M&B to sell bowling firm in £39m deal August 9, 2010 PUBS and restaurants group Mitchells & Butlers is offloading its Hollywood Bowl ten-pin bowling business to rival AMF Bowling for £39m. AMF will add Hollywood Bowl’s 24 sites to its existing 33 UK bowling centres. M&B is selling non-core businesses to focus on its pub operations, which include Harvester, Toby Carvery, Vintage Inns and O’Neill’s. [...]
Cafe Rouge owner to buy Paramount July 4, 2010 BLACKSTONE-BACKED restaurant owner Tragus is eyeing a takeover bid for industry rival Paramount Restaurants. The Cafe Rouge, Bella Italia and Strada owner is in discussions over a bid for Paramount that could value the firm at £50m. Paramount, which owns restaurant chains including Cafe Uno and Bertorelli, was taken over by its lenders last year [...]
Fine dining at the Royal Exchange October 11, 2010 Sauterelle Royal Exchange, Bank, EC3V 3LR www.danddlondon.com 020 7618 2483 FOOD SERVICE ATMOSPHERE Cost per person without wine: £42 DESPITE the grandness of its architecture, its lofty dimensions, the prestige of its retail outlets and, above all, its illustrious place at the heart of the City’s history and culture, as a place to socialise or [...]
PROPERTY FIRM OF THE YEAR | September 8, 2010 THE City’s skyline is changing. Skyscrapers are springing up – okay, more slowly than before, but they are coming. Added to that the commitment to opening retail space and the whole character of the Square Mile is changing. At a time when it might have been easier to abandon their projects, they have shown confidence [...]
ROUX BUSY EXPANDING WHITEHALL WAISTLINES October 26, 2010 IT’S been a busy few months for master chef Michel Roux Jr, splitting his time between fostering his burgeoning TV career and appointing a new chef for his latest venture, Roux at Parliament Square. In addition to his ongoing judge’s spot on Masterchef, Roux has also been busy filming a series set to hit our [...]
ROUX BUSY EXPANDING WHITEHALL WAISTLINES October 26, 2010 IT’S been a busy few months for master chef Michel Roux Jr, splitting his time between fostering his burgeoning TV career and appointing a new chef for his latest venture, Roux at Parliament Square. In addition to his ongoing judge’s spot on Masterchef, Roux has also been busy filming a series set to hit our [...]
BANK BOSS DIMON HIT BY HOUSE PRICE WOES September 5, 2010 LIFE sucks if you’re the boss of one of the world’s largest banks in the wake of the crisis – not only are you required to defend your dwindling pay package and parry stinging verbal attacks from politicians on an almost daily basis, but you’re also cursed with ill luck in the real estate arena. [...]
Lion asks Rothschild to advise on £250m sale of Wagamama August 1, 2010 PRIVATE equity firm Lion Capital is understood to be re-examining an exit of Japanese noodle chain Wagamama after cancelling a flotation of the business three years ago. Rothschild, the investment bank, is advising Lion on a sale process which could value Wagamama at between £200m and £250m. Rothschild was involved in the initial public offering [...]
finance boss in the wars after hitler gag August 16, 2010 AS A hack, it gets frustrating to be confronted with a deafening silence when asking any financier to stand up and publicly defend the industry against politically-motivated attacks – especially when the same hotshots are perfectly happy to shoot their mouth off when cornered in private. But, refreshing as it is to find an exception [...]
The Gaul the world loves June 30, 2010 I’VE visited a lot of restaurants in London: flashy ones, rustic ones, refined European ones, rooftop ones, flamboyantly ethnic ones and ones that closed after not very long at all. My favourite, on many levels, is Sketch – less a restaurant than a pleasure dome. I love that an eccentric man greets you and speaks [...]