23/09/2025 09:38:00
The Beckford Group is gearing up for expansion with three new openings in three months, including the group's first hotel, reports The Restaurant. The West Country-based pub group will launch the sites in early 2026, starting with a modern British brasserie called Corsham House and then following it up with pub with rooms The Kings Arms, and village Hotel Teffont House. Beckford Group's fifth inn with rooms, The King's Arms, which will open in March 2026 in the Wiltshire village of Monkton Farleigh, on the outskirts of Bath, having been closed for over a year. Fleurets advised Beckford Group in the King's Arms acquisition.
Following the opening of a flagship London venue in St Mary Axe in April 2025, Roxy Leisure has already secured its second site in the capital for its Roxy Ball Room brand. The Professionals at Play business has announced that a second Roxy Ball Room will be opening in High Holborn in spring 2026, taking over the space from a former gym. The venue will be converted into the brand's immersive entertainment experience, featuring tech darts, duck pin bowling, crazy pool, karaoke booths and shooting pods, as well as a food and drinks offering, advises Pub & Bar.
Criterion Capital has welcomed the first guests to its 1,000-pod Zedwell capsule hotel in London's Piccadilly Circus, writes The Caterer. Zedwell Capsule Hotel Piccadilly Circus has taken over the Pavilion, a Grade II-listed building on Great Windmill Street, which is a stone's throw away from Zedwell's flagship hotel at the Trocadero building. The latest project has been dubbed the world's largest capsule hotel, with each "cocoon" featuring sound-proofed, windowless walls, Hypnos mattresses, ambient lighting and smart climate control - all for £30 a night.
Hotel Owner reported that The Bank of England (BoE) has voted to hold interest rates steady at 4% amid concerns around the recent rise in inflation. At a meeting last week, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted by a majority of 7-2 to maintain the rate, as two members voted to reduce it by 0.25 percentage points, to 3.75%. It comes as CPI inflation rose to 3.8% in August, and was expected to increase slightly in September, before falling towards the 2% target thereafter. The committee said it "remained alert" to the risk that this temporary increase in inflation could put additional upward pressure on the wage and price-setting process, including items such as food prices.
German Doner Kebab is marking a major growth milestone with the launch of its 150th UK restaurant in Leeds, reports Foodservice Equipment Journal. The milestone follows the brand's 100th UK store opening in May 2022, underlining GDK's rapid growth trajectory. Since entering the UK in 2015, GDK has expanded at pace, building a national footprint across major UK city centre high streets, shopping centres, and travel hubs. Leeds now hosts three GDK restaurants, following locations at Leeds Cardigan Fields and the White Rose Centre. The new site on Boar Lane, is set to open its doors next month.
Pubs, bars and suppliers kept up the recent pattern of modest year-on-year drinks sales growth in early September, CGA by NIQ's Daily Drinks Tracker shows. Average drinks sales in managed On Premise venues in the week to Saturday 6 September were 1.3% ahead of the same period in 2024. This follows growth of 0.4% in the previous week to Saturday 30 August, and of 1.9% in the seven days to Saturday 23 August, says Caterer Licensee Hotelier News. The latest numbers conclude a reasonable summer of trading in the On Premise. After periods of slow trading in May and June, sustained spells of sunshine had a positive effect on LAD categories in particular through July and August. Sales have now been ahead year-on-year for five of the last six weeks -- though all of the increases have been below the UK's 3.8% rate of inflation, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index.
Tech-led bar brand, Clays Bar, that revolves around immersive clay target shooting is set to open its fourth venue, in the heart of Soho, London, after securing £3m in funding. Soho joins its existing locations in Bank, Canary Wharf and Birmingham. The business says the deal form's part Clay's wider growth strategy to take its concept to new markets, with international expansion firmly on the horizon as global demand for tech-enabled social experiences continues to rise, reports Pub & Bar.