BigHospitality News

BigHospitality at Hotelympia 2012

Peter.Ruddick@wrbm.com (Peter Ruddick) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:15:06 +0100

Hotelympia kicks off on Sunday at the ExCel centre for five days (26 February-1 March) of awards, product launches, chef demonstrations and more. As a media partner, BigHospitality will be there reporting on all the news as well as providing exclusive interviews, videos and audio.

Portsmouth landlady wins High Court battle with the Premier League

Peter.Ruddick@wrbm.com (Peter Ruddick) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:28:57 +0100

Karen Murphy, the Portsmouth landlady who was convicted in 2006 for showing foreign TV coverage of English Premier League matches in her pub using a decoder, has had her conviction quashed by the High Court.

Jamie Oliver acquires Covent Garden Market Building site

Peter.Ruddick@wrbm.com (Peter Ruddick) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:26:11 +0100

Jamie Oliver has acquired a site in the Covent Garden Market Building that was occupied by a pop-up restaurant from British chain Canteen. It is understood the celebrity chef is likely to open a Union Jacks on site, or alternatively a Jamie's Italian concept.

Young's to sell 14 freehold pubs

Emma.Eversham@wrbm.com (Emma Eversham) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:49:42 +0100

London-based brewer and pub operator Young's is selling off 14 freehold pubs from its estate to free up cash for investment in its managed estate.

London's Cafe Royal to re-open as luxury hotel this summer

Emma.Eversham@wrbm.com (Emma Eversham) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 23:06:17 +0100

Former bar and conference venue Cafe Royal is set to re-open its doors as a 159-bedroom luxury hotel in June following three years of restoration and building work.

Reviews site Qype removes thousands of misleading posts

Peter.Ruddick@wrbm.com (Peter Ruddick) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 02:09:01 +0100

The consumer reviews website Qype has removed over two thousand ‘fake’ posts in the last month, just weeks after an Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ban on TripAdvisor from suggesting its reviews were ‘honest, real or trusted’.

Career Profile: Laurie Gear

Peter.Ruddick@wrbm.com (Peter Ruddick) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:23:43 +0100

Largely self-taught chef Laurie Gear started his career washing dishes in a local Dorset hotel. After he met his wife while learning his trade in the kitchen of the Combe House hotel in Gittisham, Gear worked with her to achieve their dream in 2002 of running their own restaurant. It was a dream that almost became a nightmare six years later when a fire in a neighbouring building gutted Artichoke in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. Gear spent some time working at Noma in Copenhagen before Artichoke reopened and won The Good Food Guide’s 2011 Best New Entry award and Gear a Michelin Rising Star prize.

Hobart develops power-saving ware-washing range

Emma.Eversham@wrbm.com (Emma Eversham) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 13:59:59 +0100

Hobart has developed a new generation of power-saving ware-washers called Premax which aims to deliver 'real improvements' for operators.

Offers invited on 200-bed Glasgow hotel development opportunity

Peter.Ruddick@wrbm.com (Peter Ruddick) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:15:43 +0100

A Glasgow development opportunity in the Collegelands district of the city which will provide for a hotel of up to 200 bedrooms is being marketed by Christie + Co, on behalf of developer Dawn Group.

Oldham council considers plans for hospitality training academy

Emma.Eversham@wrbm.com (Emma Eversham) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:14:40 +0100

Oldham council is planning to build a hotel and hospitality training academy in the town which it believes could become a blueprint for more academies across the UK in the future.

The Restaurant Experience: The world’s first interactive restaurant

Luke.Nicholls@wrbm.com (Luke Nicholls) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:10:48 +0100

TV chefs John Burton-Race and Jonathon Davies have partnered to create The Restaurant Experience – an innovative interactive restaurant, chosen by the people for the people.

PwC: Record year for London hotels but post-Olympics hangover could benefit the regions

Peter.Ruddick@wrbm.com (Peter Ruddick) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:09:32 +0100

2012 is set to be a record year for occupancy in London hotels but the situation after the Olympics will remain difficult although hotels in the regions may benefit in 2013, according to latest forecasts from Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC).

Imperial unveils new tough shelving range for commercial kitchens

Emma.Eversham@wrbm.com (Emma Eversham) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:03:48 +0100

Catering equipment supplier Imperial has brought a new tough shelving range to the market, especially designed for use in commercial kitchens and refrigeration units where storage is needed.

Beer tax hikes threaten jobs of 300,000 young people, says BBPA

Luke.Nicholls@wrbm.com (Luke Nicholls) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:29:45 +0100

A new report commissioned by the British Beer& Pub Association (BBPA) shows that 300,000 young people are directly employed in the beer and pub industry, fuelling concerns that plans for huge beer tax hikes in next month’s budget will put more young people out of work.

JD Wetherspoon founder among speakers at the 20th anniversary ALMR conference

Peter.Ruddick@wrbm.com (Peter Ruddick) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:10:02 +0100

Tim Martin, the founder of JD Wetherspoon, is among the pub and bar industry personalities headlining the annual Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) conference in May celebrating the organisation’s 20th anniversary.

Great Hotels of the World reports huge increase in MICE enquiries for 2012

Luke.Nicholls@wrbm.com (Luke Nicholls) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:58:04 +0100

Great Hotels of the World, the London-based hotel sales and marketing alliance, has reported a 50 per cent increase in meetings, incentives, conference and events (MICE) enquires in 2011, illustrating growth in the MICE travel market for UK hotels.

Kent pub chips named the best in the UK

Peter.Ruddick@wrbm.com (Peter Ruddick) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:18:08 +0100

Chips served in The Three Tuns pub in Sittingbourne, Kent have clinched the title of 'Best/PubRestaurant Chips' in the UK in an award voted for by the public to celebrate National Chip Week.

Accor reveals global hotel energy usage with environmental footprint release

Peter.Ruddick@wrbm.com (Peter Ruddick) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:43:17 +0100

International hotel operator Accor has revealed the group consumes more than 18bn kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy, ahead of a spring publication of a new sustainable development strategy for the company.

Hot Talent 2012: finalists revealed

Emma.Eversham@wrbm.com (Emma Eversham) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:29:16 +0100

Six talented members of the hospitality industry under 30 have made the final of Hot Talent, the competition run by Hotelympia and supported by BigHospitality and Restaurant magazine.