Permanently Unique Group to launch new restaurant and music venue: Permanently Unique Group, the independent restaurant business formerly known as Tattu, is to launch a new restaurant and musical venue called Louis in Manchester, this autumn. Located in the city’s Spinningfields, in the ex-Carluccio’s site in Hardman Square, Louis will be “an ode to the classic New York restaurants that are often portrayed on the silver screen as a home from home, where guests are welcomed into an intimate booth, surrounded by quietly excellent cooking and perfectly mixed cocktails, while live performances provide the soundtrack to the evening”. The venue’s menu will be overseen by executive chef Ippokratis Anagnostelis. It will be a dinner-only venue and will open five nights a week, with a reservation only policy. Akin to the era that has inspired much of Louis, the restaurant will encourage a no-photo environment, with an emphasis on “lived-experience over content creation”. As well as having classic Italian dishes, Louis will also be the home of nightly musical performances. The company said: “As a city known for its musical prowess, Louis will instil the quintessential Manchester ear for fresh new talent into the Louis line-up, alongside a weekly roster of performers – from soul singers and pianists to jazz quartets and full swing bands. Each evening will be an entirely new experience, yet the familiar feeling of being at Louis, among friends, will be a constant.” The high-end restaurant group, which was founded in Manchester in 2015 by brothers Adam and Drew Jones, launched its new Fenix concept, which focuses on modern Greek-Mediterranean cuisine, last November in Manchester’s Goods Yard Building. In 2022, the business entered the London market with the launch of Tattu London at The Outernet development, following the success of its existing locations in Leeds, Birmingham and Edinburgh and the original Tattu in Manchester. Permanently Unique Group features in the Premium Club Turnover & Profits Blue Book, which has grown to 875 companies and is available exclusively to Premium Club members. Its turnover of £26,448,754 for the year ending 31 March 2022 is the 337th highest in the database. The Blue Book ranks companies by turnover, profit and profit conversion, listing directors’ earnings for the past five years. 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. The single subscription rate is £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription.

Ofcom rejects BrewDog complaint over BBC documentary: A complaint by BrewDog about a BBC documentary that highlighted allegations of inappropriate behaviour against the company’s chief executive has been rejected by Ofcom. BrewDog claimed the company and its chief executive James Watt were treated unfairly by a Disclosure programme entitled The Truth about BrewDog. It also said the programme had infringed Watt’s right to privacy. But the complaint has now been dismissed by the broadcasting watchdog. BBC News reported that in its written decision, Ofcom said that facts were not presented, disregarded or omitted by the documentary in a way that was unfair. It said BrewDog and Watt had been given an appropriate and timely opportunity to respond to the allegations made in the programme, and their response was fairly reflected in the broadcast. Ofcom also said that Watt’s legitimate expectation of privacy did not, on balance, outweigh the broadcaster's right to freedom of expression and the public interest in obtaining and including the material in the programme. Therefore, it said, there was no unwarranted infringement of Watt's privacy in connection with the obtaining and subsequent broadcast of material, which included allegations that he had bought £500,000 of shares in Heineken and invested £2m in a hedge fund in the Cayman Islands. The documentary looked at BrewDog’s marketing strategy and commercial practices in the context of claims about its corporate culture. The BBC Scotland Disclosure team started investigating BrewDog after almost 300 former and current employees signed a letter accusing Watt of presiding over a toxic culture of fear. Watt declined to be interviewed for the Disclosure programme, which made no allegations of criminal behaviour, but his lawyer denied all of the claims that were made against him by the former employees. Following the broadcast of the documentary and a related story on the BBC News website, Watt said the BBC had published claims that were totally false despite the extensive evidence he had provided. Watt also said he hugely regretted “anyone feeling in any way uncomfortable around me, as the programme set out”. He added: "This is absolutely the last thing I want and something I will learn from immediately. I truly apologise to anyone who felt that way. This was never my intention. However, I would argue that people feeling uncomfortable around me based on false rumours and misinformation does not represent inappropriate behaviour on my behalf.”