ON-TRADE NEWS

Yo Sushi! expansion plan, Yo Sushi! has succeeded in acquiring an extra £17.5m to accelerate its…RBS sells Marriott hotels, a consortium is set to acquire 47 Marriott hotels from the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in a deal worth  over £1 billion…

Yo Sushi! expansion plan

Yo Sushi! has succeeded in acquiring an extra £17.5m to accelerate its growth in the UK and internationally.

The conveyor-belt sushi restaurant chain has been supported by Barclays Bank, which has provided the new banking facilities, for six years. In addition to expansion, the refinancing will fund a return of money to shareholders.

The chain opened six new UK restaurants in 2006, the most recent being an outlet in London’s Brunswick Centre. In addition two restaurants were recently opened in Paris, as well as outlets in Kuwait and Dubai.

Plans for 2007 include at least six more branches in the UK, as well as a focus on international expansion.

CEO Robin Rowland said he was “delighted” with the new deal. He commented  that the company remained “extremely confident of both our domestic and international growth going forward.”

RBS sells Marriott hotels

a consortium is set to acquire 47 Marriott hotels from the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in a deal worth  over £1 billion.

The syndicate includes Israeli companies Delek Belron Real Estate and Electra Real Estate, as well as Irish firm Quinlan Private.

The deal covers 8,456 rooms, which will continue to be managed by Marriott for 30 years. Another condition of the deal is a loan with RBS of £850 million, in addition to £200m equity provided by the consortium.

All but one of the hotels were acquired by RBS last April for £951m. The remaining hotel was purchased in a separate deal for £30m.

Quinlan Estate will own 40-50% of the portfolio of hotels. The company famously acquired the Savoy Hotel Group for £1.3bn in 2004, after which it sold the Savoy Hotel within a year.

Other investors will own smaller shares. Electra will take 9.9%, while Delek Belron – which has made a number of recent hotel acquisitions in Western countries – will own 17%.

A spokesperson for Delek Belron said, “We believe this is a good deal with high potential and with a good management that will show a good profit.”

Last Orders for Little Chef?

the people’s Restaurant Group – owner of the Little Chef chain – has gone into administration despite recent efforts to re-finance or sell the company.

The group acquired the Little Chef chain of 235 restaurants in October 2005, but has since made significant losses. A marketing campaign lasting more than two months failed to produce a buyer for The People’s Restaurant Group, resulting in the announcement on 3 January that PricewaterhouseCoopers had been appointed as administrators.

Ian Green, partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers, said it was “clearly disappointing that the directors’ efforts to save the group ultimately proved unsuccessful”.

However the sale of 196 of the group’s restaurants has been confirmed. This will enable these restaurants to “continue to trade and preserve the jobs of the majority of the group’s 4,000 employees”, said Green.

Latest openings

floridita’s dedicated Daiquiri room, Salon Rojo, opened late last month. This latest addition to the London incarnation of the famous Cuban bar and restaurant chain is being hailed as the city’s first dedicated Daiquiri room. Salon Rojo (below) is a logical tribute to a cocktail believed to have been invented in the original El Floridita in Havana. A tasting menu is also available to accompany the numerous variations on this Cuban classic. Internationally, Floridita’s expansion continues apace, with openings in Dublin, Moscow and Madrid in the past two months.

A private members bar has been added to Host Restaurant and Terrace, located in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire. Opened more than six years ago, Host has an open-plan kitchen and a terrace with capacity for more than 200 people. The new bar is intended to provide an area for members and their guests, as well as for restaurant diners. It is also available for private parties, in which case part of the bar is sectioned off for members. The members bar also features a 2am licence, and door keys for members.

In Weybridge, Young’s has invested £1.2m into restoring the historic Hand & Spear pub. The Victorian venue reopened at the end of last month, with its original bar and windows restored. A wine cellar has been added to the pub, which will also now offer a function room for 30 people. The pub, named after the family crest of the late Lord Locke-King, was acquired by Young’s in mid-2006. The original hotel is where Robert Louis Stevenson is said to have worked on Treasure Island.

Owned by Vince Power, The Moose Bar in London opened opposite Selfridges recently. The bar is designed by Shaun Clarkson and is evocative of a ski-lodge, featuring wooden beams, Nordic murals and cowhide. The pie menu also remains faithful to the Alpine theme.

© db Febuary 2007