spiteri and his brother opened on another converted floating barge in March last year. Meanwhile, London natural wine bar concept Oranj, founded by bag designer Jasper Delamonthe, which started life as an online shop and delivery service during lockdown, and opened its first permanent site at 14 Bacon Street in Shoreditch, will be featured. In addition, east London neighbourhood bar OutPost, founded by Dan Heath, which has doubled up with a site at Lendlease’s International Quarter London development, is included. Premium subscribers will also receive a 12,700-word report on the new additions to the database. Premium subscribers also receive access to four other databases: the Propel Multi-Site Database, produced in association with Virgate; the Propel Turnover & Profits Blue Book; the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database; and the Who’s Who of UK Food and Beverage, which was sent to Premium subscribers for the first time last week. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £895 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The single subscription rate is £445 plus VAT for operators and £545 plus VAT for suppliers. Email jo.charity@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription. Subscribers also receive access to Propel’s library of Friday Wrap interviews and also have access to a curated video library of the sector’s finest leaders and entrepreneurs, offering their insights on running outstanding businesses in the sector. Premium subscribers also receive their morning newsletter 11 hours early, at 7pm the evening before our 6am send-out; regular video content and regular exclusive columns from Propel group editor Mark Wingett.

Festive visits boost hospitality in UK’s city centres but sales remain well below pre-pandemic levels: Pubs, restaurants and bars in Britain’s top cities enjoyed a promising end to 2022 as consumers returned for the first normal Christmas for three years, the new “Top Cities” report from CGA by NielsenIQ and Wireless Social reveals. In the six-week festive period from 20 November 2022 to 1 January 2023, eight of Britain’s ten most populous cities recorded more wireless log-ins than they did in the equivalent period in 2019 for the first time – a strong indicator consumer visits are returning to pre-covid levels. Six of the ten cities saw sales beat the six-week period three years ago, following two festive seasons when hospitality was hit hard by restrictions and consumers’ concerns. However, soaring costs for businesses and consumers alike have dampened growth, and after adjustments for inflation, hospitality sales across the top ten cities remain well below pre-pandemic levels. Rail strikes also reduced visits to pubs, bars and restaurants in city centres in December. The report combines sales data from CGA by NielsenIQ with check-in data from Wireless Social to produce a “vibrancy” ranking of the ten cities. Glasgow tops the list ahead of Birmingham and Manchester after increasing both sales and check-ins on 2019. It is the fourth time in a row these cities have shared the top three spots. CGA’s separate Hospitality Market Monitor, with AlixPartners, indicates central Glasgow and Birmingham both now have more than 6% (6.2% and 7.1% respectively) fewer licensed premises than they did in December 2021, the highest year-on-year closure rate out of the top cities, suggesting reduced competition between pubs, bars and restaurants may be helping grow sales in these areas for managed operators. At the other end of the rankings, London is bottom for the fifth successive period as the return of sales and footfall after covid continues to lag behind other cities, despite steady improvement over 2022. CGA client director Chris Jeffrey said: “While footfall has returned, high inflation is making real terms growth very difficult, and as we move into 2023, venues face a triple challenge of soaring costs, fragile consumer confidence and rail strikes.” Julian Ross, founder and chief executive of Wireless Social, added: “The winter blues feel a lot stronger than usual right now due to the myriad challenges and issues that are out of business leaders’ control, and only time will tell how the sector ultimately recovers and bounces back.”

 

New energy relief scheme will leave more than eight in ten sector businesses on a knife-edge, warns NTIA: The new energy relief scheme from April will leave more than eight in ten sector businesses on a knife-edge, according to a flash poll by the Night Time Industries Association. The survey of 306 members showed under the new scheme, 51.6% will see more than 100% rise in energy costs with 16.1% seeing a more than 400% increase. Meanwhile, 42.9% said they will barely break even while 39.7% will lose money – a total of 82.6%. It has also been highlighted by many in the sector that while the energy relief scheme alongside oil and gas market fluctuation has brought the energy prices down, there is still a considerable level of financial pressure being placed on the industry through indirect costs from the supply chain, which is faced with a similar trading environment. The challenge is front-line businesses are unable to increase current price levels for fear of impacting consumers at a time when they have less disposable income, the NTIA said. Chief executive Michael Kill said: “Independent businesses are being ignored. Recent figures from CGA Neilson have shown a 13% contraction in independent licensed premises businesses, compared with a 3% contraction in the managed sector. While the government talks about long-term strategy and growth, businesses and livelihoods are being lost today. Energy companies have profiteered off the government's energy relief scheme, to the detriment of the night-time economy and hospitality sectors. The government must commit to support for the industry in the March Budget.”

 

Be Inclusive Hospitality launches 2023 Inside Hospitality survey: Be Inclusive Hospitality has launched its 2023 Inside Hospitality survey. The first survey was launched in November 2020, surveying employees and entrepreneurs from all backgrounds and career levels, in alignment with the social enterprises mission to accelerate race equity in the sector. Topics explored include careers in hospitality, bias, discrimination, inclusion, learning and development. This year’s initiative is to be delivered in partnership with Ulster University and the University of West London. To support the launch of this year’s survey, a webinar, “Insights Inform Action”, will be held today (Tuesday, 31 January), at 1pm. The webinar will outline the importance of this work, key findings to-date, the 2023 approach, and a Q&A. Lorraine Copes, Be Inclusive Hospitality founder, said: “I have definitely seen some small steps forward since the first survey release back in 2020, but as an industry, we need to move towards taking strides, finally confronting the visible disparities that ethnic minorities face within the hospitality sector. The success of this survey is very much reliant on the entire industry getting behind it, as we are keen to surpass the 2022 numbers of 1,000 responses to paint a comprehensive and representative picture of the sector.” Due for release in June, the survey findings will be summarised in the annual Inside Hospitality Report. The launch is marked by an in-person event, which will see key findings presented, along with practical steps that hospitality businesses “should seriously consider taking to move the dial forward towards race equity”, Copes said. To access the survey, click here.

 

UKHospitality launches education landscape guide to support recruitment: UKHospitality has launched an education landscape guide to help businesses understand what path they can take to further improve their recruitment, training and skills development. The guide, created in partnership with the Strategic Development Network, showcases how investing in skills and talent at an education level can help businesses discover new talent, develop their existing team, create new partnerships and increase their work within the community. The accompanying index goes step-by-step through the different ways to get involved, outlining the level of commitment required and the benefits from participating. UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said: “Investing in developing our own pipeline of talent has never been more important and this guide offers a wealth of information on how to do just that, in a way that works for your business. Whether it’s taking on an apprentice, offering workplace experiences through a local school or providing expert guidance to teachers, there are now so many ways to engage that benefit recruitment and staffing in the long-term. UKHospitality set out in its workforce strategy the need to make these sorts of initiatives and qualifications more widespread and it’s really encouraging we now see so many businesses heavily engaged in skills and training. There aren’t many sectors that can rival hospitality’s career offering with the variety of roles available and the buzz it offers, along with the prospect of going from bar to board in a matter of years.” The guide includes a few of the countless success stories from people working in the sector about how developing their skills and training has helped them progress. 

 

BrewDog to launch new stout: Brewer and retailer BrewDog will launch a new smooth and creamy Irish-style stout called Black Heart into the on-trade tomorrow (Wednesday, 1 February). The company said stout, as the second fastest growing beer category, is worth almost £1bn, gaining 8.8% in value and 0.9% share in the last three years, but is dominated by just one brand. Alex Dullard, head of customer marketing at BrewDog, said: “When it comes to stout, there really is only one choice available in most pubs and bars, and has been for many years. We have worked with our brewers to develop a classic draught stout, brewed in and for this century, that can be offered to those looking to try something new. Consumer testing and insight indicates Black Heart has the potential to drive further growth into the category by attracting younger more affluent consumers that have all but given up on the chance of an alternative to the category leader.”

 

Job of the day: COREcruitment is working with a luxury five-star boutique hotel in London that is looking for a food and beverage director. A COREcruitment spokesman said: “You will oversee all the food and beverage operations and outlets in the hotel, be responsible for a smooth running of all the food and beverage outlets, manage and train staff to the highest level, work closely with all departments to ensure the best results are met, and assume responsibility of the operations and financial results. The business is looking for an experienced food and beverage director who has worked in five-star luxury properties; has a strong understanding of operations, forecasting and budgets; and a high level of customer service.” The salary is up to £85,000. For more information, email ed@corecruitment.com

 

The Coconut Tree targets six new openings in 2023, developing offering and loyalty scheme: Sri Lankan street food operator The Coconut Tree has said it is targeting six new openings in 2023. The nine-strong brand was founded in 2016 by five Sri Lankan friends living in Cheltenham. “We want to continue to grow awareness of Sri Lankan food and culture,” co-founder Rasintha Rodrigo told Insider Media. “We have an ambitious plan to open at least six new The Coconut Tree restaurants across the country in 2023. We’re also looking at strengthening our ties with our home country of Sri Lanka, and we’re keen to extend our offering with merchandise. We have a large number of very loyal customers and will be focusing on developing our loyalty strategies further.” Rodrigo also said the company had “come out of covid strongly”, adding the founders “grew the business but ensured it stayed authentic to our Sri Lankan roots”. Its last site opened in Birmingham in March 2022, which came hot on the heels of openings in Reading and Bath, and it has also signed an exclusive delivery deal with UberEats across all its restaurants.

 

Italian casual dining concept set for UK debut: Italian casual dining franchise concept Ci Gusta is set to make its UK debut this year. The all-day pasta, pizza and dessert brand was founded in Italy in 2011 by Dario Rabboni and has since expanded to 17 countries, offering a menu with ingredients all sourced from Italy. It has locations in Italy, Hungary, India, Afghanistan, Turkey, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Angloa, Benin, Tunisia, Cameroon, Mali, Congo, Nigeria, Togo and Chad and is now preparing to launch in Britain. The company posted on its blog: “In 2023 the goodness and quality of Ci Gusta will arrive in the UK! We can’t wait to tell you all about our first UK venue that will welcome the many British lovers of good Italian food. Ci Gusta UK will introduce the true dishes of the Italian gastronomic tradition to all English foodies, who will be able to enjoy real Italian artisanal gelato and the best of the Bel Paese’s typical dishes in a cosy restaurant with the characteristic Ci Gusta style.”

 

Pizza Pilgrims secures Queen’s Park site: Pizza Pilgrims, the London pizzeria brand, is to add to its presence in the capital with an opening in Queen’s Park. Propel has learned the Imbiba-backed group has secured the former Ostuni restaurant site in Lonsdale Road, for an opening later this year. Talking to Propel last month, the company’s co-founder Thom Elliot said the business will look to add three to four sites to its 20-strong estate this year, which includes its debut in the Midlands, in Nottingham. Pizza Pilgrims plans to move into the former Crazy Fish My Love site in Carlton Street, in the Hockley area of the city. It is also understood to be considering an opening in Paddington for this year. Elliot also said the company, which opened its latest site last month, in Cambridge, would look at opportunities to bring back its New York-themed concept Slice. Earlier this month,Pizza Pilgrims launched a ‘Nutelleria’ outside of its Kingly Court pizzeria in the heart of Carnaby, London. It serves a menu of Italian desserts, coffee and appetisers from morning until evening, seven days a week, with the aim of bringing “Neapolitan cafe culture into the heart of London's West End”. Etai Page, of Stonebrook London, acted on the Queen’s Park deal.

 

Having a good loyalty programme ‘paramount’ during a recession, says Fridays marketing chief: Having a good loyalty programme is “paramount” for operators during a recession, Fridays’ chief marketing officer Rhiannon Scarlett has told Propel. The Hostmore-owned brand earlier this month relaunched its loyalty scheme, with “stripes” earned on all menu items, rewards tailored to individual tastes and members given access to exclusive celebration treats throughout the year. “Our first port of call has always been protecting our existing guests and customers”, Scarlett told Propel. “During a recession, things get more competitive, so brands need to hold on to their loyal guests to sustain baseline sales. In my experience, people like familiarity, they’re more likely to stick with what they know, so a great loyalty programme is paramount, especially one that’s easy to access with good value offers and choice, which is exactly what the new Fridays programme offers.” Fridays new “Stripes Programme” is the culmination of the work Scarlett has been doing since joining the team last April, following a long career in retail loyalty programmes, including Tesco Clubcard. Since launching the “Show Your Stripes” brand campaign last November, the rewards scheme app has seen a 75% uplift in downloads. “75% is high, but we were pretty much starting from scratch,” she said. “We had an existing programme but it needed refreshing. Fridays is currently undergoing a whole brand rejuvenation across the whole marketing strategy as we want to bring Fridays into a more contemporary space. We’re a strong heritage brand with an amazing past, but not enough people know what that is. We are the original American-style cocktail bar and proud of it. We’re known for giving people the Friday feeling every day, and that is what we want to convey with this latest update to our rewards programme. There’s more work to be done and we’re only just getting started, so you can expect to see an update to the menu. We’ll soon have new dishes and cocktails, and we’re looking at how we can create some more experience celebration packages as well.”

 

Jamie Oliver opens debut Malaysian restaurant: Chef Jamie Oliver has opened his first restaurant in Malaysia. The Jamie Oliver Pizzeria has launched at Kuala Lumpur International airport in the departure lounge of terminal 5 in partnership with UK-based transport hub foodservice specialist SSP. The outlet features dine-in services, as well as grab-and-go options and has a rotating pizza oven. It is Oliver’s second opening of 2023. The new dining concept is part of the deal struck by SSP and regional partner Travel Food Services of India with Malaysia Airports to operate 29 food and beverage outlets at Kuala Lumpur International airport, Kuala Lumpur International airport 2 and Kuching International airport. The SSP team will add more restaurants to the Kuala Lumpur International airport line-up this year, including Burger King and Hard Rock Cafe.

 

Watt – BrewDog has taken ‘huge strides forward’ in employee satisfaction: Chief executive James Watt insists Scottish brewer and retailer BrewDog has taken “huge strides forward” in employee satisfaction following positive feedback in a staff survey. The company was last year accused of “toxic attitudes” towards staff by a group of former employees, since when it has launched a new company blueprint, including a staff profit-sharing scheme. And in a new fully anonymous staff survey with WorkL, BrewDog received scores of 75% for empowerment, 73% for job satisfaction, 71% for average happiness, 70% for well-being, 69% for reward and recognition and 68% for confidence in management. Watt said the results show “the huge strides forward we’ve taken in being the best employer we possibly can be”. He added: “Overall, we’re scoring significantly better than the hospitality industry across the board – and the stat I’m particularly proud of is that our crew are roughly half as likely to leave us as other businesses in our sector. Seven months ago, we pioneered a whole new business model for hospitality. I wanted to empower people in the business, and the WorkL survey shows more than three-quarters of our crew feel they are trusted and allowed to make decisions. Not only that, but in the last two years, we have introduced three companywide employee representative groups to meet with senior management and raise concerns, launched a diversity forum and confidential ethics hotline, and significantly increased our investment in learning and development. That’s on top of paying the Real Living Wage and paid sabbaticals. I know we’ve had our detractors in the past, and I will always hold my hands up personally where we haven’t got things right. For us, this is a journey, and we will continue to work with our teams on a daily basis and continue to strive to improve every element of working at BrewDog.”

 

Tamatanga plans first opening outside the Midlands, in Leeds: Indian street food restaurant Tamatanga is planning to open its first site outside of The Midlands, in Leeds. Propel understands the three-strong concept has lined up an opening in The Light scheme in the city. Founded by Aman Kular, the company had previously spoken about a possible opening in Sheffield. As well as its original site in Nottingham, the business also operates sites in Birmingham and in Leicester’s Highcross shopping centre. 

 

Administrators of Authentic Alehouses considering alternative options for Hull pub, two others remain under offer: The administrators of the once seven-strong Authentic Alehouses are considering alternative options for one of its remaining pubs, while two others remain under offer. Of the three pubs that remain under management, one is closed – the Fountain Inn in Barnoldswick, while two remain open – The Albert in Hull and the Ponty Tavern in Pontefract. Offers have been accepted on both the Ponty Tavern and the Fountain in line with the RICS valuation. While the progress of the sale of the Ponty Tavern has slowed given market conditions, the sale of the Fountain Inn is expected to complete within the next four to six weeks. The Albert has continued to trade strongly, but the inflation in energy bills and other costs are “starting to have a severe impact on overall profitability”. The pub is now likely to trade at a loss this year and alternative options are being considered for the site if trading conditions worsen. The update was revealed in an email to investors by secured creditor Crowdstacker, which has been seen by Propel. Allan Harper-led Authentic Alehouses entered administration in March 2019 despite raising £6.4m in peer-to-peer loans via Crowdstacker. Authentic Alehouses launched in July 2017 with a £5m crowdfunding campaign on Crowdstacker that was later doubled. Harper also led Burning Night Group, which went into administration in October 2018 after raising £7.5m on the same platform. Two months later, Burning Night Group was bought out of administration by a special purpose vehicle created by turnaround specialist Access Commercial Finance, which was a secured creditor of Burning Night Group.

 

Old Spike Roastery lines up fourth London cafe site: Social enterprise Old Spike Roastery is to open a fourth cafe in London, at the end of next month. The company, which was founded by Richard Robinson and Cemal Ezal, who went on to found Change Please, will open a café in Fenchurch Street, in the City, at the end of February. Launched in 2014, Old Spike currently operates a cafe and roastery at its headquarters in Peckham and has since expanded to an online, wholesale and retail offering. It opened what it called the capital’s first carbon and plastic neutral cafe, in Sherwood Street, Piccadilly Circus, at the end of 2021. It has since also opened a café in Southwark Bridge Road, Elephant & Castle. Each site serves Old Spike’s specialty coffee alongside baked goods. Reusable coffee silos will be available to encourage refills and customers can help themselves to coffee to take home via an on-site dispensary.

 

The Scotsman Group appoints Craig Cunningham as operations director: The Scotsman Group, previously the G1 Group, has appointed Craig Cunningham, previously of Jamie Oliver Restaurants Group and Living Ventures, as its new operations director. Cunningham joins the Stefan King-led business after four years as group food and beverage director at the 15-strong The Student Hotel. He was also formerly group food and beverage operations director at Principal and for a time interim managing director at Herman Ze German. He spent six years at Jamie Oliver Restaurants Group, including four years as its international operations director. The Scotsman Group operates more than 50 venues in cities all over Scotland, most notably in Glasgow and Edinburgh. 

 

Shaftesbury CEO tells Sunak to resolve strike standoff: Prime minister Rishi Sunak must resolve the standoff with striking rail unions, the owner of Carnaby Street has said, after footfall fell on key shopping days before Christmas. Brian Bickell, chief executive of Shaftesbury, which owns the London shopping area, urged Sunak to “get all the strikes settled”. While the company enjoyed a positive run-up to Christmas with turnover up by 42% compared with the year before, when business was hammered due to the emergence of the Omicron variant of covid, Bickell insisted to The Telegraph the “strikes can't go on”. Shaftesbury also owns Chinatown, Seven Dials and parts of Covent Garden, Soho and Fitzrovia. The company relies heavily on local and oversea tourists visiting West End theatres, restaurants and shops. Bickell acknowledged all parties need to come together to find a solution. Meanwhile staffing remains an issue for the company as restaurants continue to suffer from labour shortages. Bickell said restaurants in Carnaby Street have managed this by having minimal staff during quieter hours. The West End has however remained resilient during the cost-of-living crisis. Bickell said: “This strong performance is in stark contrast to the more subdued spending and consumer confidence reported nationally.”

 

Fuller’s pub to host London debut for Leeds Asian street food company: Fuller’s Soho pub The Sun & 13 Cantons will from today (Tuesday, 31 January) host the London debut for Leeds Asian street food company, Little Bao Boy. The London pub retailer has struck a partnership with distribution platform Sessions, which has partnered with Little Bao Boy since 2021, for a residency in the pub – which has previously hosted pop-ups for concepts including Tendril, Sambal Shiok, Sarap and Darjeeling Express. Founded by James Ooi in 2016, Little Bao Boy was the most ordered menu in Leeds on Deliveroo in 2020, and since partnering with Sessions, has grown to 35 delivery locations. Last month, Ooi said the company, which has three locations in Leeds, was on track to turn over £1m in 2022 and is planning further outlets. Kate Eastwood, operations director at Fuller’s, said: “James has created delicious dishes and a fantastic brand, and I’m delighted Fuller’s has the privilege of being his first London host.” Catherine Ainsley, commercial director at Sessions, added: “Sessions is excited to be partnering with Fuller’s, especially as The Sun & 13 Cantons is the perfect foodie location for one of our authentic brands.” 

 

London sourdough pizza concept set to double up: London sourdough pizza concept Well Kneaded is set to open its second site, at the Peckham Levels leisure destination in Rye Lane. Founded by husband-and-wife team Laurence and Bridget Callaghan in 2011, Well Kneaded originally offered its wood-fired pizzas, salads and side dishes through private catering with Kerb. Its first permanent pizzeria opened in Earlsfield, south London, in 2018, with site number two set to open on Saturday, 11 February. Its offering changes regularly depending on the seasonal produce available from its suppliers, and the company also offers internships to young adults who face social barriers to employment. The Callaghans said: “We’re buzzing to join the street food line-up at Peckham Levels, which matches our commitment to supporting the community.” Also opening at Peckham Levels is Senegalese soul food brand, Little Boabab, which will be launching its first permanent site, on Friday, 10 February. Chef Khadim Mane launched the concept, which has until now operated as pop-ups, at festivals and as caterers, five years ago. The menu will offer Senegalese staples such as Fataya, a sweet-spicy-tangy street food snack, and Thiebou Dienne, a dish of jollof rice and sea bass with cassava, carrot and aubergine. Mane said: “Since I launched Little Baobab, I’ve always wanted to bring Senegalese cooking to different parts of London, so we’re excited to be part of Peckham’s food scene.”

 

London chef to open first bricks and mortar site for pizza concept: London pizza chef Andrea Ascuiti is to open the first bricks and mortar site for his 081 Pizzeria concept. Having launched the concept almost two years ago, Ascuiti, who is also one of the founding members of Streatham pizzeria Bravi Ragazzi, is opening the outlet at 66 Peckham Rye on Friday, 24 February. 081 Pizzeria launched during the pandemic in 2021 at Peckham Levels before taking up residencies at The Colonel Fawcett, Camden; and The Smugglers Tavern, Fitzrovia. Now Ascuiti is opening its first dine-in restaurant, a 20-cover space that will offer a selection of hand-crafted Neapolitan pizzas and Napoli-inspired tapas dishes. For the first time, 081 Pizzeria will be offering an extensive wine list and cocktails. Asciuti said: “It’s been a tough journey since setting up my own pizzeria; firstly, launching in the midst of a pandemic and then facing a number of challenges in the current economic climate that has meant product margins have dropped, energy costs have gone up and staff have been difficult to retain. Despite all of this, I am incredibly excited about opening our first bricks and mortar site in the place where it all began in Peckham. Pizza is a real life passion for me and my team, so this is a huge milestone for us. We look forward to sharing the unique pizza culture from Naples with Londoners on a bigger scale.”

C&C Group’s greenhouse gas reduction targets validated: C&C Group has had its greenhouse gas reduction targets formally validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). C&C is committed to reducing absolute scope 1 and scope 2 GHG emissions by 35% by 2030 (versus FY2020 base year). To also achieve a target of reducing scope 3 emissions by 25% by 2030, the group has also committed to its suppliers and customers, which make up 67% of its scope 3 emissions, having science-based targets in place by 2026. The group will continuously engage with and support them in setting targets for their own emissions. C&C’s emissions reduction targets form part of the group’s wider environmental, social and governance strategy, which includes a pledge to be a carbon-neutral business by 2050. David Forde, C&C Group chief executive, said: “Validation of our emissions reduction targets by SBTi is another key step in progressing the group’s sustainability agenda and we look forward to working towards delivering these targets. C&C’s commitment to environmental stewardship, delivery of our sustainability objectives and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, are central to the group’s long-term strategy and role we play in wider society.”

Boxpark Liverpool plans take step forward: Boxpark’s plans to open a new food, drink and entertainment destination at Cain’s Brewery Village in Liverpool have taken a step forward. The hospitality and leisure operator secured the site in September last year for its sixth venue, which it said would create 150 jobs. An officer’s report for Liverpool City Council’s planning committee has recommended approving the application, and planners will discuss the scheme at a meeting today (Tuesday, 31 January). The plans are for a “high-quality” food and beverage venue with a central eating piazza which can be configured to hold events and entertainment such as pop-up markets, music events and cinema showings. If approved, Boxpark aims to open the site in late 2023.