Caterer and Hotelkeeper – 10160

cat shares Loony job

Hotelier and publican Alan Hope won joint leadership of the Monster Raving Loony Party, together with his cat Mandu. The split decision was made at the party's 19th annual conference, held at the Golden Lion Hotel in Ashburton, Devon.

Striking a serious note, Hope said the national minimum wage of £3.60 was too low to encourage more people into the industry to ease the current skills shortage.

council clampdown

Westminster City Council in London has warned of a clampdown on dirty restaurants in the coming months. The council has put an extra £500,000 on its budget this year, partly to recruit nine extra environmental health officers to police an area that contains the country's highest concentration of restaurants.

parrett in talks

Hotelier Turrloo Parrett has been negotiating with Arcadian to buy its 53-bedroom Chilston Park hotel in Maidstone, Kent. But Arcadian has decided it would rather sell its 11 UK hotels, which it put up for sale in June, as a group. Parrett, owner of the 62-bedroom Eastwell Manor in Ashford, Kent, said: "If Arcadian does not proceed with the group sale, we would certainly like to renew our interest."

etrusca's eight up

London restaurant company Etrusca Group has opened its eighth restaurant in the capital. The group has spent £750,000 on its latest venture, Il Convivio, a 65-seat modern Italian restaurant in Victoria.