Debbie Hewitt to become first female chair of the FA as she leaves Restaurant Group June 8, 2021 Debbie Hewitt is set to become the FA’s first female chair, with the Restaurant Group confirming she will be leaving the same position at the hospitality firm this morning. Hewitt will leave the Restaurant Group – which owns Wagamama and Frankie and Benny’s – at the end of December 2021. Read more: FA Cup to [...]
Franco Manco owner Fulham Shore sees post-restrictions revenues soar 103 per cent May 28, 2021 The company behind Franco Manca saw its group revenues soar 103 per cent in its first full week of dining with minimal restrictions, it said in a statement today. While loyalty scheme user numbers have doubled since the beginning of the first lockdown, to over 220,000 – the Fulham Shore group, which also owns The [...]
Bank holiday: Pubs predict 21m fewer pints sold and £80m in lost sales May 28, 2021 Bank holiday: Pubs predict 21m fewer pints sold and £80m in lost revenue
London markets dip as stronger pound limits gains and Amigo sinks May 25, 2021 The FTSE 100 slipped today as a stronger pound weighed on large dollar-earning consumer staples companies. Wall Street followed suit, sliding after the open despite a strong rebound in tech stocks yesterday. London’s blue-chip index dipped 0.2 per cent over the day, with delivery firm Just Eat Takeaway leading the way with a 4.4 per [...]
Listed law firm DWF announces two acquisitions as trading beats expectations May 25, 2021 City law firm DWF has resumed M&A activity, acquiring two businesses after a strong year of trading amid the pandemic. The listed firm this morning announced it had acquired compliance training business Zing 365 Holdings for £1.8m, as well as reaching an agreement to acquire BCA Claims & Consulting. DWF said completion of the £2.2m [...]
Wagamama owner Restaurant Group sees sales rebound as dining returns May 25, 2021 Wagamama owner Restaurant Group said sales were recovering well as Brits dined after the lifting of lockdown restrictions. The group, which has around 350 sites trading since the resumption of indoor dining, said delivery services were much higher before Covid curbs were eased. Some 130 of its Wagamama sites traded at 85 per cent of [...]
Tech group Smiths wires new CEO from the US May 25, 2021 Technology group Smiths has hired a new chief executive officer who will relocate to the UK from the US in a “mutually agreed” exchanging of the helm today. Starting with immediate effect, incoming CEO Paul Keel formerly worked with US industry giant 3M for 16 years where he led a number of businesses, including its [...]
City investors dump hospitality stocks despite pubs welcoming customers back indoors May 17, 2021 England’s pubs welcomed customers back inside for the first time in months today, but investors in the City of London were less taken by the sector’s future. Worries about a possible spread of the Indian variant of Covid-19 made shareholders sell their pub stocks. Wetherspoon, Marston’s, City Pub Group and Fuller, Smith & Turner were [...]
Bouji restaurant group Hakkasan sold to hospitality giant Tao April 28, 2021 The famously bouji restaurant group Hakkasan has been bought by international hospitality giant Tao Group for an undisclosed sum. First opened in Fitzrovia in 2001 by Wagamama founder Alan Yao, Hakkasan soon became synonymous with London’s high end, high price dining scene, frequented by celebrities and oligarchs, with an encampment of paparazzi often waiting outside. [...]
NASA flies helicopter on Mars in world first April 19, 2021 NASA has today made history by performing the first ever powered, controlled flight from the surface of another planet with robot helicopter Ingenuity. The mini helicopter took off from the surface of Mars and was airborne for less than a minute before landing, the space agency said. MiMi Aung, project manager for Ingenuity at Nasa’s [...]