The recent UK Coffee Leader Summit featured a presentation by Oliver Cock, Managing Director, Commercial, Compass Group UK & Ireland, who outlined some of the work Compass is and has been doing to take a fresh look at their supply of coffee to consumers in the workplace. Compass serves 3 million consumers every day in their many and varied UK sites, using a total of 1400 … [Read more...]
BestRoomsDirect tackles ‘fair booking’ challenge
Simon & Wendy Bennett run Augill Castle in Cumbria, a fiercely independent 15 bedroom hotel which they started 16 years ago as a 3 bedroom B&B. Below, they write about the challenges that their business faces – the reasons why they launched Best Rooms Direct in order to rally support and attention to the cause of ‘fair’ booking. Marketing has never been so tough, and … [Read more...]
Oxford’s Westgate Centre plans for major hospitality area
Oxford City Council's West Area Planning Committee is to grant outline planning permission for Westgate Oxford Alliance's £500m major redevelopment of the Westgate Centre and adjacent land. The Alliance, a joint venture between The Crown Estate and Land Securities, has spent four years preparing the plans and undertaking extensive consultation. The retail-led mixed use … [Read more...]
Richard Caring builds £260m ‘war chest’ for new ventures
The Evening Standard has reported that restaurant tycoon Richard Caring is building a large ‘war chest’ to finance ambitious plans to acquire and open restaurants in London’s West End. The news follows the sale for £400 million of the Stables Market, a major part of London’s Camden Market – in which he apparently held a 25% stake. The property has been bought by a Middle … [Read more...]
London hotels show positive growth in February
According to STR Global’s preliminary daily data from February, London showed positive growth in the following key performance indicators: increases in supply (+1.2 percent) and demand (+2.9 percent); a 1.6-percent increase in occupancy to 76.8 percent; a 4.9-percent increase in average daily rate to GBP128.12; a 6.6-percent rise in revenue per available room to … [Read more...]