Gordon Ramsay aims for purely female brigade For more hospitality stories, see what the weekend papers say

Ramsay aims for purely female brigade at Royal Hospital
Michelin-star chef Gordon Ramsay is so impressed with the wealth of up-and-coming female chefs that, from next year, he plans to man the kitchens at his flagship Royal Hospital Road kitchen entirely with women. He told the ObserverThe Observer, 16 December

Ritz auction will raise more than £1m
Almost 3,000 items of furniture and equipment from London's Ritz hotel are expected to raise more than £1m under the auctioneer's hammer. The hotel closed this Saturday for an 18-month, £100m facelift. Lots include 250 pink-edged muffin dishes (priced around £100 to £150 each), the 100-piece oak parquet dance floor from the Lancaster Ballroom that is inset with fairy lights, 200 umbrella stands, 20 large toast racks, and a pair of mid-20th century chandeliers priced around £10,000 to £15,000 apiece. - The Independent, 15 December

Rising chefs for 2008 Food critic Jay Rayner has tipped five rising stars as chefs to watch in 2008. They are: Clare Smyth (29) who is head chef at Gordon Ramsay's flagship London restaurant in Royal Hospital Road; Robert Thompson (25) of Waldo's restaurant in Cliveden, Berkshire, who trained under Germain Schwab; Tom Kitchin (30) of the Kitchin restaurant in Leith, Edinburgh, who has worked with Pierre Koffman; James Sommerin (29) of the Crown in Whitebrook, Wales; and Tristan Mason (31) from D&D London restaurant The Orrery. - The Observer](http://observer.guardian.co.uk/), 16 December

Selfridges halts cruel veal sales from Smithfields
London department store Selfridges has stopped buying cheap veal from Smithfields meat importer JF Edwards after a video made by animal rights campaigners revealed that it came from calves farmed in the Netherlands in narrow pens that breach European requirements. A salesman at JF Edwards said Selfridges had initially bought higher-welfare veal sourced from another Dutch operator, Peters Farms, but had switched to the lower-welfare meat supplied by ESA because it was 30% cheaper. - [The Independent](http://www.independent.co.uk/), 15 December

Analysts predict third offer for S&N
Analysts are predicting that Danish and Dutch brewers Carlsberg and Heineken will raise their bid for Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) to around 775p a share this week. The revised figure would value the Edinburgh-baser brewer and pub operator at £7.6b. The European brewers first made an indicative offer of 720p a share in October and raised the price to 750p last month. S&N rejected both approaches. - [The Scotsman](http://www.scotsman.com/), 15 December

S&N to demand a takeover bid deadline
S&N is planning ask the Takeover Panel to issue a "put up or shut up notice" to the Carlsberg-Heineken takeover consortium that would set a deadline for a formal offer. If they failed to make a formal offer within the agreed time frame they would not be able to put in another offer for at least six months unless a third party made a bid. Since October, Carlsberg and Heineken have made two indicative proposals of which the last, at 750p a share, values S&N at £7.3b.Shares in S&N closed at 726½p, on Friday, valuing the company at £6.9 billion. - [The Sunday Times](http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/), 16 December

By Angela Frewin

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