KellyDeli UK launches new partnership with Morrisons, seeing positive like-for-like performance and improved profitability in 2024: KellyDeli, the owner of international sushi franchise Sushi Daily, has launched a new UK partnership with supermarket company Morrisons, Propel has learned. KellyDeli has brought its Happy Tokyo brand to the UK, having opened kiosks at the Morrisons stores in St Albans in Hertfordshire and Kirkstall in Leeds, with another five to ten in the pipeline. The company also said it is seeing positive like-for-like performance in the UK in 2024 and profitability “has improved”. It comes as KellyDeli reported UK sales were down 2.2% to £57,588,236 for the year ending 31 December 2023 compared with £58,892,185 the year before. The company, which operates around 170 sites in Britain, saw pre-tax profit fall to £799,309 from £1,826,340 the previous year. No dividend was paid (2022: £1,745,832). Chief executive Silvano Delnegro told Propel: “2023 was a perfect storm with the macroeconomic challenges and a lack of consumer confidence. 2024 is looking much better and our franchisees feel more confident. We are seeing positive like-for-likes and profitability has improved. Food prices are still quite high, especially salmon, although we are seeing some improvement. We’re working hard to mitigate those costs.” KellyDeli has also been developing its Kelly Loves grocery line, which in the UK is available through Holland & Barrett and Ocado. Delnegro said the focus in the UK is growing its partnerships with mid and upmarket supermarket operators. KellyDeli has partnerships here with Waitrose and Asda. At the Waitrose John Barnes store in London, KellyDeli has added a new hot wok counter, providing customers with hot noodle and rice dishes straight from the wok, available in the specially designed Waitrose Food for Now bay. Founded by South Korean Kelly Choi, KellyDeli’s portfolio of Asian food brands includes Sushi Daily, which was the first business in Europe to introduce kiosks offering ready-to-eat sushi into the grocery retail space. It also includes Happy Tokyo, Bam Tuk and Tuk Tuk. Choi owns 60% of parent company Jimiki, which oversees more than 1,100 franchised stores across Europe and Mexico, having added 120 sites to the portfolio in 2023. Additionally, as part of an ongoing initiative to optimise profitability, it continued to churn the circa 5% bottom performing kiosks. The “challenging macroeconomic” conditions were reflected across the business. Group-wide, revenue was down to €441,727,614 from €451,892,286 the previous year. Ebitda dropped to €24m from €35m the year before. Pre-tax profit fell to €13,837,214 from €28,027,351 the previous year.

TRG chief executive Andy Hornby to speak at final Propel Multi-Club Conference of 2024, open for bookings with free places for operators: Andy Hornby, chief executive of The Restaurant Group, will be among the speakers at the final Propel Multi-Club Conference of 2024. The full-day conference – titled “new directions, new ideas” – takes place on Wednesday, 30 October at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel in London Kensington and is open for bookings. Hornby will talk to Propel group editor Mark Wingett about the company’s plans for Wagamama and Brunning & Price, the role the group’s concessions business plays, and his thoughts on where the wider sector goes from here. For the full speaker schedule, click here. Operators can book up to three free places per company while Premium Club members who are operators can book up to four free places. To book, email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com.

Premium Club members to receive two updated databases this week: Premium Club members will receive two updated databases this week. The latest Propel UK Food & Beverage Franchisor Database will be sent out today (Wednesday, 9 October), at midday. It will have 12 new entries, while two which are no longer franchising have been removed. Among the new entries are French bagel brand Bagelstein, family pub business Ale Hub, London comfort food business Smoke & Pepper and Manchester halal barbecue smokehouse business Pitmaster. The database now has 270 entries and more than 150,000 words of content. The next Propel New Openings Database will then be sent on Friday (11 October). The database will show the details of 216 site openings, including which company has opened a site or its plans to open one in the future. Premium Club members will also receive a 11,941-word report on the 216 new additions to the database. The database includes new openings in the cafe bakery sector such as an opening from Astrid’s Bakery in London’s Muswell Hill, Reeve the Baker with an opening in Dorset and Rosita’s, a Welsh-Italian café bar opening in Caerphilly. Premium Club members will also be sent the videos from this month’s Talent & Training Conference on Friday, 18 October, at 9am. Premium Club members also receive access to four other databases: the Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the Multi-Site 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 Restaurant Marketer and Innovator (two days in January 2025) and Excellence in Pub Retail (May 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.

 

Restaurant Marketer & Innovator Awards and Rising Stars open for entries: The Restaurant Marketer & Innovator (RMI) Awards are back for their seventh year, celebrating outstanding achievements in marketing and innovation across the food and beverage sector. Finalists will be honoured at a grand awards ceremony in London on Wednesday, 22 January, the finale of the three-day Restaurant Marketer & Innovator European Summit. The awards are open to any eating or drinking-out brand across Europe, with 14 categories including best communications, best new product development, best use of technology and innovator of the year. The closing date for entries is Friday, 1 November. In addition to the main awards, the Rising Stars programme is also returning, recognising talented future leaders under 30 in marketing, innovation and strategy roles. This programme is open to young professionals from anywhere in Europe, offering a platform for emerging talent in the sector. James Hacon, co-founder of the awards, said: “The RMI Awards celebrate the extraordinary creativity and forward-thinking that drives our sector. It’s a chance to stand out and be recognised among the industry’s best, whether you’re a start-up with bold ambitions or an established brand evolving to meet the demands of tomorrow’s market.” For more information and to enter the RMI awards, click here, and to nominate for the Rising Stars programme, click here.

Pizza Pilgrims co-founder – hybrid working causing uptick in Sunday trade: The hybrid work revolution has caused a dramatic shift in how UK workers view Sundays, according to Thom Elliot, co-founder of Pizza Pilgrims, the pizzeria brand. Elliot told the PA that he has noticed an uptick in the number of diners in his restaurants on Sundays and is putting this change down to the popularisation of work-from-home Mondays. Footfall at Pizza Pilgrims, which has 24 restaurants across England, most of which are in London, is an indicator of how workers in the capital are shifting their lifestyles to accommodate changing work practices. Elliot, who co-founded Pizza Pilgrims with his brother James in 2012, said this shift had also led to a rise in the number of Thursday diners at his restaurants in anticipation of a remote Friday. As a result, he said, Friday bookings have fallen. “I think the ‘treat meal’ in the week still exists,” said Elliot. “We’ve definitely seen a change in the makeup of that week. Thursdays are now commonly accepted as the new Fridays.” Last month, the business announced it had agreed a deal with The Sloane Stanley Estate for an opening at 219 King’s Road, Chelsea. Pizza Pilgrims said it typically opens six new sites each year. A new restaurant is scheduled to open in London’s King’s Cross in November, while its debut Scottish restaurant, in Edinburgh, is set to launch by December. 

 

Job of the day: COREcruitment is working with a food business that is undergoing another expansion phase and is seeking a franchise development manager to join its team. A COREcruitment spokesperson said: “The position will be responsible for securing new store openings within high potential channels, including travel, entertainment, leisure, petrol forecourt, contract catering, holiday park and motorway services sectors.” The salary is up to £70,000 and the position is based in London. For more information, email mikey@corecruitment.com.

 

Promoted content – introducing Maral, the visionary behind Ayal who is sharing Turkmenistan’s flavours with London’s streets: With the help of the McCain Streets Ahead programme, Maral turned her dream into a thriving business. Through Ayal, she offers Londoners a taste of Turkmen cuisine, from Manti dumplings to traditional palav, highlighting the rich heritage of her culture. To find out more, click here. 

 

Franco Manca alumnus secures backing to launch new fresh pasta concept and eyes rollout: Franco Manca alumnus Ahmos Wasif is eyeing the roll out of new fresh pasta concept Pastino after securing £1m of funding, Propel has learned. Pastino’s backers include Nabil Mankarious, the co-founder and former managing director of Fulham Shore, the owner of the Franco Manca and The Real Greek brands. Wasif will open the first site under the new concept at the start of next month, on the former Greggs site at 92 Tottenham Court Road. The concept is described as a “fast-food meets fresh pasta operation” with orders placed at kiosks. The pasta will then be prepared fresh for dine in or take away. There will be four pastas to choose from – rigatoni, spaghetti, casarecce or macaroni. On top of that, sauces to choose from will include classic carbonara, zozzono (a Roman combo of carbonara and amatriciana), slowed-cooked beef ragu or tiger prawns in a bisque sauce. There will also be stuffed pasta, salads, arancini and classic Italian desserts. Propel understands that Wasif, who began working with Franco Manca at its debut site in Brixton in 2018 before leaving the business earlier this year, raised £1m through the EIS scheme to launch the business and aid the first stage of its roll out, with Mankarious taking part in the fundraising. It is understood that the new venture is already looking at a further two openings in the capital and received interest in launching overseas into two territories. Last month, Propel revealed that Mankarious was part of a group that had acquired Aubaine, the all-day French restaurant and bakery business. Last year, global food company Toridoll Holdings Corporation and partner restaurant sector specialist fund Capdesia acquired Fulham Shore in a £93.4m deal. Mankarious stepped down as managing director of the business he had helped found and develop earlier this year.

 

Portfolio of former TGI Fridays sites placed on the market: A seven-strong portfolio of former TGI Fridays sites has been placed on the market, with premium offers invited, Propel has learned. Earlier this week, the owners of D&D London and Vinoteca completed a deal to acquire TGI Fridays, securing more than 2,000 jobs. Breal Capital and Calveton, which acquired D&D London last year, acquired TGI Fridays through a new vehicle, the Liberty Bar and Restaurant Group. The deal sees TGI Fridays continue to operate across the UK from 51 of its 87 restaurants. The company said it is also hopeful that it may be able to secure further locations following discussions with the landlords. Propel now understands that Teneo – joint administrators of TGI Fridays’ parent company, Thursdays (UK) – have appointed CBRE to market a seven-strong portfolio comprising the TGI Fridays in Chelmsford, Cheltenham, Croydon, Enfield, Lincoln and Watford North, plus the Fridays to Go site in Dundee. Unconditional premium offers are being invited in respect of individual sites, while multi-site offers will be considered. All offers are to be received by midday this Friday (11 October). The 35 TGI Fridays sites that were closed immediately earlier this week are based in Barnsley, Birmingham, Bracknell, Brighton Marina, Bristol Cabot Circus, Cardiff Newport Road, Chelmsford, Cheltenham, Croydon, Derby, Dundee, Durham, Edinburgh Fort Kinnaird, Enfield, Gateshead, Gloucester Quays, Halifax, Jersey, Leeds, Leeds Trinity, Leicester, Lincoln, Manchester Royal Exchange, Newcastle Eldon Square, Newport, Northampton, Prestwich, Romford, Sale, Solihull, Southampton West Quay South, Speke, Sutton Coldfield, Swansea and Watford North.

We Do Play to open UK debut Activate site at The O2 this winter, investing in a multimillion pound roll out that will see 30 sites built in 42 months: We Do Play, the multi-concept experiential leisure operator, has confirmed it is opening the first UK site for immersive games concept Activate at London’s O2 this winter and has committed to investing in a multimillion pound roll out that will see 30 UK Activate sites built in 42 months. Propel reported in August that the company had signed a new 15-year lease for a London venue for Activate at Mount Royal, 530 Oxford Street. This followed We Do Play signing an exclusive deal to launch the Canadian brand  – which has 32 locations in North America, with plans to open a further 20 in 2024  – in the UK. The O2 site is located near to Mamma Mia! The Party, in the 10,000 square-foot former F1 merchandise store. “We believe this is the start of something special, and we are so happy to secure a prime spot at the O2 to showcase how good this new concept is,” We Do Play co-founder Richard Beese told Propel. “We are really going for prime sites in every major city, this concept deserves it. Customers’ progress through the games is recorded both individually and if they are in a team, leading to repeat business as players want to get to higher levels and win prizes. It’s like being in a video game and needing to get to the next level.” We do Play has hired an inhouse Electronic Technologist to help them with the roll out of the concept and it is already talking to landlords in major cities such as Bristol, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and several more London locations. Beese said: “From an operator perspective, we have seen how profitable the North American sites have been, and that is in part because there is very little staff needed. On a busy day, you may only need a handful of staff as the tech explains it all to the customer.” He added that average dwell time is about an hour, and while the price point is yet to be finalised, it will be “reasonable for such a high-quality experience”. A new report has been produced by Propel on the fast-growing experiential leisure sector. 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 180 companies, 3,500 sites and a 35,000-word report. The report is available to Premium Club members. 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.

 

Revolution Bars Group launches smash burger pop-up: Revolution Bars Group – the operator of the Revolution, Revolución de Cuba and Peach Pubs brands – has opened a smash burger pop-up at its site in Sheffield which it may roll out to other locations, Propel has learned. Revolution Bars Group, which completed its fundraising and restructuring plan last month, has introduced the Savage Eats Burger Co concept to its Revolution site in the city’s The Plaza. The company said: “Feast like a beast with our unapologetically bold burgers like the fiery Seoul Destroyer, the spicy Hell Fire, or the ultra-satisfying Cheesy Baconator. Whether you’re ready to take on the heat or just craving something mouth-watering, we’ve got the perfect burger for you.” The burgers range in price from £9.50 to £13. Propel understands that it is a one-off pop-up at the moment, but depending on how it performs, Revolution Bars Group might look to roll it out to other locations.

EL&N to make Holland debut: Cafe and lifestyle brand EL&N is to further increase its international presence with an opening in Holland. The business, which currently operates circa 40 sites across 13 countries, is to open a site in the north of the country, in Amstelveen. This summer, it added to its estate in London with an opening at Westfield White City. The company – which this summer opened the first site for its new Deli & Bakery concept, in Covent Garden ¬– opened its latest site in the ground floor atrium of the White City scheme. At the same time, the brand expanded into a further European country with an opening in Slovakia, in the Aupark Shopping Centre in Bratislava. New territories under consideration for the brand are thought to include the US, Japan, India and further parts of Europe. In the past few months, it has also signed to open new sites in Berlin, Cambodia and Malta.

 

Chicken Shop lfl sales up 26%, close to securing two new sites: Chicken Shop, the Sir Charles Dunstone-backed business which was previously known as Chik’n, has told Propel that its current like-for-like sales are up 26% on the same time last year, and it is close to adding two new sites in the capital. The six-strong business said that it has had a strong year to date against strong comparatives from the year before, with like-for-like sales up 26% over the past four weeks. It comes as the business reported its revenue for the year to 31 December 2023 increased 57.3% to £7,449,296 (2022: £4,735,953), reflecting like-for-like growth in all sites. It said that its operating losses decreased to £4,089,176 (2022: £5,762,283) as a result of the improved sales. It reported a pre-tax loss of £6,362,748 (2022: loss of £6,909,883). The company said: “The directors believe that there are strong growth prospects in the premium fried chicken market and intend to continue the roll out of Chicken Shop in the UK. The company continued to increase sales from its existing six restaurants through the year, with an acceleration in performance over the second half of the year. In 2023, the company did not see a recurrence of the high input cost inflation experienced in 2022, however the impact of a significant increase in the minimum wage in April 2023 necessitated the implementation of modest price increases to offset this.” Earlier this year, Chicken Shop chief executive John Nelson said the business was aiming for 70 UK sites long-term and thinking about European expansion. Last year, the business received a further £8.275m investment from Dunstone, its main shareholder. 

 

North east gym business secures funding to ‘scale at pace’: North east gym business OneGym has secured growth funding from ThinCats, giving it the “firepower and confidence to scale at pace”. OneGym, established by Paul and David Pearson, set up its first gym in Bishop Auckland and has since expanded to 11 sites. The funding from ThinCats will enable the business to acquire three or four sites per year. In 2022, OneGym was backed by Middleton Enterprises, which has helped support the gym business’ recent growth, adding six new bases to the portfolio in the last 18 months. Further investment in the company’s infrastructure has seen the team grow to more than 70 employees and new software has been implemented to identify the most suitable sites to build out gym operations. David Pearson said: “ThinCats has a strong track record of supporting scaling businesses like ours and together with our partners Middleton Enterprises, we are well positioned to continue to acquire and build the best new gyms, delighting our growing membership across the north. Middleton's ‘growth capital’ and this new growth funding line from ThinCats has given us the firepower and confidence to scale at pace.” Ben Kimball, senior director of ThinCats, added: “We are delighted to be backing David, Paul and the wider team at OneGym. Their high value fitness proposition is taking the north east by storm and their gyms have become a real hub for the communities they operate in.” 

 

Burhill Group appoints new CEO: Golf and leisure operator Burhill Group, the parent company of Adventure Leisure, has appointed Simon Thompson as its new chief executive. Thompson joins from Bourne Leisure, where he worked for 14 years, with the last eight of those spent as managing director of Warner Hotels. He will replace Colin Mayes, who announced he would step down in the summer. Mayes will depart once a handover is complete. In his time as managing director at Warner Hotels, Thompson oversaw the expansion of the business, both through the opening of new hotels and through the development of all aspects of the customer experience – including dining, leisure facilities and entertainment. Previously, Thompson was operations director at Warner Hotels and strategic projects director for Bourne Leisure. Earlier in his career, he was a director for the business consultancy firm EY, where he led and worked on a wide range of corporate finance and transaction projects with a variety of leisure and retail clients. Thompson said: “It is clear that there are many opportunities to continue the successful growth of Burhill Group.” Chairman Edward Clive added: “Simon has extensive experience of operating and growing multi-site, consumer leisure brands in the UK, and corporate transactional experience.” Adventure Leisure operates 20 experiential sites under its Mr Mulligans and Bunkers golf formats and under the Ninja Warrior and Total Ninja concepts. 

 

Arc Inspirations to open Sheffield Box site next month following £2.7m investment: Arc Inspirations, the premium bar operator, will open its new Box site in Sheffield next month following a £2.7m investment. Creating 55 jobs, Box Sheffield will be set over two floors and is designed to cater to sports fans, showing a range of sports on 30 large HD TV screens, and the biggest indoor screen in the city. There will also be electric darts, “bandeoke nights” where guests can sing live with a band on stage, quiz nights, immersive horse racing and live music nights. There will also be private karaoke rooms and private dining rooms available for booking. Bottomless brunch will be on offer daily, featuring a selection of mains and unlimited drinks, alongside Box’s signature menu of loaded fries, Neapolitan-style pizza, hand-formed burgers, kebabs and sharing platters. Martin Wolstencroft, chief executive of Arc Inspirations, said: “Sheffield’s rich sporting heritage and passionate community make it the perfect home for Box, and we’re excited to introduce a new kind of venue to this vibrant city.” The company currently operates 17 bars across nine locations in the UK and also plans to open two new Manahatta sites, in Nottingham and Edinburgh, in 2024. Following this, the business will also launch a Manahatta in Liverpool in early 2025 and is pursuing further site opportunities in London, Cardiff and Scotland.

Puttshack to open second Atlanta location next month for 20th site globally: Indoor mini golf experience Puttshack will open a second Atlanta location next month for its 20th site globally. Located within the High Street development in Dunwoody, it will open on Wednesday, November 6. The 26,000 square-foot venue will feature four tech-driven nine-hole mini golf courses, private event spaces and a spacious outdoor terrace. “We’re so excited to expand our footprint in Atlanta and introduce Puttshack to the thriving Dunwoody community,” said Puttshack chief executive Logan Powell. “Atlanta was home to our very first US venue and we can’t wait to keep the momentum going in Dunwoody.” Local dishes include Georgia Tailpipes (crispy spring rolls filled with house-smoked pulled chicken, bacon-collard greens and pimento cheese) and the Atlanta Hot Sandwich, with a choice of house-fried chicken or grilled mushrooms. It comes as Puttshack prepares to today (Wednesday, 9 October) open its 15th US venue, at the Southdale Center in Edina, Minnesota. The group also operates four sites in the UK.

 

West Yorkshire McDonald’s franchisee opens 16th restaurant, reports £5m surplus on disposal following sale of five sites: West Yorkshire McDonald’s franchisee Priptal Singh has opened his 16th restaurant with the brand after reporting a £5m surplus on disposal following the sale of five sites. He has opened in the former Kashmiri Aroma restaurant, which was also once a Little Chef, in Coutances Way in Ilkley. Singh spent 11 years as an operations manager at McDonald’s from 1983 before opening his first franchise in 1994, in Halifax, through his Premium Restaurants business. During the year to 31 December 2023, Premium Restaurants saw its turnover drop from £85,109,843 to £83,145,028. This, it said, was due to selling a restaurant in May 2023 followed by the sale of four more in December 2023. On a like-for-like basis, the stores that remained open saw a sales increase of 8.8%, as the company experienced growth in digital sales. A surplus on disposal of franchise rights of £5,352,146 was reported (2022: £3,403,464). The company’s pre-tax profit rose from £6,528,977 in 2022 to £8,578,891, while the balance sheet showed net assets of £22.2m, an increase of £6.5m. Last year, on completing four decades with the business, Singh said: “A temporary job lasting 40 years! I never thought after leaving university having studied chemical engineering that I would be working for McDonald’s, and yet, here I still am. Forty years on from what was supposed to be a ‘stop gap’ until I found a ‘proper job’ has turned out to be a full-time career, first as an employee and then as a franchisee of one of the world’s leading restaurant brands.”

 

Global Taiwanese bubble tea brand secures UK master franchisor: Global Taiwanese bubble tea brand The Alley has secured its UK master franchisor as it seeks to expand over here. Since launching here in 2019, The Alley has opened six sites across the capital, including its first two pilot UK franchise stores, in Westfield Stratford and Westfield White City, which are both owned by a multi-brand franchise investor. The brand, which has more than 450 stores globally, launched its franchise offer last year. Ali Ikram, a former franchisee with fellow bubble tea brand Bubbleology and gaming business CeX, who is also a property developer, has now taken on the UK master franchise. “It is an honour to announce that I’m starting a new position as master franchisor at The Alley UK,” he said. “The Alley is, in my humble opinion, one of the most beautiful bubble tea brands in the world, from the home of bubble tea – Taiwan. I am a bubble tea aficionado and have been drinking bubble tea for more than a decade now and was first a customer of the brand, and never envisaged being the master franchisor for the UK region one day.”

 

Butlin’s launches £15m indoor gaming activity centre: Butlin’s has opened its new £15m indoor gaming activity centre, Playxperience, at its Bognor Regis resort in West Sussex, which it said is the first of its kind situated on any holiday park in the UK. The state-of-the-art attraction covers a 50,000 square feet across two floors and is equipped with nine activities on offer, including: TechPutt, escape rooms, VR-cade, Glow Pong, shuffleboard, laser tag, batting cages, neo games and Digi Darts, alongside a café and bar. Butlin’s chief executive Jon Hendry Pickup said: “As the home of entertainment, we’re proud to be the first UK holiday resort to open something as spectacular as Playxperience. There’s nothing else like it in the market. Playxperience was designed with something for everyone in mind. No matter what break you’re on, everyone loves a bit of friendly competition while having fun in the process! The launch of Playxperience is the third big opening for us this year. This £15m investment follows Maple Walk premium accommodation village in Skegness and our Skypark playground in Minehead, which both opened earlier this year.”

 

Family behind Dutch-based seafood restaurant concept The Seafood Bar set to open new cocktail bar and club in London: The family behind Dutch-based seafood restaurant concept The Seafood Bar is set to open a new cocktail bar and club in London. Fons de Visscher and his son and daughter, Pepijn and Fleur, opened The Seafood Bar in Soho’s Dean Street in 2021, for its fifth (now sixth) site and first outside the Netherlands. They will now open speakeasy Zum Barborossa, also in Dean Street, on Thursday, 24 October, in the basement of a grade II-listed Georgian townhouse. It will be the family’s second Zum Barborossa site, following its flagship bar in Amsterdam. Guests can choose from a selection of uniquely crafted cocktails and small plates such as caviar served with blinis, creme fraiche, shallots and chives, and dressed oysters with passionfruit lime oil dressing or prosecco, strawberry pearls and shallot vinaigrette. Pep de Visscher said: “Zum Barbarossa is taking its first steps outside of Amsterdam to London’s Soho and we couldn’t be more excited. Our London speakeasy will have a similar feel to the original bar but will encompass the spirit of the city’s buzzing nightlife.”

 

Public House Group opens new Italian restaurant in London’s Notting Hill: Public House Group, the umbrella company from the team behind The Pelican in London’s Notting Hill and the Hero in Maida Vale, has opened a new Italian restaurant in the capital. The group has launched Canteen at 310 Portobello Road in Notting Hill, in the space where it held a pop-up last summer, reports Hot Dinners. The menu changes daily and in the kitchen are two ex-River Cafe chefs, Jessica Filbey and Harry Hills. Last month, Public House Group confirmed it plans to reopen The Coach in Clerkenwell. Last August, Propel revealed The Coach and the Hero of Maida had been acquired by the private investor behind the Public House Group in a deal believed to be valued at circa £9m. Both were previously owned by Harcourt Inns. The FT later reported that Public House Group will also reopen The Fat Badger in Golborne Road, Notting Hill. Propel understands Public House Group – which is led by Phil Winser, James Gummer and Olivier van Themsche – is backed, in part, by investment management firm BNP Capital. Public House Group also operates The Bull in Charlbury, Oxfordshire.

 

Porta Tapas secures ex-Greens site for fourth opening: North west restaurant and bar concept Porta Tapas is to open its fourth site in the region next month after securing the former Greens restaurant site in West Didsbury. Vegetarian restaurant Greens had been a mainstay of Didsbury life for more than 30 years before chef Simon Rimmer announced its closure in January. Porta Tapas, which is led by Ben and Joe Wright, opened its first site in Chester in 2012 before launching in Altrincham in 2016 and Chapel Street, Salford, in 2018. The brothers also previously operated the Joseph Benjamin restaurant in Chester, which went on to be awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand for 12 consecutive years before closing in 2021. This summer, they submitted plans to reopen Ye Gardeners Arms in Christleton Road, Chester, which has been shut for five years. Ben Wright said: “We’d had our eyes open for another site for a while but really struggled to find the right thing. Then, just when we weren’t looking, this amazing spot came along. We love the sense of community here and of course the lovely building.” Joe Wright added: “We’ve visited Greens a few times over the years and are big fans of what Simon has achieved. The pressure is on us to do it justice!” Last month, Rimmer’s remaining Greens restaurant in Sale closed with “immediate effect”. 

 

Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company to close Wolverhampton brewery: Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company (CMBC) has confirmed its proposals to close Bank’s Brewery in Wolverhampton in a move that places almost 100 jobs at risk. The proposed restructuring comes in response to the decision by Mahou San Miguel not to renew its long-term exclusive licence partnership from 2025 and the decline of cask ale volumes over several years. CMBC said it will be supporting colleagues across its wider network impacted by the proposals, including the 97 employed at Bank’s Brewery, and will be working with trade union and colleague representatives throughout the consultation process. As part of the network restructuring, CMBC added that it will increase investment in its breweries in Northampton and Burton, with a long-term ambition to establish Marston’s Brewery in Burton as a national centre for craft beer and traditional ale brewing in the UK. Bank’s Brewery is due to close in autumn 2025. Paul Davies, chief executive of CMBC, said: “This has been an extremely difficult decision. However, it has been necessary to restructure our business to maintain our competitiveness in a challenging UK beer market. The hard reality is that, because of the current climate for ale and Mahou San Miguel’s decision not to renew its exclusive production and distribution agreement with CMBC from the start of next year, we will have significant excess capacity across our brewery network that we have to address. While the proposed closure of our Wolverhampton brewery is very regrettable, with the significant investments we are making in our Northampton and Burton breweries, our strong portfolio of brands and industry-leading logistics network, CMBC will continue to deliver for our customers and focus on long-term growth.”