Openings

Moving beyond

Park Plaza Hotels Europe opens its fourth hotel in the UK, and the first outside London, this April. The 178-bedroom Park Plaza Nottingham is housed in an 11-storey former British Telecom office block and was refurbished at a cost of £15m. It includes a 72-seat restaurant, six conference rooms, and a fitness centre with swimming pool. Rack rates start from £125 per night.

Paris awaits

The Radisson SAS hotel Champs Elysées, which opened last month in Paris, will open a 65-seat restaurant on 20 March. Jean-Andr‚ Charial has been appointed executive chef for the venture.

Fulfilling a Need

Need the Dough has opened in Battersea, London. The 122-seat pizza restaurant, formerly a Bar Coast, was converted over 12 weeks at a cost of £600,000. The restaurant serves square pizzas cooked in wood-burning ovens, and dinner costs about £13 per person. The chain, owned by Six Continents, includes another two outlets in Guildford and Kingston-on-Thames in Surrey.

Independence day

The Independence opens on 18 March in Highbury, London. The first-floor restaurant will seat 48, and its bar will accommodate as many as 150 people. It is the second business venture for manager Billy Drew and chef Richard McLellan, who opened the Perseverance pub in Bloomsbury, London, last year. A three-course meal at the Independence is expected to cost £20 without drinks.