Pizza 1889 launches franchise programme, aiming for up to two further sites in 2024 and five a year thereafter: Pizza 1889 – the Italian Street pizza concept taking its name from the year the margherita pizza was invented and which operates out of shipping containers – has launched a franchise programme and is aiming for up to two further sites in 2024, and five a year thereafter. The company was founded in 2014 by husband and wife team Daniel and Lynda Southwell and recently opened its fourth site – at Templars Shopping Park in Oxford. Pizza 1889 also operates sites in Bristol, Cambridge and London’s Surrey Quays. The business has partnered with the Paolo Peretti Group, led by Paolo Peretti, a former retail managing director for Patisserie Valerie, to lead its growth plans. “We’re looking to take it slowly and get one or two more sites open this year, perhaps five a year thereafter – we’re not in a massive rush,” Peretti told Propel. “Being a shipping container, the unusual concept has a fair bit of mileage with location opportunities. It can go anywhere from retail parks and shopping centres to petrol station forecourts or airports. Franchising with Pizza 1889 is very different as you are in effect purchasing an asset, and if your initial location isn’t working for you, you can ‘lift and shift’ it somewhere else. You are essentially buying a ‘plug and play’ fully fitted turnkey operation – ready to open on arrival. We’ll help you find a lease, and you have the flexibility to move location if necessary. We’re looking at anything from Central London, outside of London and going up to the Midlands. The concept offers a simple menu with fresh, traditional Neapolitan-style pizza, handmade entirely onsite and cooked by fully trained staff through a simplified training programme that recreates traditional techniques using fresh ingredients. With a state-of-the-art six-foot stone oven as its showpiece, the small 40-foot store has instore seating capacity, offering a really fantastic proposition for pizza enthusiasts. I can’t wait to get cracking with the team at Pizza 1889 and do what we do best – which is to support ambitious hospitality businesses.” Since becoming a franchise consultant, Peretti has helped grow Indian street food businesses Karak Chaii and Tikka Nation to 20 and seven sites respectively. He has also helped develop franchise programmes for better burger business Yoh Burger and Chinese comfort food concept Rice Guys. Pizza 1889 will feature in the next Propel UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database, an exhaustive guide to the companies offering a food and beverage franchise in the UK available exclusively to Premium Club members. The database is updated every two months, and the next version will features 260 businesses. 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.

Premium Club members to receive next Who’s Who of UK Hospitality today: Premium Club members will receive the next edition of the Who’s Who of UK Hospitality today (Friday, 24 May) at midday. This month’s edition includes 872 companies and more than 236,000 words of content. There are 42 updated entries and 11 new companies. 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 Club members will also receive all the videos from this month’s Excellence in Pub & Bar Retailing Conference on Friday, 31 May at 9am. They will include Chris Stagg, who heads up the Revolution Bars Group-owned Peach Pubs, speaking about evolving and growing the business under new ownership, standing out in the premium pub market, and creating an award-winning culture. Meanwhile, Philip Turner, managing director of Chestnut Inns, talks about creating sustainable rural managed pubs and diversifying the business, such as acquiring a wine merchant, as part of its growth strategy. Premium Club members also receive access to five other databases: the Multi-Site Database, produced in association with Virgate; the New Openings Database; the Turnover & Profits Blue Book; the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database and the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database. All Premium Clubs members will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to Propel paid-for events including Social Media for Profit (18 July), the Talent and Training Conference (1 October) and Restaurant Marketer and Innovator (two days in January 2025). Operators that are Premium Club members are also 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 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 supplier. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.

Prestige Purchasing – the fight with inflation is not over but we’re on the cusp of the last phase: The fight with inflation is not over but we’re on the cusp of the last phase of the journey, Prestige Purchasing founder David Read has argued. Writing exclusively in today’s (Friday, 24 May) Propel’s Friday Opinion, Read said it is wrong to assume that because the consumer price index (currently at around a half of food price inflation) is approaching historically stable levels, the inflation game in hospitality is almost over. “With the headline rate of food price inflation falling last month to 6.9% (and likely to fall further), it’s easy to see why I have heard some hospitality leaders say that the fight with inflation is all but over,” he said. “But right now, we are on the cusp of the last phase of this journey – the one where many market prices actually fall month-on-month. This is the final quarter of this particular match and is, of course, the period in which the game will be either won or lost. Effectively managing this last quarter of the match could easily be worth 1% point of margin, so even if you think it’s all over….it isn’t, even now.” Read will share more of his thoughts in today’s Friday Opinion, which will be sent out at 11am.

Sector comes together to drive innovation: More than 100 hospitality businesses came together in Oxford to collaborate with technologists, consultants and professors on improving productivity and driving innovation in hospitality. Hosted by Oxford Brookes Business School and supported by the Department for Business and Trade and UKHospitality, the first accelerator event was run by Jane O’Riordan as part of the Hospitality Sector Council. The day facilitated discussion and workshops that were designed to stimulate innovative ideas around customer experience, streamlining tasks in a lively hospitality environment, and dealing with production and delivery. The innovation working group, which O’Riordan chairs and sits under the council, will now develop key outputs of the event and share them across the industry. O’Riordan said: “Events like this are so important to provide an opportunity for operators to dedicate time to coming up with innovative solutions to drive our productivity. Hospitality’s creativity and flair to come up with new ideas was clear to see and I’m confident that this debut event will be the start of a successful series of events to drive this important agenda.”

Britvic MD – the number of people cutting down their alcohol intake gives soft drinks their opportunity to shine: Paul Graham, UK managing director at Britvic, has said the number of people cutting down their alcohol intake is giving soft drinks their opportunity to shine. Graham was speaking at Britvic’s latest annual Soft Drinks Review, in which he highlighted why total sales of £20.3bn in 2023 were up 12.6% versus pre-pandemic 2019. Of this, foodservice outlets contributed £3bn (volume up 0.8% versus 2022) and licensed outlets £4.6bn (volume down 3.5%). He said while licensed venues suffered as people went out less often, fast food operators benefitted the most within foodservice as people traded down to cheaper alternatives. “There’s still a challenge around finances – people still want to go out and trade up but still there’s a niggly doubt, so there’s muted optimism,” he said. “The good news is 86% of people still think good quality has a price and 73% say they are happy to pay more for higher quality. The demand for premium soft drinks and those that offer additional health benefits continue to surge, and the number of people cutting down their alcohol intake continues to give soft drinks their opportunity to shine across channels – 46% of drinkers say they’re trying to consume less alcohol.” Iced coffee was highlighted by Graham as having the potential for “real growth space”. He added: “I’m once again proud in the relevance, resilience and ability to excite of the soft drink category, and I’m looking forward with a sense of renewed strength and optimism. We’re expecting growth to continue and believe Britvic will continue to outperform the market. 2024 is a year for soft drinks to continue to make a splash as a category, not only maintaining, but championing its relevance.” Graham also welcomed the nationwide roll out of the deposit return scheme in 2027 and said he feels confident any change in ruling party or leader at July’s general election won’t cause further delays. “We’re very supportive of it as it’s an absolutely integral part of solving end of use packaging,” he said. “It’s tangible and people understand it, but we need to work with stakeholders to make sure it has good legislation and a good design, as it has to be able to work.”

British Land boss says office occupancy is at pre-pandemic levels: Offices during the middle of the week are now as full as they were before the pandemic and are starting to get busier on Mondays as well, according to the boss of one of Britain’s biggest landlords. The Times reported Simon Carter, the chief executive of British Land, which owns almost £9bn of offices, retail parks and warehouses nationwide, said that Fridays “feel like they’ve probably gone [because working patterns] have fundamentally changed” since covid. However, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, occupancy levels at offices owned by British Land are back up to almost 80%, having plunged to almost zero during the first and second pandemic lockdowns. Carter estimated that this was about as busy as they had been before covid emerged. The return to the office has not been as pronounced on Mondays, with many people choosing to work from home on the first day of the week, although data suggests that is changing. “The return to the office continues,” Carter said. “If you look at our portfolio, occupancy is up 17% year-on-year. In the middle of the week, we are back to where we were pre-pandemic and what we’re seeing is that Monday occupancy is continuing to go up.” The future of offices has been under threat since the pandemic forced more people to start working from home. Carter insisted that older buildings would struggle to attract businesses, which increasingly are wanting to base themselves in newer, “greener” office blocks.

 

Job of the day: COREcruitment is working with a contract catering company that is looking for a client relationship manager. A COREcruitment spokesperson said: “You will be responsible for the development of new business including presentations and bids, and the nurturing of a great existing client portfolio across business and industries and independent schools. Reporting into the managing director, you will have a wealth of support including bid writing and pipeline development/lead generation. You will bring a clear understanding of the market and its trends and be a true sector specialist within contract catering, someone with an operational background and understanding would be ideal. Alternatively, this could suit someone who has experience within selling into the contract catering sector. It would be great if you have experience working with high-end business and industry clients and experience within sales and retention. An understanding of the company’s ethos is essential. You will also be an excellent communicator and financially savvy operator.” The salary for this national position is up to £60,000. For more information, email dan@corecruitment.com. 

 

Taco Bell MD – UK is one of four priority markets being targeted for growth: Scott Mezvinsky, managing director of Taco Bell, has said the UK is one of four priority markets being targeted for the brand’s growing global presence. Taco Bell operates circa 135 sites in the UK but is now looking to ramp up growth here. Mezvinsky, whose position as North American managing director was expanded in February to include the brand’s international division, told Nation’s Restaurant News: “Our business is heavily skewed toward the US right now, but can we be one big global brand? Part of that is acting as one enterprise. I get really excited about the international prospects of Taco Bell. We’re a long way from where we want to be, what the potential is. Certainly, our sister brands at Yum!, KFC (30,000 global restaurants) and Pizza Hut (about 19,000 global units) show us what’s possible. I feel good and positive about the prospects for Taco Bell international. The world needs more Taco Bell.” There are four priority markets targeted for the brand’s growing global presence – the UK, China, India and Spain. The markets that perform the best, Mezvinsky added, are those with established franchisee partners who share the company’s vision to build international markets and teach the consumers what the brand is about. He said: “The evolution of that strategy is we’ve gotten to 100 restaurants in those four markets, so now let’s make sure the brand’s working and doing what it needs to be doing from an economic perspective, from a brand consumer perspective. How do we get to 250 restaurants? What are the next stages?” As Taco Bell begins to scale in certain international markets, more franchisees have started to show interest, Mezvinsky said. Some operate Yum!’s sister concepts. The best partners, he added, are those that come to the company and not vice versa. Meanwhile, Hertfordshire franchisee Soul Foods Group has opened Taco Bell’s first fully digital restaurant, in the Canadian city of Toronto. The family-owned business, which was established in the UK and has expanded into Canada, operates more than 400 KFC, Starbucks and Taco Bell restaurants across the two countries. “We are delighted to share that Soul has opened Taco Bell’s first fully digital restaurant, at 257 College Street in downtown Toronto,” the group said. “With the convenience of mobile pick-up, delivery and kiosk ordering, this restaurant caters perfectly to the fast-paced lifestyle of downtown, while our vibrant dining room provides a welcoming atmosphere for those who prefer to relax and dine in.”

Island Poke set for restructuring via CVA: London-based health food chain Island Poke is set for a restructuring via a company voluntary arrangement (CVA). City AM reports that two partners from Begbies Traynor, one from the firm’s business rescue and recovery team and the other from its insolvency group, are named as nominees for the chain to file an application to the High Court. The partners submitted a CVA application to the court earlier this week on behalf of Island Poke. Island Poke first opened in 2016 in Soho’s Kingly Street. Since then, it has grown to have 16 restaurants across the capital including in Canary Wharf, Broadgate Circle and Bank, as well as a branch in Brighton. The chain specialises in poke, a Hawaiian dish made up of diced raw fish tossed in sauce and vegetables. It also credits itself as creating Europe’s first vegan poke. The company was approached for a comment and Begbies Traynor has been approached for comment.

 

Punch launches new management partnerships division structure, appoints Jason Flexen ops director: Punch Pubs, the Clive Chesser-led business, has introduced a new structure across its circa 270-strong management partnerships division (MPD), as it looks to improve partner, guest and employee experience. The new structure sees the division split between Locals and Fireside, with the former incorporating the Mighty Local and Our Local formats, and the latter comprising Fireside Inns, the Fireside Collection and Fireside Town & City. The company has hired Jason Flexen, who has spent nearly 17 years at Greene King, including most recently as business unit director of Greene King Food Pubs, as operations director for the Locals division. At the same time, it has promoted Jannine Leadbetter, who has been with Punch since October 2019, to operations director of Fireside. Speaking at Propel’s Excellence in Pub & Bar Retailing Conference, Robin Belither, managing director at Punch, said: “What became clear from our review of MPD is that in order for us to be the best possible partner in the market we needed specialist teams. So, we’ve taken the bold decision to do exactly that. We now have a critical mass where we can break the business up nationally and have enough scale to give both a great use of overhead from a Punch perspective and to offer a much better service locally to our partners. We're really pleased to say we've now developed two divisions – Locals, which are 170 predominantly drink-led, sport, community heroes; and Fireside, 100 beautifully curated rural town and country pubs with a quality food offer. Both these new divisions are led by separate operations directors, with specialist marketing and recruitment support. While we could do things more simply and have it all in one space, this whole structure is all about improving partner, guest and employee experience. It allows us to totally focus on the dial movers, the detail that sits below the waterline that every operator wants to get to. In the Fireside space that might be leveraging our guest and booking systems to the best possible degree or in the Locals space making sure every machine, TV and sport experience is as perfect as it possibly can be. That’s the stuff you don't get to in a generalist structure and we can now start to unlock the full potential in every single pub. We believe that there's another tranche of organic growth within Punch that will come from this specialism, then more through transfers and acquisitions. We're endeavouring to be a five-star pubco and offer the best possible partnership in the industry and we now have the foundations in place to accelerate growth.” Propel Premium Club members will receive all the videos from the Excellence in Pub & Bar Retailing Conference on Friday, 31 May at 9am. A 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 supplier. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up. 

Frontier Pubs acquires three London pubs from Old Spot: Frontier Pubs, the London partnership between Stonegate Group and the Dame Karen Jones-led Pioneer Hospitality, has acquired three sites in the capital from the Old Spot Pub Co, Propel has learned. Frontier has acquired the Duke of York (St John’s Wood), The Palmerston, (Dulwich) and The Star Of The East (Westferry), from Old Spot Pub Co, which was founded and run by Bernard O’Neill and Dave Ford. The acquisition takes the total number of Frontier sites to 15, situated in and around London. The deal also leaves Old Spot Pub Co with 15 sites spread across the south east and the Midlands. Peter Myers, chief executive of Frontier, told Propel: “We are delighted to welcome these three pubs, together with the great managers and people who run them, into Frontier. The pubs thrived under Bernard and Dave’s leadership and we are intent on building on that success for the teams and their loyal customers.” O’Neill said: “We couldn’t want for a better future owner of these three lovely pubs than Frontier. We share the same values and are equally passionate about pubs, people and hospitality.” Frontier was founded in 2016 by Myers, Jo Cumming and Jones as a joint venture with Stonegate. The business is chaired by Jones, who is also the chair of Hawksmoor, with a management team headed up by Myers and Cumming, the team behind the successful growth and subsequent sale of Food & Fuel.

  

Buxton Brewery bought out of administration for £120,000: Derbyshire brewer and retailer Buxton Brewery was acquired out of administration by local high-net-worth individual Jeremy Middleton, for a total consideration of £120,000, Propel has learned. Rick Harrison and Howard Smith, of Interpath Advisory, were appointed joint administrators to Buxton Brewery Company and Axe Edge Bars on 20 May 2024. Founded in 2009 and operating from a custom designed and built brewhouse in Buxton, Derbyshire, the business is a producer and retailer of craft ale, producing upwards of 30 distinct brews, with volumes of around 3,500 litres per brew, daily. Trading under the Buxton Brewery brand, it supplies several supermarkets and pub brands nationally, as well as exporting overseas. In addition, the group also operates four taprooms and bars located in Buxton, alongside a pop-up bottle shop and online store. Immediately following their appointment, the joint administrators sold certain of the business and assets of the group to Happy Place Investors, which is backed by Middleton, who lives locally to Buxton. Middleton is the former chief executive of Media Square and ex-chairman of Hangar Seven, which The Hut Group acquired in 2017. He was believed to be looking to inject equity into Buxton Brewery last year. Interpath received two offers for the business, with a rival bid to Middleton’s of £145,000 coming in from an unnamed party, which wished to acquire the business and assets of the brewery via a pre-packaged sale and the shares of Axe Edge Bars on a solvent basis. The administrators said that despite this offer having a higher headline price, with no insolvency of Axe Edge Bars, Middleton’s offer was considered to provide a greater return to creditors as a whole. The administrators report stated: “Subdued trading continued during the year to March 2023, which resulted in operating losses of circa £400,000 with a cash impact of circa £500,000. The business took on a Recovery Loan Scheme loan from Investec Asset Finance (£300,000) to support the company together with other short-term unsecured funding. However, cash flows remained constrained in part due to the increase in debt servicing costs. The business was unable to repay amounts due to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), which totalled circa £500,000 as per the most recent set of management accounts (January 2024). In December 2023, the director approached a number of the company’s lenders and asset finance providers in an attempt to secure the refinancing of existing liabilities. These efforts were unsuccessful, and as a result the business was unable to demonstrate the required future cash flows necessary for a Time to Pay agreement with HMRC to be agreed. In order to assess their options in view of the ongoing liquidity position, the directors therefore approached Interpath to explore the refinance and sale options for the group.”

Wingstop UK secures Bolton site: Lemon Pepper Holdings, the company behind the rollout of Wingstop in the UK, has added a site in Bolton to its 2024 opening pipeline. The business, which is on track to surpass the 50-site mark this summer, has secured the former YO! site at the Middlebrook scheme, for an opening later this year. Lemon Pepper Holdings, which launched the brand in the UK in 2018, recently secured a site in the White Rose shopping centre in Leeds, for an opening in August. It comes after Wingstop opened its debut restaurant in the city’s Boar Lane last month, which it told Propel had been a “record-breaking launch”. Wingstop will open its next site, its 45th, later this month at Croydon Valley Retail Park, while further sites in the capital at Westfield Stratford and Wood Green along with Milton Keynes are scheduled to open over June and July. Wingstop UK has also secured an opening on the former TSB site at 31 New Broadway, Ealing, and is believed to be in talks on sites in Crawley and Bradford. Mark Segal, of Brasier Freeth, acts for Wingstop UK.

Team behind Blanchette to launch new wood-fired concept: The team behind French bistro Blanchette is to open a new wood-fired restaurant concept in London’s Soho. The business, which is the brainchild of brothers Maxime, Malik and Yannis Alary, is to open the new venture called Goldies on the ground floor of Kingly Court. Blanchette currently operates a site in D'Arblay Street, Soho, after closing its other site in Brick Lane. Goldies will join other new openings – The Counter and The Little Violet Door – in Carnaby. The Alarys launched Blanchette, which is named after their mother, in 2013. It comes as Kingly Court landlord Shaftesbury reported strong retail and hospitality leasing demand across its central London portfolio, with 23 new concepts and brands introduced.

The Chilli Pickle places its remaining site on the market: Award-winning, Brighton-based Indian restaurant The Chilli Pickle has placed its remaining site on the market. Husband-and-wife team Alun and Dawn Sperring, who launched the concept in 2008, opened the 115-cover site in Brighton’s Jubilee Street, in 2011. They have now appointed DCL to market the site. In 2017, The Chilli Pickle partnered with investment and advisory firm Imagine Capital to inject funds into expanding the concept. The Chilli Pickle subsequently expanded to Guildford in 2018, opening on the former Jackson & Rye site in the city’s High Street, only to close the following year.

Former The Fat Duck and Aubry chef Mary-Ellen McTague to launch Manchester restaurant: Former The Fat Duck and Aubry chef Mary-Ellen McTague is to launch new restaurant Pip at the upcoming Treehouse Hotel in Manchester. Launching alongside the hotel in late summer, Pip will be located on the ground floor of Treehouse Hotel Manchester and will offer a menu that “champions low-waste cooking and seasonal ingredients”. Treehouse Hotel Manchester, by SH Hotels & Resorts, will be the second property for the Treehouse Hotels brand to open in the UK, after an opening in London’s Marylebone. With more than 20 years of experience in hospitality and as a restaurateur, Manchester-born McTague has worked alongside Heston Blumenthal at his Michelin-starred restaurants, The Fat Duck and The Hinds Head. McTague said: “I'm thrilled to bring Pip to life at Treehouse Hotel Manchester. This restaurant is a celebration of everything I am passionate about – seasonal, low-waste cooking, and the incredible produce we have here in the north west. The menu is designed to showcase the best of our local culinary heritage, using modern techniques that make the most of every single ingredient. I cannot wait to share our vision for Pip with the Manchester community and beyond.” Tim Reynolds, general manager of Treehouse Hotel Manchester, added: “We are incredibly excited to welcome Pip to Treehouse Hotel Manchester. Mary-Ellen's innovative approach to low-waste cooking and her dedication to using locally sourced ingredients align perfectly with our values. We look forward to offering our guests an extraordinary dining experience that reflects the vibrant spirit of Manchester.”

 

Blend Family launch ‘Europe’s biggest purpose-built food hall’: Blend Family, the team behind Liverpool’s GPO food market and Kargo MKT in Salford’s Media City, has opened what has been described as “Europe’s biggest purpose-built food hall”, in Sheffield. Cambridge Street Collective is 27,000 square feet in size, spread over three floors and featuring circa 20 kitchens. It also houses barbecue and sushi dining spaces, four bars including a Japanese-focused bar, augmented reality darts, kid’s play area, outdoor seating, rooftop terraces, weekly kids and family events, live music, monthly indie markets and is home to the Blend Culinary Foundation community kitchen. The Blend Family is also behind Sheffield’s Cutlery Works food court and the award-winning former Milestone gastropub. The business, which was formerly Milestone Group, was founded by Matt Bigland alongside his wife and business partner, Nina Patel Bigland.⁠ Matt Bigland said: “It took time to curate the perfect selection of kitchens. We’ve never wanted bland or deep-fried food, we always wanted granny’s best recipes. The diversity in the city centre is different to what it used to be, there is a huge Asian market. Sheffield is multi-cultural and everyone gets along, but when it comes to food, the city still plays it safe. We want to bridge the gap and allow people to come in to try new things and we also want the food hall to be a platform for new talent.”

 

Dallas Holdings opens two new UK Pret stores: Franchisee Dallas Holdings, which is leading the roll out of Pret A Manger in North America, has opened two new UK stores. It has acquired sites at 10 High Street in Nottingham and 163-165 High Street in Cheltenham. Dallas Holdings, along with K&Z Holdings, signed up as one of Pret’s first UK franchise partners in 2021, initially taking on four stores in Oxford. The following year, the group signed a deal with Pret to bring a network of stores to southern California, while also adding to Pret’s New York network. The Leicester-based business is led by chief executive Shane Thakrar. It is looking to grow its UK presence in Oxfordshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, and its US footprint in New York, New Jersey, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Orange County and further afield through southern California.

 

Competitive socialising concept Ballerz backed by ex-professional footballers launches: Ballerz, the new competitive socialising concept backed by ex-professional footballers including Rio Ferdinand and Bobby Zamora, has opened its debut site. Propel revealed last summer that the concept – housed in a purpose-built dome with a world class 5G pitch, mini stadium bench and tech-laden skills zones – had lined up Bluewater in Kent for its first site. The 30,000 square-foot Ballerz arena has now launched following a £3m investment in the concept and fit-out. The 500-capacity all-weather dome features stadium-style seating, a players’ tunnel, pro changing rooms and real-time pitch technology, with big screen action replays. It is also home to the Ballerz Cafe and Players’ Lounge, which offers a full menu of light bites, mains, cocktails and drinks and can also host evening entertainment and corporate events. Ferdinand said: “We’ve developed a tech-loaded pitch and immersive atmosphere for those who love to play and watch the beautiful game. There’re loads of unique touches that are creating a space to socialise, compete and have fun.” The operational team includes ex-Groucho Club managing director Matt Hobbs and former Chelsea FC development coach Sam Hubert. Ben Childs, formerly of Puttshack and Junkyard Golf, has joined as operations director. Ballerz is expected to attract 250,000 visitors in its first 12 months and has created 50 jobs.

 

Domino’s franchisee who opened first Amorino in Wales set to launch six more over next two years: Domino’s franchisee DP Shayban, which opened the first site in Wales for Italian gelato brand Amorino, is set to launch six more over the next two years. The group, led by Shayban Alibrahim, become a Domino’s franchisee in 2001 and has since grown the business to more than 40 sites across England and Wales. In August 2023, it took on the Amorino franchise for the south west and opened its debut store in a former William Hill bookmakers at 11 St John Street in Cardiff. “Seeing the potential and the positive response from customers, I am excited to expand further,” Alibrahim told whichfranchise. “I have plans to open stores in Bath, Exeter, and Brighton this year.” These, he said, will be followed by three further stores in 2025. Alibrahim said his journey with the brand started after visiting an Amorino store in Paris, after which he reached out to master franchisee, Hubert Attali. Amorino currently has 29 UK sites as it builds towards a stated aim of 50 by 2025. 

 

Scottish Pizza Hut franchisee to take estate to 20 with clutch of summer openings: Scottish Pizza Hut franchisee Glenshire Group is set to take its estate with the brand to 20 with a clutch of summer openings. The group, which is also behind convenience store brand Greens Retail, became a Pizza Hut franchisee in September 2023 and opened its first site next to his Greens store in Kirkcaldy. Two months later, the group, which is led by Harris Aslam, and which also owns frozen drinks brand Skwishee, acquired 16 Pizza Hut delivery sites, and is focusing on multi-brand openings. “An incredibly busy week, with the first of many Greens Retail and Glenshire Group brand Pizza Hut store openings, kicking off a series of summer opening with Greens of Braemar and Pizza Hut Hillington, Glasgow,” Aslam said. “The imminent launches in Broughty Ferry, Aberdeen, Corstorphine and Shettleston will include our 25th Greens site and 20th Pizza Hut – also taking our family to a strength of more than 1,000 colleagues. An incredible amount of relentless effort goes in behind the scenes to make this all possible – from site acquisition to working with stakeholders to implement the Pizza Hut global brand in a localised manner. Though most proudly, I love our team’s commitment to our core values and constant desire to innovate to achieve them.” Aslam last month revealed a pipeline of more than 30 acquisitions and said he is planning “many more openings”.

 

Two new operators join line-up at Norwich ‘market hall’ space: Castle Social, the “market hall” style street food and entertainment space at Castle Quarter in Norwich, has added two new casual dining operators to its line-up. Giant Yorkie Roast Co and Gringos Nacho Factory are the two latest operators to open kiosks in Castle Social, joining the Pinker & Green bar within the space. Castle Social is the first permanent kitchens for both operators. Giant Yorkie Roast Co sells roast dinner-style wraps filled with turkey, beef brisket, pulled pork and a range of vegetarian options with all the trimmings. Gringos Nacho Factory specialises in Tex-Mex dishes, including loaded nachos, burritos and tacos. Will Ashdown, asset manager at RivingtonHark, which operates the Castle Quarter, said: “Castle Social provides a unique space in Norwich, both for visitors to enjoy and street food operators to try out new concepts, something that is strengthened by the arrival of Giant Yorkie Roast Co and Gringos Nacho Factory.” Roche and Jamieson Mills are the retained agents on Castle Quarter.

 

New owners of Northampton holiday park unveil plans for site including new F&B offerings: The new owner of Northampton holiday park Billing Aquadrome has unveiled its plans for site including new food and beverage offerings. Meadow Bay Villages, which also owns Hayling Island in Hampshire and Golden Leas in Kent, bought Billing Aquadrome along with nearby Coggenhoe Mill in March, rescuing the two parks from a ten-month stint in administration. The firm then said it was investing more than £3m into Billing Aquadrome as an initial investment. In an update with the Chronicle & Echo, Meadow Bay Villages chief executive Geoffrey Smith said: “There is a lot of work to do to rejuvenate the resort, but I’m delighted that we’ve already hit the ground running with our short-term goals while working on our plans for long-term investment. We are now advertising for more than 100 seasonal staff to join us for the summer season. The first stage of upgrades to some of our facilities are also well underway. We’re introducing new dining options in our main complex including Papa John’s and Smash Burgers. Work will also be completed shortly on a renewal of existing stage and outdoor infrastructure, while we are also working on our touring pitches to ensure they are an attractive proposition for guests this summer. This is very much the first step in a long-term plan for serious investment in Billing Aquadrome. We’re really optimistic about the future and will also continue to engage with owners and guests to hear what they want in the coming years.”

 

Norfolk operators open new bar in Norwich: Norfolk operators Toby Westgarth and Dominic Burke have opened a new bar in Norwich. The business partners, who already operate bottle shop and bar Sir Toby’s Beers in the city’s Market Place, have opened Bier Draak at 42 King Street. As well as previously being a cocktail bar, between 2011 and 2019, the site was previously Cafe Du Commerce, and before that, Femi's restaurant. The duo also run The Stanford Arms in Lowestoft and another branch of Sir Toby’s Beers at Lowestoft’s East Point Pavilion.

Devon rum business secures funding to support growth plans: Devon rum business Two Drifters has secured a £100,000 funding facility from Time Finance to support its growth plans. Two Drifters was set up by husband-and-wife duo Russ and Gemma Wakeham in 2019. The deal has been arranged to help fund the small and medium-sized enterprises’ alcohol tax duty, enabling the business to bottle and distribute more of its sustainably produced rum. The funding from Time Finance will now allow the business to expand the production capacity at its distillery by easing the cash flow challenges of making and shipping alcohol. Recently, the couple have also opened their distillery to the public for tours and required additional funding for an on-site bar to serve customers. Russ Wakeham said: “The business is growing at a fantastic rate, and we want to keep it that way, and with this facility we can continue to create the very best, carbon negative rum.”

  

Leaseholder to ‘reinvent’ UK’s oldest working cinema following closure: The leaseholder of the UK’s oldest working cinema has pledged to “reinvent” the venue following its closure earlier this year. The Electric Cinema in Birmingham's historic Station Street closed in February. Leaseholder Glenbrook told a public session it had ambitions of “reinventing” the cinema, which dates from 1909, and seeing the street transformed into “a wider cultural walk”, reports the BBC. But it said the plans it said would need “significant” funding, which could be supported through built-to-rent homes in a tower block. “The Electric has evolved through time to survive – built, rebuilt, and adapted on multiple occasions,” the property developer said. “We believe it needs to evolve again, to survive and thrive for another century." It said the changes could make the venue a “flagship focal point for film in the city” and a “cultural catalyst” for the successful future of the whole street. It said The Electric's independence would “remain critical” and it did not intend on working with a cinema brand. A new facade paying homage to the original art deco design could be the best solution due to the building's condition, it said. However, it stressed plans had not yet progressed “beyond an initial concept”.