09/07/2024 09:19:00
A pub in Folly Bridge, Oxford, has reopened following a transformative refurbishment. Sat on the banks of the Thames, The Head of the River is a Fuller's pub and features a riverside dining area and garden, as well as 19 boutique bedrooms. As part of the refurbishment, The Head of the River is now fully electric - making it Fuller's first fully electric hotel, advises Pub & Bar. The kitchen equipment and all other appliances in the pub and hotel are now powered by electricity. The bedrooms have all undergone refurbishments, with some of the rooms having been turned into family accommodation.
Celebrity chef and restaurateur Marco Pierre White's new pub in Felixstowe, Suffolk has opened its doors. The site falls under the Marco Pierre White Ale House brand and is the first of its kind in the country, says Morning Advertiser. The Queen's Head is the latest addition to the chef's eight other concepts, which operate under Black and White Hospitality. It forms part of a major refurbishment project that saw the opening of a new boutique-style hotel and a new Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill restaurant.
The Ivy Collection is to open its first Liverpool restaurant after plans were green lit by the local council. Permission has been granted for the group to develop the Grade-I listed former Bank of England building on Castle Street into a full-service restaurant, reports The Caterer. Originally constructed in 1826, the city centre building was last used by the bank in 1987 and has sat vacant since the 1990s. It will be the first Liverpool restaurant for the expanding Ivy Brasserie brand and third in the north-west, following two openings in Manchester.
The White Horses Rottingdean has launched as the first site for Everly Hotels Collection, the new luxe hotel brand from pub chain Greene King, advises Boutique Hotelier. Greene King has owned the pub and hotel since 1999 and embarked on a multi-million pound refurbishment of the site last August, with the reopening taking place at the beginning of this month. The hotel comprises 32 individually named bedrooms and suites, three of which are dog-friendly, as well as a new destination bar and 290-cover restaurant complete with outside terraces that offer 'spectacular' sea views.
The White House in Grandpont, Oxford, is the latest pub to join the growing estate of the Dodo Pub Co. Its fourth pub in the city brings the Dodo portfolio to nine venues in total, with the well-known pub on Abingdon Road set for a new identity that will pay homage to its architect Henry Hare, who is also responsible for designing The Oxford Town Hall. Pub & Bar report that it will be reopening early September, the free-of-tie pub will be renamed The Slow & Steady. The operator has plans for 15 beers on tap.
Brighton and London-based grill and barbecue concept Salt Shed has acquired the former Murmur site on Brighton seafront for its second permanent restaurant. Founders Laurence Stevens and Francis Sweeney will launch Salt Shed at the West Pier later this week and is billed as the group's 'biggest launch to date', says the Restaurant. It will join the brand's inaugural permanent site on Church Street in Brighton's North Laine area, a concession at Boxpark Shoreditch and a 'delivery pop-up' in Herne Hill.
The UK soft drinks maker Britvic has agreed to an improved £3.3bn takeover offer from the Danish brewer Carlsberg. The Guardian says that Britvic, whose brands include J20, Robinsons and R White's lemonade, accepted the £13.15 a share offer after rejecting previous takeover offers from Carlsberg on the grounds that they undervalued the company. In a statement to the stock exchange on Monday, Carlsberg said Britvic's board would unanimously recommend the deal, which comprises £12.90 in cash for each Britvic share and a special dividend payment of 25p for each share. The deal would create a new enlarged group named Carlsberg Britvic. Britvic shares rose 4.5% on Monday to £12.65, making it one of the top risers on the FTSE 250.
Publicans have called on Co-op to stop showing a "disgraceful" television advert encouraging people to stay in to watch the football rather than going to the pub, reports The Caterer.