A round-up of this month's news
Thrilling grills
Two managed pub companies are set to launch new grill concepts.
Orchid Pub Group, formed by private equity company GI Partners, is to launch a grill concept at the Ship Inn in Rainhill, Merseyside. Special features include a starter bar, fishmongers' and butchers' counters, an open grill and a traditional dessert trolley.
Spirit Group, the managed division of Punch Taverns, is launching a new grill concept at two pubs in May - with a view to a bigger roll-out.
"There will be a lot of innovation and a
cutting-edge, revolutionary new-style oven," a Punch spokesman said.
Fourth time lucky for Ramsay
Gordon Ramsay has bought his fourth pub and boutique hotel - the York & Albany in Camden. The chef is thought to have paid about £4m for the site.
The pub is
due to be re-
furbished and
is expected to
re-open in May. Gordon's other pubs are the Narrow, in Limehouse, the Devonshire, in Chiswick - an Enterprise lease - and the Warrington Hotel in Maida Vale, which he acquired for about £5m. The new Camden site is rumoured to have been lined up for Ramsay protégé, Angela Hartnett.
It's only fair
Orchid Group is marking Fairtrade Fortnight with a donation for every hot drink sold.
The company is also offering Fairtrade wines for customers. The managed pub group will donate 10p to the Fairtrade Foundation for every cup of its Cafeology Fairtrade coffee sold during the fortnight, from 25 February to 9 March.
"We only serve Fairtrade hot drinks because we believe it's important to guarantee Third World farmers a fair deal," said Orchid marketing manager Adam Bowers. "We'll provide the best coffee in town at the best value - everyone's a winner."
Customers can add a kick to their coffee with flavour infusions including gingerbread, orange and caramel at just 35p a shot.
Fairtrade wines that are stocked in Orchid's contemporary carvery and contemporary dining pubs come from producer La Riojana.
Young's makes more space
London-based brewer Young's is investing £30m in a programme to more than double the number of letting rooms in its pubs.
The company plans to start development work that will add up to 470 rooms to its current 406, at the start of the new financial year in April.
The redeveloped pubs are likely to include
the Alma, in Wandsworth, the Hand & Spear,
in Weybridge, and the Rose & Crown, in Farnborough.
Beefy taste
Whitbread has opened it first new Beefeater in eight years. The site is part of a new 67-bedroom Premier Inn hotel, in Birmingham. It will be called Beefeater Grill and will focus on chargrilled steaks, meat grills and fish dishes. There will also be a kids' grill offering. The site will hold 220 covers.
Beefeater has invested £45m on converting the entire estate of 129 restaurants across the UK. The new look focuses on booth-style seating areas and relaxed, informal dining.
Old look for Vintage
Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) is to reverse an
experiment that has seen new Vintage openings "unbranded".
The company has been evolving parts of the Vintage estate into three bistro formats that bridge the gap in price, sophistication and operational complexity between Vintage Inns and Project S, the gastropub concept that M&B has developed in conjunction with entrepreneurs Paul Salisbury and Paul Hales.
The up-dating of Vintage has also involved less overt brand cues. Restaurants division boss Adam Fowle has stated that an "unbranded" experiment involving 34 former Whitbread pubs converted to the Vintage trading style was to be scrapped - with Vintage signing returning.
Vintage Inns is thought to make a profit contribution to M&B of between £50m and £60m, making it one of the most profitable casual-dining brands in Europe.
Sustaining stocks
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is to review its advice on eating fish in relation to sustainability of some types of fish. The review reflects growing concern about the sustainability of fish stocks and the wider environmental impact of fishing and fish farming.
The FSA's current nutritional advice remains that consumers should be eating more fish and should be aiming to eat at least two portions of fish a week, one of which should be oily.
Findings of the review will be published before the end of 2008.
Canadian spirit
Spirit Group, Punch's managed division, has relaunched the only Canadian-themed pub in
the UK with a new menu and re-furb. The Maple Leaf, in London's Covent Garden, is adorned with Canadian memorabilia, including a life-size grizzly bear to greet diners.
The good-value menu includes Poutine, a special combination from Quebec containing chips, melted cheese and gravy. Also on offer is the Full Mounty Burger, a grilled beef burger with mushrooms, cheese, bacon and egg, plus a selection of American classics such as hot dogs, sloppy Joes and lumberjack meatloaf. Desserts include a
waffle served with Canadian maple syrup and banoffee pie.
More room at the inn
The Inc Group is reported to have bought chain bar the Elbow Room. The group currently runs a variety of restaurants and pubs across the UK, and has a stake in the O2.
The company is owned by Frank Dowling, an American entrepreneur, and is currently enjoying a phase of growth, despite a multitude of warnings about the immediate future of the industry.
The Elbow Room, which opened its first site in London and has since expanded around the UK, turns over about £6m annually.
