Restaurants

The latest news and updates on restaurants, from the business journalists at Catering Today. We bring you the latest on what’s happening in the restaurants, bars and catering industry, with exclusive stories, analysis, best practice and industry comment.

Aug- 2018 -

13 August

Honest Burgers opens first restaurants up north

Honest Burgers has announced it is to open its first Liverpool and Manchester restaurants, with the Manchester site set to open as soon as this summer. The London-based burger chain is said to be looking at moving outside of the capital due to ever increasing competition. Manchester Hall will host…
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13 August

Corbin & King launch ‘learn while you earn’ apprenticeship scheme

Restaurant group Corbin & King has launched a new apprenticeship scheme, giving its employees the opportunity to learn while they earn. The scheme was designed to address the industry-wide shortage of skilled chefs and underpins the group’s mantra: ‘hire for will, train for skill’. The scheme has been devised in…
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10 August

Wagamama ‘outperforms competitors’ consistently for four years

Restaurant chain Wagamama has said it “traded ahead of the competition consistently for over four years (220 weeks)” as its latest financial results showed a 7.4% like-for-like sales growth in the year to 29 April 2018. The group’s turnover increased 11.1% to £71.1m in Q4 and it reported 7.7% UK…
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10 August

Villandry restaurant fails to find investor leading to closure of all London restaurants

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…
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9 August

Gino D’Acampo to open new Thorpe Park restaurant

Celebrity chef Gino D’Acampo has announced a new ‘My Restaurant’ at the rebranded Thorpe Park development, The Springs in Leeds. The 150-cover restaurant will include a coffee and deli bar where guests can eat in or take away from breakfast onwards, a prosecco bar and alfresco terrace complete with games…
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9 August

McDonald’s trials luxury restaurant concept

McDonald’s UK will be trialling a luxury restaurant concept to celebrate the national roll-out of The Signature Collection, the gourmet-style burger range. The concept, which will be piloted at its High Street Kensington site, opened for online reservations on 8 August, giving customers a limited two-day window to book a…
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9 August

Meatliquor to open new Battersea restaurant

Meatliquor has announced it will be opening a new restaurant on Northcote Road in Battersea. Battersea residents have previously been able to order the chain’s food through a Deliveroo Editions ‘dark kitchen’ in the area. Meatliquor said it saw good sales on its well-known menu items such as the Dead…
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9 August

Prescott and Conran ‘was in £14m debt’ during collapse

Restaurant group Prescott and Conran owed £14m to its creditors when it collapsed, recent documents from its administrators Duff and Phelps have revealed. The chain fell into administration in June, resulting in the closure of its three remaining sites in London; Parabola in Kensington, Lutyens on Fleet Street and Albion…
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8 August

Former The Ivy owner in bid to save Gaucho

Restaurant investor and former owner of The Ivy, Luke Johnson, has been revealed as one of the bidders seeking to save Gaucho from administration. The steak chain entered administration in July, leading to the closure of its sister chain Cau and according to reports Johnson is looking to purchase Gaucho…
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8 August

Restaurant boss banned for fake five-star hygiene rating

A restaurant owner has been banned from running companies for five years after he falsely advertised a five star food hygiene rating in a magazine. Rushan Ahmed, 31, claimed his Moza restaurant in Derby had been awarded a five-star food hygiene rating in three adverts he ran in a local…
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