Investment

Our coverage tracks financial activity shaping the UK foodservice and hospitality sector, from venture capital and private equity backing to corporate acquisitions, refinancing deals, and growth funding. Our reporting is focused on the operators, brands, and concepts attracting capital, and what that means for the wider industry. Whether you’re a restaurant group seeking funding, a pub chain monitoring market valuations, or a catering contractor analysing competitor growth, our investment coverage delivers intelligence that helps business leaders understand where money is flowing, and why. Expect deep dives, expert commentary, and deal-by-deal context, all tailored to the foodservice trade.

Feb- 2020 -

10 February

Comment

From market stalls to brick walls: how pop-ups are riding the bricks-and-mortar wave

Ka Pao With a name and menu that packs a punch, Ka Pao is Glasgow’s latest permanent resident. The new restaurant and bar features the same team who opened rustic Glaswegian site Ox and Finch back in 2014, a restaurant that has garnered much critical acclaim in the city. The…
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6 February

Pubs and Bars

Lincoln’s Prince of Wales pub reopens following £260,000 investment

Ei Publican Partnerships has supported local publican, Gordon Reeves, by revitalising the Prince of Wales pub in Lincoln, which has recently reopened following a £260,000 joint investment. Located in the Bailgate area of Lincoln, the reopening follows a “significant transformation” to bring the well-known and historic site “back to its…
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4 February

Features

From barrister to restaurateur: Nisha Katona on her Indian street food chain

“I was a child protection barrister for 20 years but always with a completely blinding passion and obsession for the food of my ancestors – which is home-style Indian food,” says Nisha Katona, founder of Indian street food chain Mowgli. Katona started her restaurateur journey because she realised that a…
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4 February

Restaurants

The Vurger Co. eyes 2020 expansion amid £1.4m investment

Vegan burger restaurant The Vurger Co. has secured a £1.4m investment as it continues its period of “rapid growth” in 2020. The vegan burger restaurant, which opened its first site in Shoreditch in March 2018 and its second in Canary Wharf in November 2018, will open two more sites in…
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Jan- 2020 -

31 January

Business Bites

The whole Amazon thing is getting scary now

The ‘growth of online retail’ is now so proverbial that the phrase itself is nearly redundant. Is anyone surprised to learn this morning that Amazon has absolutely rampaged through the Christmas retail season, while scores of well-known bricks-and-mortar retailers reported a torrid set of financial results for the same period? No, me…
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30 January

Restaurants

McDonald’s UK to open 60 restaurants in 2020

McDonald’s UK has revealed it is aiming to open a further 60 restaurants across the UK and Ireland as it prepares to invest £1bn over the next three years. The news comes as McDonald’s revealed that global sales for the year ending 31 December 2019 passed $100bn (£76.7bn), with consolidated…
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28 January

Pubs and Bars

Star Pubs and Bars records rise in leased pub sector

Star Pubs and Bars has reported a 10% rise in applications for its pubs and an increase in the percentage of licensees on substantive leases over the last 12 months. This follows on from a 12.5% increase in applications in 2018, and the company said it also witnessed a “higher…
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28 January

Restaurants

Baba G’s closes first bricks-and-mortar site in Camden

Street food trader Baba G’s has closed its first bricks-and-mortar restaurant in Camden Market, after less than a year. The Indian-inspired burger restaurant opened its 50-cover site in Camden in May last year. A statement posted on its social media platforms announced the closure, and read: “Just a little announcement…
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27 January

Business

Deliveroo to invest £1m to develop healthier UK takeaway brands in 2020

Deliveroo has announced plans to spend £1m promoting healthy eating across the UK and bring “greater choice” to UK consumers in 2020. This major investment will increase the range of healthy options on the platform and will support partner restaurants in developing healthy meals and menus. It comes after Deliveroo…
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23 January

Trade Associations

Sustainability key to hospitality’s prosperity, says CGA

Consumers are demanding more engagement on sustainability from hospitality operators, according to CGA and UKHospitality’s latest Future Shock report. The new report includes data from a major survey of environmental and ethical issues across restaurants, pubs, bars and hotels. It found that 83.1% of people now expect hospitality brands to…
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