Travelodge, the capitals largest hotelier with 59 hotels and circa 7000 rooms, are looking to re affirm their dominance in London by opening a further 145 hotels in the next 15 years. The hotels will be strategically placed across London, for example they plan to open 6 hotels in Fulham and Hammersmith area due to a shortage of rooms, which will also be significant to the local economy creating 120 jobs and £12million in to the local economy. The 145 hotels will create around 4000 jobs and according to hospitalitynet.org could be worth £290 million to the local economy. Travelodge were the UK’s ... (Read more)

Legendary Football player and fashion icon David Beckham looks to be the latest high profile sportsperson to open a restaurant.   Following on from footballer Rio Ferdinand's Rosso restaurant in Manchester, Jamie Carraghers Cafe Sports in Liverpool and Frankie Dettori's join venture with Marco Pierre White, Beckham is looking to use his brand to ensure his new venture is as successful as his fellow sportsmen.   For the past 2 years there have been rumours that David Beckham has been looking in to owning his own restaurant in the London area. It was revealed on Tuesday (05.02.2013) that the eatery, called Union ... (Read more)

Bella Italia, part of the Tragus group have undergone a rather spectacular re-branding!  On a recent trip down to London one of our consultants used business as an excuse to enjoy the new surroundings in the Uxbridge restaurant... It is certainly a move away from their current concept to a more contemporary style.  Check out the pictures below and let us know your thoughts!   (Read more)

Diners are eating out more often each week and having better experiences, despite the price of an average meal in London rising by 6.3% in the past year. With continued pressure on people’s disposable income the increased number of diners suggests that people are not compromising on their socialising activities however are being very ‘savvy’ with their choices when deciding where to dine. Through the various voucher websites and promotions across the majority of the branded restaurant and pub chains, consumers are focused on finding a balance between value and experience and we’ve looked at one example of this below: Eating at ... (Read more)

JD Wetherspoon has announced on the back of a successful 2012 that they are going to expand their estate.  There have been question marks around which way hospitality operators will react to the quieter year on the back of an event filled 2012 calendar, but JD Wetherspoon seem to be ready to maintain the growth of their hugely successful concept with 30 venues planned in 2013. Currently JD Wetherspoon operates 860 pub restaurants, including their late night music venues Lloyds No1 and 25 hotels.   With the expansion it would take the company who hit the 800 venue mark in 2011, to ... (Read more)

Whitbread have announced that like for like sales over the 13 weeks to November 2012 have increased 3.3%, in no little part down to a 7% increase in like for like sales at Costa Coffee.  Costa as a business has been going from strength to strength and total sales have increased in the past 3 months by 25.5%. With over 1400 outlets, Costa is continuing to expand and take market share as the UK’s largest coffee chain.  They also plan to open an additional 300+ outlets with the plan to hit the 2000 mark. Whitbread have also announced sales across its entire ... (Read more)

When applying for any job, getting your CV right is crucial. It is the first impression you will give  a potential employer of you, your skills and your experience, and so failing to get it right could mean failing to progress any further with your application. Unlike an application form, which are much more generic, a CV gives you the chance to really show what you are about and what you can do and what you have achieved in your career to date. We’ve seen many, many CVs for hospitality jobs in our time, so we’ve put together a list of ... (Read more)

The hospitality sector is renowned for providing top quality apprenticeship schemes and is always looking for ways of training and developing people. With the current focus on apprenticeships by the government and the 11-month review of general apprenticeships, it has been suggested that schemes in some industries need “urgent reform” and that others were in need of improved monitoring. The report also claimed that some schemes are costing too much government money, and that apprenticeships need to be more clearly defined. Hospitality apprenticeships do not stop at entry level, and recently the Institute of Hospitality has introduced a new higher apprenticeship in ... (Read more)

Nando’s had cause for double celebration after being announced as the Best Overall Restaurant Chain and releasing pre tax profit figures for the year to February 2012 of £14.7m. The casual counter service restaurant who operate sites across the UK are showing no signs of staleness as the following for the brand grows.  Nando’s, voted number one in the Sunday Times “Top 25 Best Companies to work for” back in 2010, were voted the best restaurant in a poll by R200 magazine beating off competition from The Restaurant Group, Mitchells & Butlers and Tragus. The chain opened its first UK restaurant in ... (Read more)

There's no doubting that hospitality industry is competitive.   Competition is always there with existing and new upcoming restaurants making it even more so. Bar and restaurant management jobs are demanding roles; long hours are not uncommon, and maintaining a cool outward appearance in spite of intense internal pressures is no easy thing do alongside running a tight ship.  Reputation is everything, and in an age where social media gives a voice to almost every consumer, every day in the trade can mean make or break for any pub, bar or restaurant. Standards are paramount to success and should never slip to below ... (Read more)