St Albans

Honest Burger partners with UberEats for delivery

Honest Burgers has announced today that it has become an Uber Eats exclusive partner, which will reportedly see 43 stores across the country implement takeaway delivery via the UberEats app.  The partnership also means that UberEats customers can now order Honest Burgers’ “premium quality burgers” and the “signature” rosemary salted…

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Itsu appoints new CCO

Itsu has announced the appointment of Neil Miller as its new chief customer officer (CCO). In the newly created role, Miller will lead the development and strategy of Itsu’s customer proposition, marketing, digital transformation and management of the brand. Prior to joining the group, he spent 25 years as a…

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Young’s sells majority of Ram estate for £53m

Pub group Young’s has agreed to sell 56 of the 63 pubs in its Ram Pub Company estate to Punch Pubs and Co for £53m.  The group said it will retain the remaining seven pubs for the long term, after the board decided that the best way to “increase value”…

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Itsu to open 100 new stores after securing investment deal

Itsu, an Asian-inspired restaurant chain, has announced plans to create 100 new venues across the UK as part of its partnership with private equity firm, Bridgepoint.  Founder of Itsu, Julian Metcalfe, said the new partnership “secures tremendous growth” for the restaurant group – which is recovering from the impact of…

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Young’s losses widen to £45.2m

Young’s, the pub chain and brewery, saw its losses before tax widen to £45.2m up from £29.1m the previous year.  With the group only being able to trade four months in the 52 weeks ending 29 March, the pub chain also saw its group revenue fall by nearly 71% to…

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The coronavirus diaries: Andrei Lussmann

I decided to open the estate gradually to enable us, as a team, to understand the market now; how people were feeling about dining out and how operationally we have been able to adapt to new measures. We opened St Albans and Harpenden on 4 July and have since followed with…

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L’Italiana to open new restaurant in Shenley

Italian restaurant, L’Italiana, will open a new restaurant in Shenley, Hertfordshire, tomorrow (8 November). According to the group, its second restaurant will offer the same menu and dining experience that its customers have “grown to love over the years”. Owner George Nicholas said sourced ingredients are often bought locally and…

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Is the demise of restaurant chains a good thing for local independents?

The Gaucho restaurant group is the latest in a list of chain restaurants to appoint administrators or announce restructuring and branch closures. The news, including the closure of their 22 Cau restaurants follows on from the restructuring of Jamie’s Italian, Prezzo, Café Rouge, Byron and Strada. In my home city…

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Busaba Eathai closes all restaurants outside London

Busaba Eathai has now closed all of its branches outside of London after reporting pre-tax losses of nearly £18m. The Thai restaurant chain’s only remaining restaurant outside of the capital was St Albans. The chain also acquired premises in Leeds in 2016 but financial woes and recent closures cast doubt…

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Sopwell House to launch Wimbledon-inspired menu

Sopwell House in St Albans has announced it is launching a new Wimbledon inspired menu for afternoon teas. The menu will run for the duration of the championships and will see the hotel offering a variety of Wimbledon related strawberries and cream cakes. Macarons on the menu will be served…

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