Nation of beer drinkers: Brits spend extra £2.1bn on booze in lockdown December 18, 2020 Booze-drinking Brits spent an extra £2.1bn on alcoholic beverages this year as they stocked up on lager, wine and spirits while pubs were closed during lockdown. Despite its name, Corona was one of the lager brands to toast the largest growth, with sales up £68m compared to last year. Lager was the fastest growing drink [...]
Fresh restrictions blanket new Covid epicentre – Europe November 18, 2021 Ireland has become the latest European country to impose fresh Covid-19 restrictions, as the continent becomes the epicentre of the pandemic. From today, the country’s population will work from home where possible, though universities will not sink back into online teaching. Hospitality has also been impacted, with bars and restaurants having been ordered to [...]
More than 150 London pubs, bars and restaurants closed permanently last year January 22, 2021 More than 150 London pubs, bars and restaurants closed permanently last year, the latest figures showed as the coronavirus pandemic continued to wreak havoc on the sector. The number of licensed premises in the capital in December shrunk 4.5 per cent compared to the previous year. That represented a drop from 3,460 venues to 3,303 [...]
Pub chain Shepherd Neame toasts strong trading after beer gardens reopen April 21, 2021 UK pub chain Shepherd Neame this morning said trading has been “encouraging” since its beer gardens reopened last week. The firm, which is Britain’s oldest brewer, said more than 200 pubs reopened when restrictions on outdoor trading were lifted on 12 April. The rest of its 316 sites across south east England will reopen on [...]
Exclusive with Jean Paul Gaultier: ‘Straight actors should be able to play gay roles’ July 21, 2022 It’s 9.30am and Jean Paul Gaultier is relentlessly turning over last night’s performance of ABBA Voyage. It’s far too hot for coffee so we’re sitting with a pair of orange juices and Gaultier is encouraging me to get stuck into the breakfast buffet. I politely decline because there are more important things at hand: discussing [...]
Best of travel: Why Toronto beats New York for a city break March 17, 2021 To tide us over until we’re able to travel again, we’re republishing classic travel stories from our archives. Today we revisit Siobhan Grogan’s trip to the premier North American city break destination: Toronto. ••• As the cab from the airport inched forward in nose to tail traffic towards the distinctive skyline in the distance, I [...]
Warehouse developments to double this year as retailers respond to online shopping demand April 6, 2021 Warehouse space developments have boomed this year due to the rise of online shopping during the coronavirus pandemic, with the amount of sites set to complete in 2021 doubling compared to last year. The latest research showed that 40m sq ft of warehouse space developments are scheduled for completion this year, compared to the 20m [...]
The government is ignoring Covid science and hospitality is paying the price, says D&D boss November 24, 2020 Des Gunewardena is Chairman and CEO of D&D London, the restaurant group behind brands including Bluebird, Angler, 14 Hills and Coq d’Argent. Here he lays out where the government has failed the hospitality sector and gives a plan for how it could still salvage something from the most important month of the year. So we’ve finally [...]
New boss at Pizza Express as slice taken out of debt pile November 6, 2020 Pizza Express has appointed a new chairman and chief executive, Allan Leighton and David Campbell respectively, and reduced its debt pile by £400m after completing its recapitalisation. The new capital structure has reduced debt by more than £400million, from £735million to £319million, and includes the immediate injection of £40million of new capital. The business also [...]
Visit the world’s biggest open-air bar, Sweden’s Drinkable Country June 15, 2021 Sweden yesterday celebrated the stoic defensive performance that earned them a Euros draw against highly fancied Spain almost as if it were a victory in the latter stages. Today any Swedes still in the party mood can let loose at Drinkable Country, which has been dubbed “the world’s largest open-air bar”. Comprised of pop-ups hosted [...]