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www.thecaterer.com Manchester drives UK’s By James Stagg
Manchester has shown greater restaurant growth than any oth- er UK city in the past decade, according to new figures. CGA Peach’s most recent data has revealed a 57% in- crease in food-led businesses in the city over the past 10 years, outstripping the 55% rise in Leeds, London’s 32% and Liver- pool’s 31% growth.
The news came in the week that saw Spanish restaurant group Ibérica open in Manches- ter. Ibérica Spinningfields rep- resents a £5m investment for the group, which views Man- chester as the perfect location for its first site outside London. The new restaurant features
Ibérica’s distinctive range of carefully selected produce, such as acorn-fed Ibérico ham and Asturian
cheeses, alongside
dishes devised by Michelin- starred executive head chef Nacho Manzano. At Ibérica’s opening, manag- ing director Marcos Fernandez said: “Coming to Manchester for us is a challenge. It’s a chal- lenge because we’re leaving our comfort zone of London, but most importantly it’s a chal- lenge because Manchester is one of the most exciting restau- rant scenes in the UK right now. “We’ve managed to bring to Ibérica the best team we could find in this wonderful city, to- gether with the best from Lon- don. I’m very close to moving here myself.” Ibérica’s launch forms part
of a spate of announcements of new openings and recent launches in the city, which in- cludes the opening of a new flagship Ask Italian restaurant in Manchester’s Piccadilly Gar- dens last week. Meanwhile, it emerged earli- er this month that Le Comptoir
www.thecaterer.com Manchester’s latest conquest: Ibérica comes to Spinningfields
Libanais would open its first site outside London in Man- chester, and Simon Shaw’s El Gato Negro is moving to the city after relocating from Rip- ponden, West Yorkshire. The latest figures from the
Coffer Peach Business Tracker for February 2015, released last week, showed that casual dining brands in particular are enjoy- ing a strong performance out- side London, with like-for-like sales up 4.6% during the month across the country, compared with 3.4% within the M25. Trevor Watson, director at Da-
vis Coffer Lyons, part of the Cof- fer Group, said that the higher level of site availability outside the M25 meant that pub and restaurant operators were able to grow faster away from Lon- don, even though businesses within London saw marginally better trading conditions.
Watson added: “As more and more companies announce am- bitious expansion plans, we are seeing more intense competi- tion for new sites throughout the country.”
Earlier this week, Manches- ter played host to the Northern Restaurant and Bar show. Chief executive Thom Hetherington said the event was 15% bigger this year than last, with its suc- cess mirrored by that of Man- chester’s dining scene. The show, on 17 and 18
March, saw Ibérica’s Manzano appear alongside Nick Lander, who discussed his book The Art of the Restaurateur with Craig Bancroft of Northcote and Will Beckett from Hawksmoor. l For an interview with Beck- ett, conducted by restaurateur Xavier Rousset, turn to page 30.
james.stagg@
thecaterer.com
restaurant renaissance Research shows city outstripping UK rivals with 57% growth in food-led businesses over past 10 years
Jamie Oliver strikes deal with Hilton
Hilton Worldwide and the Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group have confirmed the opening of what will be the first Jamie’s Italian within a hotel setting. A 180-seat Jamie’s Italian, which will have space for an additional 75 seats outside, will open on the ground floor of the 245-bedroom Hilton Tower Bridge in London at the end of April.
Anthony Worrall, Hilton
Worldwide’s director of food and beverage for the UK, Ire- land and Israel, welcomed the new partnership and said that it could eventually result in the opening of other Jamie’s Ital- ian outlets within other Hilton Worldwide hotels. “Guests will now no longer have to go out and search for a brand that they know and love,” Worrall said. “We have decided to bring one of their favourite brands into the hotel.” Simon Blagden, chief ex-
ecutive of Jamie’s Italian, said: “We’re delighted to be opening a restaurant at the Hilton Tower Bridge. We believe that Jamie’s Italian will be an exciting new addition to both the hotel and the surrounding area, and we’re looking forward to opening our doors to guests in April.” Throughout the UK, Hil-
ton Worldwide partners with a number of high-profile chefs: Chris and Jeff Galvin at the London Hilton on Park Lane and the Waldorf Astoria Edin- burgh – the Caledonian; Marco Pierre White at two DoubleTree by Hilton hotels in Bristol and Chester and the Hilton Lon- don Syon Park; and Nick Nairn at the DoubleTree by Hilton Dunblane Hydro and the Hil- ton Garden Inn Aberdeen City Centre.
There are currently 51 Jamie’s
Italian restaurants worldwide, including 36 in the UK. Follow- ing the latest opening in Exeter, the next will be a Trattoria – a smaller and more rustic version of the brand – in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, at the end of this month.
20 March 2015 | The Caterer | 7
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