Caterer and Hotelkeeper – 6685
Arcadian deal
ARCADIAN International is rumoured to be close to making its first acquisitions since buying Clipper Hotels and two former Hidden hotels last November.
Sources this week suggested the company was in the final stages of negotiations to buy at least two hotels.
Of the £18.6m raised from November's shareholder rights issue, Arcadian still has at least £7m to spend.
Boulestin BID
KEVIN Kennedy has been turned down in his bid to transfer the Boulestin restaurant name to a site in London's Royal CourtHotel.
Mr Kennedy told Caterer he had nevertheless written to Queens Moat Houses (QMH) asking for the rights to the Boulestin name, in the hope that he could reopen elsewhere.
QMH has sold the restaurant's Covent Garden site to Pizza Hut, which plans to turn it into a 160-seat outlet (News, Caterer, 10 February).
PUB FOOD THREAT
PUBS now provide one-seventh of meals consumed outside the home and make up nearly a third of popular catering outlets, according to a report from Stoy Hayward Franchising Services.
The report, written by consultant Stuart Price, says pubs pose a substantial threat to the traditional catering sector, but have yet to exploit their potential to the full.
Leith's pudding
PRUE Leith launched a new pudding last week which she hopes will join the ranks of such famous desserts as the Pavlova and the Poire belle-Héläne.
Miss Leith's Institute Pudding will be available at the restaurant she operates at the Institute of Chartered Accountants.