in brief

Brake deal

Brake Bros is paying £23.7m and taking on £8.3m of debt to buy catering wholesaler Cearns & Brown. Brake's chief executive, Ian Player, says the move is part of an effort to increase the amount of groceries and chilled products Brake can supply in addition to its traditional strength in frozen food.

Riverside rating

The Riverside Hotel in Suffolk has won a 76% rating from the AA, making it the top three-star hotel in the county. The business, which was bought last July by Brian Keane, is the first acquisition in a proposed small chain under the Cameron Hotels banner.

Stratton expansion

Macdonald Hotels has gained planning permission for a £7m redevelopment of its Stratton Lodge hotel in Inverness. The Scottish firm is planning to add 70 bedrooms to the four-star complex, as well as a130-seat restaurant, lounge bar and business centre.

American cuisine

Rocky Durham, executive chef at Santa Fe restaurants, has clinched a deal to write and present a cookery series called Plates from the States for the Carlton Food Network. Each one of the 50 half-hour programmes will focus on cuisine from one of the American states.

Macdonald wage cut

Macdonald Hotels' chief executive Donald Macdonald earned £258,000 in financial year 1999-2000. The package, which comprised a salary of £242,000 and other benefits worth £16,000, was less than his total in the previous year, which was £350,000, including bonus.