David Michels goes back into hotel business – for more hospitality stories, see what the weekend papers say
David Michels goes back into hotel business
Two of Britain's leading entrepreneurs are preparing to announce plans to float a hotel property group worth an estimated £2.5b on the London Stock Exchange. Richard Balfour-Lynn, the head of Marylebone Warwick Balfour, and Sir David Michels, former chief executive of Hilton Group, have teamed up with Bank of Scotland and Royal Bank of Scotland to pool between 60 and 80 hotels under the De Vere, Hilton and MarriottThe Times,](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/) 14 April
New openings blamed for FishWorks troubles
Restaurant group FishWorks has blamed a trebling of first-half losses on the cost of opening new restaurants in areas such as Chelsea and Notting Hill. In the six months to the end of January losses have almost trebled to £740,807 on turnover that has more than doubled to £6.18m. FishWorks operates a chain of 12 outlets. - [Daily Telegraph](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/), 14 April
£500m tranche of hotels up for sale A property fund managed by Goldman Sachs has put an estate of hotels managed by InterContinental Hotels Group on the market for an estimated £500m. Most trade under the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn brands and are located in Belgium, France and Italy. - [Sunday Times](http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/), 15 April
Hotel du Vin to build another Scottish hotel
Hotel du Vin has been given the green light to open a £7m hotel in Edinburgh, taking its investment in Scotland to more than £35m in the last year. Hotel du Vin's Scottish chief executive, Robert Cook, said planning permission had now been granted for the site and work will begin in the next month with an opening planned for 2008. - [Scotland on Sunday](http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/), 15 April
Salad days for McDonald's
McDonald's has braced Wall Street for hearty first-quarter earnings, citing the strength of new US products such as "snack wrap" chicken sandwiches and growth in Europe and Asia. The world's largest restaurant operator also reported an 8.2% rise in underlying sales for March - well ahead of expectations. One analyst said adding salads to the menu was a "fantastic" move that helped McDonald's image. - [The Scotsman](http://www.scotsman.com/), 14 April
By Bob Gledhill
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