The first ever Sake Sommelier of the Year competition to be held outside Japan has been won by Rajan Rengasamy of wine supplier Spinneys, based in the UAE. Barry McCaughley of London’s Chotto Matte and Sam Tse of the Hong Kong Wine Academy were runners-up, following the semi final and final held at London’s Westbury […]
Restaurant operators looking to develop new eating out brands are beginning to colonize areas of the foodservice sector previously dominated by independents. Horizons’ latest Ones To Watch report, which tracks emergent new eating out brands, shows that Thai, Chinese, Mexican, Caribbean and Mediterranean restaurants are amongst the fastest-growing areas of the branded eating out sector, […]
Janine Swales of BaxterStorey has won the Academy of Food & Wine Services 2013 UK Restaurant Manager of the Year, following a closely fought final in London yesterday [7 October]. Stephen Morrison of La Vallée Blanche, Glasgow, was the runner-up. The judges were unanimous in their decision: “Janine is the consummate restaurant manager – she […]
The appalling siege in Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall has raised obvious concerns over security and safety in a country poised for growth. This was the conclusion of HVS London director Tim Smith, attending the Africa Hotel Investment Forum 2013 in Nairobi this week, following the decision by organisers to go ahead with the conference. “The […]
Host Management has announced it has acquired the trade and assets of the Hertfordshire-based Style Services Group, which holds catering and vending contracts in business and industry, the government sector, leisure and retail. Style Services was founded in 2007 by John Rathbone, Ruth Fenton and Jim Walker. The business employs 95 people and has a […]
This year eight restaurant managers have made it through to the Academy of Food & Wine Service’s UK Restaurant Manager of the Year competition following a testing semi-final held at the Moat House Acton Trussell in Staffordshire yesterday [16 September 2013]. John Croft, AFWS executive director, said that the quality of entrants and the diversity […]
Accra, the capital of Ghana, has become one of the fastest-growing cities in Africa and the subject of considerable interest from the hotel investment market, with many of the large global brands vying to open properties there in forthcoming years. Investors are attracted to the city because of its growing economy, political stability and conducive […]
Hot dogs have nudged scampi and chips from their top 20 ranking of the most popular dishes in eating out establishments, as the nation’s love of all-things-American continues to influence British menus. New research from hospitality consultancy Horizons reveals that hot dogs, albeit with a gourmet twist, are now featured on 85% more menus than […]
Hotel Bulletin: Q2 2013, which gives an update on the performance of UK hotels, was published this week by global hotel consultancy HVS, Zolfo Cooper and AM:PM. It was good news for hotels as Q2 shows consistent improvement in RevPAR and cost control resulting in hotels in the regions increasing profitability year-on-year for the first […]