Business

Cambridge vegan chain Stem and Glory is to open its first London site following a successful Crowdcube appeal raised £616,170. The new restaurant is expected to open around the Old Street area with the company’s founders looking to expand internationally should the move to London be successful. Stem and Glory’s…

Brighton’s historic Milkmaid Pavilion on its promenade has been acquired by City Pub Co after it previously ran under the name Alfresco. Most recently owned by Brighton & Hove City Council, the premises was originally built as part of the Festival of Britain in 1951. The transaction was brokered by…

Consumer spending in the hospitality sector increased by 2.5% in July, according to Visas’ UK Consumer Spending Index. The group said the warmer weather supported solid increases in spend across food and drink and hotels, restaurants and bars categories. However, overall household spending dropped 0.9% in July due to “disappointing…

Villandry has announced it has closed all of its London restaurants after it failed to find a buyer and rent doubled at the two sites. BDO were called in as administrators for the company after it failed to find investors to support rising rent and business rates. The chain’s outlet…

British people visit food or beverage outlets 257 million times between midnight and 7am every year, according to new figures. The data, released by market research firm, The NPD Group, for the year ending May 2018 suggested that the growing demand for late-night and early morning food and beverages consumed…

Supper club Chicken of the Woods is to open its first permanent restaurant, named Through the Woods. The 16-cover restaurant will be headed up by former Smokehouse chef, Chris Slaughter, and will open in London’s Crouch End offering one sitting per day at 8pm from Thursday to Saturday. A £40…

The City Pub Group (CPG) has announced that it has acquired three new pubs in London and the exchange of contracts on another in Brighton. CPG has completed the acquisition of three sites in London; the Travellers Friend in Woodford and two Jam Tree pubs in Chelsea and Clapham, and…

Mexican chain Chipotle has announced its figures for the second quarter ending 30 June, with expert’s predictions beaten on sales. Sales at the chain’s restaurants which were open for at least 13 months in the second quarter, saw a rise of 3.3%, a significant improvement on analyst predictions of around…

The historic Rising Star pub in Derbyshire is set to be transformed into a 78-room hotel and restaurant complex. Gigi Developments is seeking planning permission from Peak District National Park to build the development on Hope Road in Bamford. As many as 50 new jobs, 150-cover restaurant along with a…

UK hospitality businesses are struggling to differentiate themselves according to new research released by marketing company Vistaprint. Based on analysis of 1,000 UK business websites, the study has uncovered the most common mistakes businesses make when branding themselves including ‘playing it safe with colours’ and using ‘clichéd objectives’ to describe…