Caterer and Hotelkeeper – 6493

SEASIDE VALUE

SEASIDE hotels offer the UK's best value for meetings, according to a league table produced by conference bookings agency Banks Sadler.

Operations director Vivienne Kay describedfive-star coastal properties as "outstandingly cheap", offering tariffs of about £125 a day.

"These hotels often cost at least 20% less than inland venues," she said.

DOMINO THEORY

DOMINO'S Pizza UK is to target teenagers and the pre-teens in an effort to increase its market share of the home-delivery sector.

New UK master-franchisees Colin and Gerry Halpern last week introduced the character Donny's Domino into the UK as part of that strategy.

The character was pioneered in the USA last year, and will feature as part of an aggressive marketing drive aimed at young people.

FLAT recovery

BRITAIN's catering market last year remained "flat, with only a few recent signs of recovery from the recession", according to food giant Booker.

The company's foodservice division nevertheless improved operating profits from £9.6m in 1992 to £15.1m in 1993 as a result of cost reductions and improved efficiency.

DUBLIN CENTRE

BEST Western International, the USA-based hotel consortium with nearly 3,400 hotels in 52 countries, is to open an international reservations centre in Dublin in June.

CLWYD FATE ON HOLD

CLWYDCounty Council last week adjourned a meeting on the future of its troubled catering direct service organisation until 27 April.