Quote of the
Week
Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp quotes ‘a friend’ regarding
his current trial for cheating the public revenue:
“Harry, I can't believe it's always you. The problem with you
is you're named Harry and you have a cockney accent.
"People don't know me," Redknapp had continued, "and
I'm getting sick and tired of it ...If there's any mud to be thrown
I seem to be on the end of it, for some reason."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/jan/25/harry-redknapp-sick-of-suspicion
This is after “he forgot” about a Monaco bank account in the name
of ‘Rosie 47’ - a combination of his pet dog's name and the year of
his birth - which he allegedly kept secret from his accountant for
four-and-a-half years and into which around £200,000 was paid during
his time as manager of Portsmouth.
Worse recession than the Great Depression
This update on the UK Recession graph now shows that this recession
has lasted longer than the Great Depression, with growth still four
percent below peak production after four years:
Tribute to Digby Trout
Digby sadly died over the weekend aged 59 following a battle with
cancer. Digby was well known in the catering industry for developing
digby trout Restaurants as a specialist caterer in heritage sites.
The company was initially a joint venture with Catering & Allied,
in which Digby held a majority stake, and was latterly acquired by
Elior UK in 2002. Prior to this Digby worked with Forte for 10 years
before joining Justin de Blank Restaurants as managing director, taking
a majority shareholding and later renaming the business digby trout
Restaurants in 1994.
 Marc
Verstringhe, the founder of Catering & Allied, said, “Digby had
great style and was very dedicated. He inspired tremendous loyalty
amongst his clients and those who worked in his team. I greatly enjoyed
working with him.”
John Harris, chairman of The Good Eating Company and who worked with
Digby at Catering & Allied said, “Digby was quite a groundbreaker.
At the time we began working together the idea of running a restaurant
in a heritage site was unheard of; we won the contract at the British
Museum when it was outsourced for the first time, and it started a
whole new flow of catering - it broke the mould. Digby had a very
particular style of leadership and was prepared to try new things.
He also had a very dry wit and was hysterically funny.”
 Person
of the Week
Kathryn Pretzel-Shiels
January 2012 marks Kathryn’s 25th year of continuous service with
American Express. As Head of Client Management - Hotel, Restaurant,
Travel Industries for American Express Merchant Services UK, Kathryn
has developed a strong reputation in the industry for her professionalism
and integrity.
 Article
of the Week
Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) has sought to challenge students
to think like entrepreneurs through its Masters programme, with interesting
results including some concepts developed through to an investable
stage. In this EP special feature we talk to REMI WALBAUM, EHL director
of operations and administration, and KIMBERLY SETZERMANN, founder
of Pure Acqua, a concept originating as part of this programme.
http://www.epmagazine.co.uk/the-dream-factory/
Like what you see?
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From the business news this week
TUI boss Peter Long is tackling the tough times in travel
industry
As Thomas Cook floundered in a financial storm of its own making,
TUI was running full page newspaper adverts boasting of its own rude
health
- Long is adamant that this was no assault, but a defensive manoeuvre
aimed at isolating TUI’s Thomson brand – cursed as it is with the
same first four letters as Thomas Cook – from the reputational slings
and arrows borne by its competitor.
- ‘Our whole philosophy is that we’re not in the business of taking
cheap shots,’ Long protests.
- ‘That’s short-termism, trying to be too clever, and we weren’t
looking to do that. You don’t kick someone when they’re down. But
we were getting Twitter, Facebook, calls about what was going on,
so it was important to get that clarity because there is some similarity
in names.’
- Having lived through a similar crisis as boss of the Intasun
brand when parent company ILG went bust, he has some sympathy.
- ‘Sympathy, yes,’ he says. ‘But there’s not sentiment in business.
Business is business.’
Click here for the full interview:
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2091718/CITY-INTERVIEW-TUI-boss-Peter-Long-tackling-tough-times-travel-industry.html#ixzz1kYVFACqn
Yum Brands calls in PwC to sell off its Pizza Huts in
the UK
The restaurants giant Yum Brands has appointed an accountancy firm
to sell its Pizza Hut UK business
- The owner of the KFC and Taco Bell chains has hired PwC to run
the auction of the pizzas chain, which has 380 restaurants and 320
delivery outlets in the UK.
- A Yum spokesman said consistent with its strategy of focusing
on high-growth markets, such as India, China and Africa, it has
decided to "refranchise its entire Pizza Hut UK business and
is seeking a single buyer to purchase its company-owned restaurants
and to serve as a master franchisee for the market".
- This comes five years after Yum paid £112 million for the 50
per cent stake held by Whitbread. PwC declined to comment.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/yum-brands-calls-in-pwc-to-sell-off-its-pizza-huts-in-the-uk-6295478.html |
