All MCA Insight articles in December 2013 – Page 17
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NewsOakman raises £5.5m for expansion; names new FD
Oakman Inns & Restaurants, the Peter Borg-Neal-led group, has raised £5.5m for further expansion and announced the appointment of Joseph Evans, currently financial controller of Whitbread Hotel and Restaurant Division, as its new finance director
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Analysis & InsightPubs in 'sweet spot' to drive eating-out growth
Pubs are in the “sweet spot” to “drive the eating out agenda” in 2014, a year that will see a “cautious” recovery in dining out, according to a leading foodservice analyst
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News
Pubco code 'uncertainty' hits Vianet
Profits for Vianet, the beer flow monitoring company, declined in the six months to 30 September as a “direct result” of factors including continuing pub disposals and fewer iDraught installations due to the “uncertainty” around Government intervention via the proposed Statutory Code
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News
Leslau vehicle reports uplift in ETI portfolio
Max Property Group which acquired 29 Enterprise Inns in a £44.4m sale-and-leaseback deal in January 2011, has reported a 6.6% uplift in the value of the portfolio for the six months to the end of September 2013
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OpinionI predict a…
Stefan Chomka looks ahead to what 2014 has in store, with 10 predictions, some “dead-certs” like Alan Yau’s opening of ‘Asian gastropub’ Duck & Rice rekindling publicans’ desires to return to the heady days of the mid 1990s where a Thai restaurant was the pub accessory du jour; and some more avant-garde, including the possible opening of bread and butter concept called B&B
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NewsFuller’s targets service consistency
Fuller’s expects to “win” on the issue of offering consistently high levels of service at its managed pubs in the next year, something that’s not currently happening on a consistent basis, according to chief executive Simon Emeny
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NewsMarston’s accelerating towards managed pub operator status
A leading analyst has said that the recent full-year results from Marston’s provided further evidence of the company accelerating the transformation process to become a predominately managed pub operator
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News
Cibo secures Marco Marco sites
Cibo Restaurants, the North West-based group launched by Philip Davies, has secured the majority of the former Marco Marco estate and is looking at further opening opportunities in the region
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NewsPing Pong grows sales and profitability
Ping Pong, the dim sum chain, has grown like-for-like sales and profitability since September after a “mixed performance” in the five months before then, chief executive Art Sagiryan has told M&C Report
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News
Lend Lease to measure guest experience
Lend Lease has signed an agreement with Service Management Group (SMG) to provide guest experience measurement tools and analysis at Bluewater
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News
Garrity launches Est Est
Stephen Garrity, the managing director of the Est Est Est brand, has opened a new restaurant called Est Est in Aigburth, Liverpool
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NewsPatisserie Valerie trials sandwich delivery
Patisserie Valerie, the Risk Capital Partners-backed chain, is trialling a lunchtime sandwich delivery service in Leeds, which it hopes to roll out to more of its sites in time
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News
Jimmy’s appoints group executive chef
Jimmy’s World Kitchen has appointed Patrick Harness, the former executive chef of the Belfry Hotel, as its new group executive chef as it gears up to open four new sites over the next 12 months
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News
Realpubs founders launch new company
Nick Pring and Malcolm Heap, the founders of Realpubs which was acquired by Greene King two year for £53.1m, have named their new company Urban Pubs and Bars and said they hoped to grow an estate of up to 20 sites across London’s “urban villages” over the next four years
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News
La Tasca wins NE restaurant of the year award
La Tasca has collected the Restaurant of the Year title at the ninth annual City of Durham Retail Awards
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NewsGreene King Retail lfls grow 3.5%
Greene King, the brewer and pub operator, has reported a 3.5% rise in like-for-like sales in the 24 weeks to 13 October and said it’s planning a further 90 acquisitions for its managed Retail estate over the next 18 months
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News
Greene King sets out Retail success factors
Greene King said that the continued success across its Retail division was driven by seven key factors
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News
Box Steam names ex-Carlsberg exec as sales director
Box Steam Brewery, the Wiltshire-based craft brewer, has appointed a former senior sales executive at Carlsberg UK as its new sales director
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News
TCG launches 'most innovative' cocktail menu
TCG says it will be the first mainstream operator to offer American cocktail craze Pickleback in its new cocktail menu launched this month, which is billed as the most innovative in the mainstream pub and bar sector
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Opinion
A surprise and a space race
After a long interview process, which allowed him to get to know Mitchells & Butlers’ (M&B) people, and business fundamentals, and also hear a candid assessment from the board on what they thought needed to be done to transform the company, Alistair Darby admits that there was only one surprise awaiting him when he took up his new role as chief executive last October