Ocean Basket ready to franchise in the UK after refining model, 50 sites here a ‘very conservative’ estimate: Ocean Basket, the South African seafood-focused casual dining brand, has told Propel it is ready to franchise in the UK after “learning from our mistakes, and immersing ourselves in all aspects of the UK restaurant environment” – and that 50 sites here is a “very conservative” estimate. Founded in Pretoria in 1995 and having since grown to more than 180 sites in 15 countries, Ocean Basket launched in the UK in 2022 in the south east London suburb of Bromley. Despite franchising in other markets, it resisted doing so here at first – instead focusing on learning the UK market while opening company-owned stores, with a second following in Kingston-upon-Thames, south west London. “Kingston is a destination town, and that site is doing very well, but we knew Bromley wouldn’t be an instant cash cow,” chief executive Grace Harding told Propel. “We chose Bromley deliberately. It was the right area to train our team and test the menu and model. After adapting, refining and building a strong UK team, we are now ready to grow and ready to franchise. We hope to get a first new site open perhaps in the autumn of 2025, and 50 sites is a very conservative estimate – we could do more. Our offering and models are very flexible and could be suited for selected high streets, malls and surrounds of London and the broader UK. We see the UK as a gateway to other markets too.” Harding said quality seafood at an affordable price is an untapped market in the UK, and that in other markets, such as Cyprus, its biggest consumer group has been Brits. Although Greek-infused in style, it can operate in various formats as long as it “makes people feel they’re at the ocean with friends”. Harding added that among those brands that have offered support is fellow South African business Nando’s, which has now grown to circa 400 stores in the UK. “The restaurant community is so collaborative in the UK,” she said. “We are so grateful for the abundant advice from everyone we meet, especially to the Nando’s team, which we truly admire as our ‘forefathers’ in the UK.” Ocean Basket features in the 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 subscribers. The database is updated every two months, and the latest version 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 supplier. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.

 

Tossed MD Neil Sebba to speak at Propel summer conference and party, three free places per company for operators: Neil Sebba, managing director of Tossed, the healthy eating brand, will be among the speakers at the Propel Multi-Club Conference and summer party on Thursday, 5 September, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Oxford Belfry. The all-day conference will focus on “new ideas and directions in an era of strong headwinds” and will be followed in the evening by the summer party, with a barbecue and four hours of live music, including the UK’s best Ed Sheeran Tribute Act, The Ed Sheeran Experience; the UK’s top Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow tribute acts joining forces, Scott Borley and Daniel Hadfield; and the famous house band at Piano Works. Sebba will talk about how administration and covid made Tossed more dynamic and focused. For the full speaker schedule, click here. There are up to three free places per company for operators, but Premium subscribers can have up to four places. To book, email jo.charity@propelinfo.com. A room can also be booked for the evening. For more details, email jo.charity@propelinfo.com.

 

Next edition of Propel Turnover & Profits Blue Book to be sent to Premium Club members today: The next edition of the Propel Turnover & Profits Blue Book will be sent to Premium Club members today (Friday, 12 July), at midday. The 947 companies in the database are turning over a total of £68.0bn. A total of 598 companies are making a profit while 349 are making a loss. The profit being made by sector companies is now outstripping losses by £1.78bn. The Blue Book shows the total profit of the 947 companies in the list is £4,161,037,876 and losses are £2,384,597,270. Meanwhile, 44 companies have had their figures updated. The Blue Book is updated each month and ranks companies by turnover, profit and profit conversion, listing directors’ earnings for the past five years. Premium Club members also receive access to five other databases: the Multi-Site Database, produced in association with Virgate; the New Openings Database; the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database; the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database and the Who's Who of UK Hospitality. All Premium Clubs members will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to Propel paid-for events including 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.

 

Imbiba – it’s essential for people to view the hospitality industry as a positive investment: It’s essential for people to view the hospitality industry as a positive investment, recognising the numerous opportunities it provides – particularly here in the UK – and the continuous potential for growth it possesses, Lizzie Ryan, partner and head of investment at sector investor at Imbiba, has warned. Writing in today’s (Friday, 12 July) Propel Premium, Ryan shares her perspective on the UK’s current investment market, focusing on the resilience of the leisure, lifestyle, wellness and entertainment sectors. She said: “There are a number of great founders who, despite the negativity, are challenging the status quo. We have backed a number of incredible entrepreneurs to develop and support their businesses, including the team of our recent investment in the boutique gym brand, 1Rebel, the ‘king of gyms’, which is blazing a trail in its mission to redefine fitness and wellness. Many businesses have proven their resilience and adaptability, especially over the last few years, and we must continue to shine a light on them. The hospitality sector is a leading UK employer, providing work to more than 3.5 million people, and we need to continue celebrating entrepreneurs and supporting their growth to continue this productivity.” Ryan will share more of her thoughts in today’s Premium Opinion, which will be sent to Premium Club members at 5pm, and includes a piece by Michael Ingemann, chairman of Think Hospitality Consulting, on the contested overlap between restaurants and supermarkets. Imbiba currently backs experiential businesses such as F1 Arcade, Clays, Big Fang Collective and Leisure TV Rights. A new report produced by Propel on the fast-growing experiential leisure sector will be available to purchase on Thursday, 1 August. The report profiles the current shape of the experiential leisure market – including brands, estate size, trading type and geographical location and future trends. It provides a detailed list of UK experiential leisure companies including key staff and Companies House information. The report includes more than 190 companies, 3,500 sites and a 35,000-word report. Existing Premium Club members can receive the report on Thursday, 1 August for £395 plus VAT. The report will be made available for free to existing Premium members on Tuesday, 10 September at 9am. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to order a copy.

 

British workers set to trial choosing their own hours: Hundreds of British workers will be given greater choice over their hours as part of a new pilot by the official four-day week campaign. The six-month project will build on the original 2022 trial, with employers also trying flexible start and finish times, a nine-day fortnight, and compressed hours. Six businesses have already signed up and the campaign’s director told the BBC it is hoping to target around 3,000 employees and 50 companies. The UK’s biggest union, Unison, and several big firms support the experiment, but other companies have abandoned the four-day week after trying it. The campaign’s director Joe Ryle said: “Hundreds of British companies and one local council have already shown a four-day week with no loss of pay can be a win-win for workers and employers.” The campaign is backed by research from Cambridge University and Boston College, with Welsh community housing landlord Bron Afon Community Housing one of the first companies to sign up to the latest trial. Director Unji Mathur said she has already been “impressed” by the impact a shorter working week has had on organisations’ performance, as well as employees’ well-being and retention. The campaign group said that “at least” 54 of the 61 companies that took part have maintained the four-day week a year and a half after the original trial. Ryle will present the results of this second trial to the newly elected Labour government next year. “With a new Labour government, change is in the air, and we hope to see employers embracing this change by signing up to our pilot,” he added.

 

Job of the day: COREcruitment is working with a new bakery opening in north London that is seeking an experienced and creative head baker. A COREcruitment spokesperson said: “You will be involved from conception with the site operating as an independent Italian-style bakery by day and bistro by night. There will be a team of four in the bakery and the site will feature an open kitchen and act as a café bistro. You will have full menu responsibility, and you can also help build your own team. This role would suit a strong head baker with a stable background and experience in a busy bakery restaurant, bistro or independent site.” The salary is up to £50,000 and the position is based in London. For more information, email olly@corecruitment.com.

 

The Coconut Tree enters into CVA: Sri Lankan street food operator The Coconut Tree has entered into a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) as part of a restructuring of the company, Propel has learned. The Coconut Tree is understood to have worked with restructuring experts at Forvis Mazars. It comes after The Coconut Tree closed its site in Cardiff this spring after it said it had decided not to renew the lease on the restaurant in the city’s Mill Lane. It leaves the business, which was founded in 2016 by five Sri Lankan friends living in Cheltenham – Mithra Fernando, Rashinthe Rodrigo, Dhanushka Fernando, Praveen Thangiah and Shamil Fernando – with eight sites trading across Bath, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cheltenham, Oxford and Reading. In January, the company launched a £1m crowdfund campaign, with plans to open two sites in London. The business was offering 10% of equity, with a pre-money valuation of £10m. The business was forecasting having 13 sites by the end of this year, 20 by the end of 2025 and 50 by the end of 2028. It was targeting a valuation of £100m by 2028, with an aim to grow annual revenue from £6.7m to £70m. However, no update on how the crowdfunding campaign went was given and the end date of the campaign was pushed out from 15 January into February, and then into April. Last year, the business said it was preparing a franchise model to “fast-track” its overseas expansion, focusing on Sri Lanka, the country that inspired its offering.

 

Five Guys UK to bolster drive-thru estate: Better burger brand Five Guys is set to ramp up its drive-thru estate in the UK, with a target of opening up to ten sites under the format by the end of 2026, Propel has learned. The circa 170-strong business opened its first drive-thru in the UK, in August 2021, in Middlesbrough's Teesside retail park. It opened a second drive-thru last year at Barton Mills, near Bury St Edmunds. The company recently secured a further drive-thru site at the Liverpool Shopping Park in Edge Lane. Five Guys has also lined up drive-thru openings at the car park of the Showcase Cinema in Winnersh, near Reading; at the Kingswood Leisure Park development in Hull; and on the former Frankie & Benny’s at the Leamington Shopping Park. At the same time, it has also lined up restaurant openings in the former Debenhams site in Winchester, and Fife Leisure Park in Dunfermline. Propel revealed earlier this month that the brand will open new sites in Barnet, West Hampstead and Liverpool over the next few months, as it looks to launch a further 15 to 20 sites in the UK this year. Speaking to Propel about the group’s expansion plans last year, Five Guys UK chief executive John Eckbert said a data algorithm company had told the company it could build another 150 sites here.

 

Buzz Bingo agrees new £12m funding package and extends £22m banking facilities, closes 11 clubs but acquires two more including largest in UK: Buzz Bingo, the largest retail bingo operator in the UK, has agreed a new £12m funding package and extended £22m in banking facilities. It has extended its unitranche term loan facility with Intermediate Capital Group by two years to November 2025, with the lender also providing an additional £12m to support the growth and development of the group. The group’s £14m revolving credit facility and £8m Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme facility have also been extended and now run to September 2025. It comes as the business took the decision to close ten sites during the year ending 13 January 2024, to create a “leaner and more profitable” retail estate. In January 2024, it also closed its Bristol Hengrove club, leaving it with a trading estate of 80 clubs. Since then, Buzz has acquired clubs in Cricklewood and Northampton from Merkur. The Cricklewood venue is the largest bingo site in the UK and holds the Guinness World Record for paying out the largest single bingo house prize of all time (£100,000). The building housing its Sheffield venue has also been listed for sale off a guide price of £3,620,000, but the club remains fully operational. Director Gary Payne said despite the group making “significant progress” during the year, growing underlying Ebitda by 14%, a “challenging environment” for the retail business required “decisive action” in the shape of the closures. As a result, the retail business “improved its performance significantly from the prior year” and grew its customer base, attracting an average younger age group “who are drawn to an exciting and great value leisure activity”. Overall, retail admissions and income grew by 3% and 5% respectively on a like-for-like basis. To help draw in new customers, Payne said the business had found success in running themed events and “experiential versions of bingo”, which bridge the gap between its online product and the in-club experience. The online business grew both its customer base and its revenue, which was up 31% versus the prior year. Revenue was up from £195,101,000 in 2022 to £206,991,000. Of this, £168,115,000 came from retail (2023: £165,386,000) and £38,876,000 from online (2023: £29,715,000). Its pre-tax loss narrowed from £53,648,000 to £30,854,000. Included within the loss were exceptional items of £4,444,000 (2023: £3,248,000) relating to reorganisation and restructuring costs, funding structuring advice and the ongoing enforced closure of the Bradford club following a fire in 2019. No government grants were received (2023: £509,000) while £111,000 was received in business rates relief (2023: £498,000). No dividends were paid (2023: nil).

 

Costa Coffee hires Rhys Iley as new retail and operations director: Costa Coffee, the Coca-Cola Company-owned brand, has hired Rhys Iley, formerly of Starbucks and Patisserie Valerie, as its new retail and operations director for the UK and Ireland. Iley was formerly retail and operations vice-president at Starbucks in Europe, and ex-group commercial director of Patisserie Holdings. He was also previously managing director of Boots Ireland and group commercial director at Mothercare. Three years ago, he launched a new specialty coffee business in Wales, called Cribyn Coffee Company. 

 

Burhill Group’s experiential leisure division reports sales growth of more than 16% in first six months of 2024: Adventure Leisure, the experiential leisure division of Burhill Group, has reported sales growth of more than 16% in the first six months of 2024. The company said the performance was driven by a full six months of sales from the most recent openings at Norwich, Bristol and Romford for its Bunkers and Mulligans adventure golf sites. Adventure Leisure’s 20th site – and 13th under its Mulligans format – opened in Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire on Thursday (11 July). The group’s Ninja Leisure business currently operates five locations and sales are on plan for the six months up to June 2024. It comes as Burhill Group reported record six-month financial results despite industry and external economic challenges. Overall sales for the golf division are up 11% year-on-year, through the six-month period. “It’s pleasing to see the continued growth of the business despite some fairly significant headwinds over the past 18 months, and particularly in 2024,” said group chief executive Colin Mayes. “It is validation for the £10.3m of capital we poured into our golf and leisure businesses in 2023. We are certainly seeing a return on that, but more importantly, it is testament to the entire team and their dedication to providing exemplary facilities and services across our locations.” The group previously reported record sales in 2023, up 11.3% to £60.9m, fuelled by a 16% sales increase in its Adventure Leisure division and 10% growth in the golf division. 

 

Paskin siblings confirm new The Barbary opening in London’s Notting Hill: Brother and sister duo Layo and Zoe Paskin, who are behind the likes of London venues The Palomar in Soho and Evelyn’s Table in Chinatown, have confirmed they will open a new flagship site for their The Barbary restaurant concept in Notting Hill. Propel revealed in April the siblings had acquired space at 112 Westbourne Grove which used to house Maddox Gallery. Now the siblings have confirmed the new incarnation of the Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant will open in September. Like its sister restaurant in Neal’s Yard in Covent Garden, the new venue will take its culinary cues from the vast landscape of the cuisines and countries of the Barbary Coast – from southern Europe to northern Africa – with head chef, Daniel Alt, and group development chef, Aika Levins, at the helm. A 250-strong wine list will feature a selection from both classic and emerging regions and sustainable producers. The 75-cover venue will feature a horseshoe kitchen counter and dedicated cocktail bar. Layo said: “Our flagship restaurant, The Barbary Notting Hill, is a chance for us to bring some of our bigger ideas to life – an expanded dining space and a wider menu offering.” In terms of possible, future projects, Zoe told Propel: “There’s always a prospect of new projects. At this time, we don’t have any further sites in the pipeline. We are completely focused on bringing The Barbary Notting Hill to life and emulating the same energy we’ve built at Neal’s Yard in the Notting Hill neighbourhood.” The Paskins opened the first The Barbary in 2016, their second restaurant following The Palomar, while coffee house Jacob the Angel followed a year later in Seven Dials. The siblings are also behind The Blue Posts and The Mulwray in Soho.

 

Market Taverns seeing businesses steadily recover, FY turnover tops £12m: Market Taverns, the privately owned pub company operating sites across London, has told Propel it is now seeing its businesses “steadily recover” from a “historic period of challenges” with current sales performance “in line with projections”. For the year to 30 September 2023, the 13-strong company posted turnover of £12,289,713 (2022: £10,007,327), with pre-tax profit standing at £604,289 (2022: £379,163). On the period, the business said: “Apart from a disrupted Christmas, the directors are pleased to report that encouraging levels of trade have returned to the estate as a whole. However, cost pressures are worsened with most cost lines rising. Shortages in skilled labour have continued into FY23, with some reduced hours or days of trading in some sites throughout the year. The four new acquisitions that joined Market Taverns have been successfully integrated and all traded profitably. During the year, we made the decision to exit one pub, and the disposal is logged as a post balance sheet event. We acquired one new pub, The Spencer Arms in Putney, towards the end of the year, where we have carried out a refurbishment.” In terms of current trading, a spokesperson for Market Taverns told Propel: “We are now seeing our businesses steadily recover with sales performance in line with projections. We, like many others, are currently enjoying the welcome boost to sales as guests join us across our London bars to watch the Euros.” Market Taverns operates pubs including the Lady Ottoline in Bloomsbury and Chelsea’s Lots Road.

 

C&C Group appoints Andrew Andrea as chief financial and transformation officer: C&C Group has extended the remit of its chief financial officer, Andrew Andrea, appointing the former Marston’s chief executive to the newly established role of chief financial and transformation officer with immediate effect. Andrea joined C&C as its new chief financial officer and executive director in March. In addition to his role as chief financial officer, he will now lead C&C’s transformation programme, which is focused on simplifying operations and enhancing efficiencies across the business. C&C, owner of the Tennent’s, Magners and Bulmers Ireland brands, and Matthew Clark, Bibendum Wine and Walker & Wodehouse, has been targeted by activist investor Engine Capital, demanding a strategic review process that could lead to the business going private. C&C has seen its share price fall 52% in the last five years as it has struggled to retain senior leadership. It has also had four chief executives in under four years following the recent departure of Patrick McMahon after “accounting mistakes” and “failures in the group’s reporting framework” were discovered in the last three years when he was chief financial officer. Former Marston’s chief executive Ralph Findlay has been appointed as chief executive while a long-term successor is found. 

 

Richard Caring-backed restaurants to close early on Sunday so staff can watch Euro final: Richard Caring is closing the majority of his The Ivy Collection sites and all the Bill's restaurants around the country on Sunday at 7pm so staff – more than 5,000 – can go and watch the European Championship final between England and Spain. Bill’s currently operates 45 restaurants across the country. A spokesperson for Caring said: “We are thrilled for the England team, and it is a great chance for our staff, who have worked so hard through some very difficult times recently, to be able to watch the game. It is the first final for England outside of this country and they will now have many more voices cheering them on to what we hope will be a fantastic victory.”

 

Newcastle craft burger concept set to launch in Edinburgh for first site outside of north east: Newcastle craft burger concept Burger Drop, which is looking to expand across the UK through franchising, will open in Edinburgh for its first site outside of the north east. Burger Drop, founded in 2020 by Hasan Hamid and Amer Qayyum, has two sites in its home city and will this summer open its first franchise location, in Whitley Bay, followed by a site in Sunderland. Earlier this month, the business said it had secured its first location outside the region, and Propel understands this will be in Edinburgh city centre. Hamid told Propel in January that he is targeting 150 stores in the next decade and is looking to open five this year.

 

Manero Cinemas secures lease for new three-screen cinema in Sale: Manero Cinemas has secured a 15-year lease for a new three-screen cinema in Sale, Greater Manchester. Manero will open a 153-seat boutique cinema called The Northern Light in a unit currently occupied by WHSmith in Stanley Square for its fifth site. The unit will be vacated at the end of September and work is set to begin at the site later this year, with the cinema opening in early 2025, reports BE News. Tony Mundin, owner and managing director of Manero, said: “We are thrilled to bring an affordable, luxury experience to Sale for everyone to enjoy a regular trip to the cinema. Stanley Square seemed like the perfect location to open The Northern Light, due to the welcoming community of tenants and its revitalised aesthetic.” Manero is the holding company of the Mundin family, which also owns the Rex in Wilmslow, the Savoy in Heaton Moor, the Regal in Melton Mowbray and the Ritz in Belper. Founded in 2020, Manero’s cinemas offer wine, local craft beer and homemade cakes alongside the usual cinema snacks. 

 

Bradford upscale cafe concept launches franchise programme: Bradford upscale cafe concept Delish has launched a franchise programme as it looks to “expand its family”. The restaurant, located at 448 Thornton Road, was launched during the early pandemic months, in 2020, by Shabnum Kausar, whose background is in property development. It offers all-day brunch and fresh patisserie items alongside mocktails, milkshakes and signature lattes. “After several years perfecting our customer offer and fine tuning our operating procedures, Delish Café could be a perfect opportunity for you to join our franchise network, offering both in café and external event catering, an exciting new business with massive growth potential,” the company said. “Your business will be perfectly set up to drive footfall through Delish as well as securing private functions and providing external catering to events in your territory.” For a franchise fee of £9,995 excluding VAT, it is seeking owner-operators, multi-site developers and existing cafe/restaurant owners and will award franchisees an exclusive territory. Delish has partnered with Paul Tough, at Franchise Options, for its growth plans.

 

Afrikana to open in London’s Ilford today: African restaurant concept Afrikana is set to open its latest restaurant today (Friday, 12 July), in Ilford, east London. The 16-strong business will open at Iscene at 92 Clements Road in the town. Earlier this year, Propel revealed that the Omair Ali-led business would follow Ilford with openings in London's Kingston, Holloway and Hounslow over the summer, with further openings slated for this year in Tooting and Reading. In April, Ali opened a first UK site for French taco concept Tacosmash, has a long-term pipeline of 50-plus restaurants for Afrikana. Meanwhile, Afrikana brand and marketing director Syeda Kayanath has opened the first London site for her bubble tea concept, Mowchi. It has launched at 450 Mile End Road in east London, joining its locations in Bradford and in Essex's Lakeside shopping centre. Mowchi's original site, which Kayanath opened in Birmingham's Ladypool Road in 2023, has temporarily closed.

 

Developer/designer behind two London cafes and Margate hotel opens new wine bar in the capital: Developer/designer Gabriel Chipperfield, who is behind two London cafes and a Margate hotel, has opened a new wine bar in the capital. Chipperfield, the son of renowned British architect David Chipperfield, has launched Sol’s at 25 Leinster Terrace, between Bayswater and Paddington. Offering salads and sandwiches at lunchtime, it switches to Mediterranean small plates in the evening, such as deep fried panisse with aioli and tortilla de patatas. There is also a low-intervention, European-focused wine list, reports Hot Dinners. Chipperfield, with his partners at property group Wendover, is also behind Shreeji News and Foreign Exchange News in London, which are newsagents that double up as coffee shops. In 2022, he also partnered with artist Tom Gidley and Matthew Slotover, co-founder of Freize, the media and events company and operator of the Freize Art Fair, for the design-led Fort Road Hotel in Margate. The trio earlier this year launched a new southern European restaurant, Colina, within the hotel.

 

Oodles gearing up to launch in London’s Tottenham: Indo-Chinese concept Oodles in gearing up to launch in Tottenham, north London. Oodles will be opening soon at 491 High Road, the brand’s fourth launch of 2024 following new branches in Portsmouth, Glasgow and Northampton. “It was about time we came to London again – Tottenham this time,” the company posted on social media. “This is a huge milestone for Oodles and we couldn't be prouder. After the phenomenal success of our existing stores in London, we’re thrilled to bring Oodles closer to the amazing community of Tottenham. Our expansion is a testament to the love and demand for our brand, and we’re dedicated to making Oodles accessible to everyone.” The opening will bring Oodles’ UK estate to circa 45 sites, as it builds towards a stated aim of 100 locations.

 

Hotel operator Everbright Group aiming to expand to ten sites as it unveils £2m plan to cut carbon: Hotel operator Everbright Group is aiming to expand its portfolio from seven to ten sites in North Wales and the north of England and has unveiled a £2m plan to cut carbon. The group has invested in green technology at its Llandudno Bay Hotel, cutting its carbon footprint by 84%, while energy bills were slashed from a quoted £300,000 to £100,000. Over the next few years, the eco-friendly approach is going to be replicated across the group’s other hotels. These are the Belmont and the Queens in Llandudno, Rossett Hall near Wrexham, the Wild Pheasant Hotel and Spa in Llangollen, the George Hotel in Penrith and Stonecross Manor in Kendal. Group operations manager Nic Rowland said: “We’ve gone from one site with the Rossett to seven individual properties in the space of eight years with more to come. It’s been an amazing journey.” Rowland said around £150,000 has been invested in the heating system at Llandudno Bay, which has significantly reduced its ongoing costs. He added: “That was a game changer, and we are now going to roll-out the green energy initiative across all our properties. It’s going to be a huge investment of around £2m but it makes total business sense and is also great for the planet.”

 

Kaspa’s set to open in Bishop Auckland to increase north east presence: Dessert franchise brand Kaspa’s is set to launch in Bishop Auckland to increase its presence in the north east. Kaspa’s has sites in Newcastle, Sunderland and Darlington in the region, and is now preparing to launch in Bridge Retail Park in Bishop Auckland. “Amazing to visit the site of one of our newest Kaspa’s locations as we continue our journey of being one of the UK's leading dessert brands and the king of desserts,” said franchise operations manager Matt Smith. “We hope to soon be bringing our deliciously scrumptious desserts to the historic town of Bishop Auckland, which will increase our presence here in the north east. It’s also great to be welcoming our latest franchise partner, who starts their very exciting journey with us, and what an amazing location for its first restaurant. Our new restaurant will have some fantastic neighbours, including a stunning Popeyes drive-thru that has clearly had a huge impact on the town.” Kaspa’s has grown to more than 100 UK sites since launching in 2013 and has a long-term target of 500 locations here.

 

Musician YolanDa Brown to launch live music venue and dining concept in London: Musician, broadcaster, author and philanthropist, YolanDa Brown, is to open a live music and dining concept in London. Soul Mama will launch in September on the ground floor of Design Hotel, The Gantry in Stratford. The venue will offer a programme of live music across jazz, soul, gospel, reggae and more. Meanwhile, the food will fuse the tastes of Africa, the Caribbean and South America. Executive head chef Aleandro Brown, who has trained under Gordon Ramsay and worked with the likes of Helene Darroz at The Connaught, will lead the kitchen with dishes including one pot creamy coconut chicken curry with rice and peas; and mango jerk cauliflower. The bar will serve rum cocktails as well as a curated wine list, local beer and bar snacks. The venue is launching following a crowdfund last year on Kickstarter, raising £248,148 – the highest amount received for a restaurant start-up on the platform, anywhere in the world. Brown said: “This journey has been filled with passion, belief, dedication, tears, laughter, perseverance, and a lot of hard work. I’m thrilled to see the vision come to life.”