Premium Club members to receive Restaurant Marketer & Innovator European Summit Conference videos and next Who’s Who of UK Hospitality tomorrow: Premium Club members are to receive all the videos from this year’s Restaurant Marketer & Innovator European Summit Conference tomorrow (Friday, 16 February), at 9am. Members will be sent 26 separate video presentations, featuring more than 60 speakers. They include: James Hacon talking to Natasha Sideris, founder and chief executive of Tashas Group, about her incredible journey from launching her first restaurant in South Africa to operating in four countries, launching two books, getting listed in The World’s 50 Best Bars and its recent launch at Battersea Power Station in London. KFC’s chief corporate affairs and sustainability officer Jenny Packwood discusses with Ed Whitehead, director of corporate and reputation at Fleet Street, how KFC has transformed itself in the UK over the past five years, from a fast-food business to a brand that does good. Also tomorrow, at midday, Premium Club members will receive the next Who’s Who of UK Hospitality, which features 863 companies. Another 31 companies have been added and this month’s edition will also include 71 updated entries and more than 230,000 words of content. The companies, listed in alphabetical order, will have their most recent results reported as well as broader information around Ebitda, plans and trading style available. The database merges Companies House information, interviews and other public information to provide an easy to reference and exhaustive guide to the sector. Premium members also receive access to five other databases: the Multi-Site Database; produced in association with Virgate; the Turnover & Profits Blue Book; the New Openings Database; the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database; and the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database. Propel has evolved its Premium subscription offer by launching Premium Club. All circa 4,000 existing subscribers automatically became members. Premium Club comes with even more benefits. All subscribers will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to five Propel paid-for events – The Excellence in Pub Retailing Conference (14 May), Social Media for Profit (18 July), the Talent and Training Conference (1 October) and Restaurant Marketer and Innovator (two days in January 2025). Operators will also be able to send up to four members of staff to each of our four Multi-Club Conferences for free. Premium Club members receive their daily Propel Info newsletter 11 hours earlier than standard subscribers, at 7pm the evening before. They also receive videos of presentations at eight Propel conference events two weeks after they are held. This represents around 100 videos of industry insight over the course of the year. Premium Club members will be sent a dedicated monthly newsletter that will highlight key updates in the sector and direct subscribers to all the vital content their membership offers. Premium Club members also receive exclusive opinion columns every Friday at 5pm, which include the thoughts of Propel group editor Mark Wingett and a host of industry leaders from across the sector. A Propel Premium Club subscription costs an annual sum of £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Premium Club for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.

Tortilla signs up Uber Eats and Just Eat as delivery partners: Tortilla, the UK’s largest fast-casual Mexican restaurant brand, has signed up Uber Eats and Just Eat as its delivery partners following a review of the brand’s delivery strategy. The group said it delivered more than 1.5 million mains across Uber Eats, Just Eat and Deliveroo in 2023, while maintaining an average of 4.6-star customer app rating, while its chicken pibil burrito won first place for most ordered dish in 2023. The company said: “Delivery is an important sales channel for Tortilla as the food offering is well-suited to being consumed off-premises. While the group’s multi-partner approach to delivery has supported strong growth in sales volumes and awareness, delivery commission charges have challenged margin performance. To mitigate this, the group sought for a new delivery structure and to strengthen the relationship between fewer partners. Furthermore, Uber Eats UK had the highest order growth in the industry in 2023, with gross bookings up nearly 20% year-over-year. The refined strategy will see Tortilla collaborating on some exciting marketing efforts; including the launch of exclusive products and offers and heavy investment into brand awareness to attract new customers through a growing UK customer base. The recent review is part of a series of wider ongoing management initiatives as the Group remains focused on its strategic objective to drive Ebitdamargin and profitability.” Andy Naylor, UK managing director at Tortilla, said: “We are confident that these strategic partnerships will play a key role in supporting sustainable, profitable growth across the important delivery channel, underpinning our growing presence as the UK’s leading fast-casual Mexican brand.” Matthew Price, general manager UK, Ireland and Northern Europe at Uber Eats, added: “We’re thrilled to be building on what has been an incredibly successful partnership to date with Tortilla and we are really excited for the next steps in our partnership.”

C&C Group appoints new senior independent director: C&C Group, owners of the Tennent’s, Magners and Bulmers Ireland brands, and Matthew Clark and Bibendum Wine, has appointed Chris Browne OBE as its new senior independent director. It follows Vincent Crowley stepping down from the role, along with that of senior independent non-executive director, at the conclusion of the company’s 2024 annual general meeting, expected to be held on 11 July 2024. Ralph Findlay, C&C group executive chair, said: “I would like to thank Vincent for his dedication to C&C and his significant contribution to the board has been invaluable.  On behalf of the company and the board, we wish Vincent all the best for the future and are delighted to have Chris succeed him in this role.”

Britain’s oldest bagel shop closed in ‘row over money’: A bitter financial dispute may be behind the dramatic closure of a bagel shop in London’s Brick Lane which claims to be the UK’s oldest. The Beigel Shop at 155 Brick Lane suddenly closed this week, with a legal notice pasted up suggesting it was being repossessed. But the mystery later deepened when a new sign was pasted up instead suggesting that the closure was due to an electrical fault and promising that it would reopen soon, reports the Daily Mail. But the sudden closure may be down to an escalation in a dispute between the family that runs the store and its landlords. “This is all about a fallout between the owners of the freehold and the people who run it over money,” a source told the newspaper. “A new family took over running the place a few years back and there’s been increasing dispute between them and the landlords. I’m not sure of the precise details but it’s ultimately down to money.” Another source said: “The same thing happened 10 years ago – a falling out between the people who own the freehold and the people who run the shop, although there’s different people running it now. But I expect the same thing will happen and it’ll reopen soon because it’s so popular that it’s throwing away money to keep it closed for long.” The registered owner of the bakery is Ellis Zelman. Until last September, Beigel Shop Brick Lane was co-owned by Ashley and Ellis Zelman, but in September Ashley’s shares were all transferred to Ellis, giving him sole control. According to Land Registry documents, the building appears to be separately owned by Derrick, Darren and Karen Lefcoe. No one from either party responded to attempts for comment. The store’s last public accounts cover the year to September 2022 and show the company was £17,643 in the red. There are suggestions that the shop may have history stretching back to the 19th century, but other accounts say it has only been in the area for a few decades. Open 24/7, the Beigel Shop has existed in some form or another from its current site since at least 1987, when a pair of Israeli brothers bought the then-Evering Bakery business. Its sign claims it was founded in 1855.