Business

Ei Group, the largest owner and operator of pubs in the UK, has announced it has agreed to sell 370 properties to Tavern Propco for the cash consideration of £348m. The group closed 2018 with 412 properties and the disposal of the sites will be comprised of public houses and…

Consumer spending grew 1.8% year-on-year in December, the lowest rate of growth seen since March 2016. With inflation at 2.3%, this equated to a contraction in real terms. Data from Barclaycard, which sees nearly half of the nation’s credit and debit card transactions, revealed essential spending growth dipped to just…

Sushi Daily has announced it is to open its first standalone restaurant on London’s New Oxford Street. Previously, the sushi chain existed as a concession in branches of John Lewis and Waitrose however it has now followed smoothie chain Joe and the Juice in branching out of the stores. Sushi…

High street bakery Greggs said it had a “strong finish” to 2018 as it reported its total sales for the year were up by 7.2% for the 52 weeks ended 29 December 2018. This follows a year of “significant strategic progress” where the company saw 149 new shops opened in…

Greene King has announced it hit a record sales figure of £7.7m for Christmas day despite cost cutting amid food price inflation, rising rates and wage increases. The pub chain also confirmed that it had seen like-for-like sales for the the last two weeks of 2018 rise by 10.9%. Greene…

Whitbread’s sale of Costa to Coca-Cola has been cleared by the EU, the clearance means the £3.9bn deal is expected to be completed this month. The sale of Costa will see a £500m share buyback programme triggered which will see “a significant majority of the net proceeds to shareholders”. The…

Kate Hayden and Paul Warriner are taking their second site with Star Pubs & Bars – The Hare at West Hendred in Oxfordshire – for a joint £500,000 investment, which will reopen the pub in March after a four-year closure. The Hare is the only pub in West Hendred, and…

Business confidence among leaders of Britain’s eating and drinking-out market remains strained, the latest edition of the CGA Business Confidence Survey, produced in partnership with Fourth has revealed. While 63% – slightly down from the last poll in July – are optimistic about their own businesses’ prospects for next 12…

Hancock’s American Kitchen and Bar, the family owned, Rochester-based restaurant group has opened three new outlets and reveals it has also signed a deal for a seventh unit. The chain, which started 2018 with one outlet, is currently trading ahead of expectations at The Quays in Chatham, The Atrium in…

The number of British people going to a restaurant or pub for their Christmas Day dinner is due to increase significantly this year, according to an AA survey. According to the AA Populus poll of over 20,000 members, while only 3% usually eat in restaurants for their Christmas dinner, an…