A pub manager and chef have both been jailed for perverting the course of justice following the death of a woman at the Railway hotel in Hornchurch in east London on Christmas Day in 2012, and another 33 falling ill with food poisoning. Mother-of-one Della Callagher, 46, died two days after eating the four-course meal
Figures released today show 29 pubs are closing each week CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, is pressing the Government to act now to help save pubs in light of the latest CGA-CAMRA Pub Tracker, which shows that the number of net pub closures in the UK remains high at 29 per week – almost
De Vere Venues, the UK’s No.1 provider of meeting, training, conference and events space, have launched an all new apprenticeship scheme, ‘Cooking with Verve’ which will see 10 aspiring chefs receive an accredited Level 2 NVQ Diploma Professional Cookery qualification as a result of the 12 month programme. The chef development programme welcomed its first
Six tips for staging a great Burns Night supper Sunday 25th January is Burns Night. In this short article, Nick Adams, Master of Wine at WineTrust100, gives his tips for the perfect Burns supper – including his perfect wine match for the haggis. 1. Music – traditional bagpipe music, if you don’t want to hire
Image: Google Maps
A pub manager and chef have both been jailed for perverting the course of justice following the death of a woman at the Railway hotel in Hornchurch in east London on Christmas Day in 2012, and another 33 falling ill with food poisoning.
Mother-of-one Della Callagher, 46, died two days after eating the four-course meal at the pub on Christmas Day.
Chef Mehmet Kaya and Ann-Marie McSweeney were jailed at Snaresbrook Crown Court for 12 and 18 months respectively. Mitchells & Butlers, owners of the Ember Inns brand under which the pub operates, was fined £1.5m for placing unsafe food on the market.
Clostridium perfringens bacterium, a common cause of food poisoning, was found in samples taken from the affected diners, caused either by turkey not being cooked properly or not being reheated properly. Council officials said Kaya and McSweeney hindered investigations into the deadly food poisoning by forging records relating to the cooking of the turkey.
CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, is pressing the Government to act now to help save pubs in light of the latest CGA-CAMRA Pub Tracker, which shows that the number of net pub closures in the UK remains high at 29 per week – almost twice the number of pub closures in 2011*.
These figures coincide with a new clause to the Infrastructure Bill** in England, tabled this week by a cross-party group of MPs, which would mean that planning permission is always required before demolishing or converting a pub into a supermarket convenience store or other retail use.
Tim Page, CAMRA Chief Executive says: “It is currently possible to convert a pub into a betting shop, pay-day loan store or supermarket without the need for planning permission, making it far too easy for pubs valued by the community to be lost without local people having a say. Given the huge contribution that pubs make to community life in Britain we believe this cannot be right.”
De Vere Venues, the UK’s No.1 provider of meeting, training, conference and events space, have launched an all new apprenticeship scheme, ‘Cooking with Verve’ which will see 10 aspiring chefs receive an accredited Level 2 NVQ Diploma Professional Cookery qualification as a result of the 12 month programme.
The chef development programme welcomed its first wave of students at the end of 2014, providing 10 talented junior chefs a place on the scheme. Chefs were recruited from both within the business and externally. Over the course of the scheme, and as a member of a venue based kitchen team, apprentices will receive a combination of practical training and workbook based learning – completing ten modules in total, as well as taking part in a series of skills based masterclasses led by Estelle Ellis, Learning & Development Manager, supported by Head Chef’s, covering specialist subjects such as shellfish and bakery. The training programme will culminate in a professional qualification and pave the way for each student to forge a successful career within the hospitality industry.
Six tips for staging a great Burns Night supper
Sunday 25th January is Burns Night. In this short article, Nick Adams, Master of Wine at WineTrust100, gives his tips for the perfect Burns supper – including his perfect wine match for the haggis.
1. Music – traditional bagpipe music, if you don’t want to hire a piper for the night a CD will do just as well
2. Speakers – a Toast Master formally welcomes the guests and announces each stage of the proceedings; you could even do this yourself. Also you will need to choose readers to recite Burns’ poetry – traditionally the ‘Selkirk Grace’ prayer is read before the meal. Read more
Get involved and reap the rewards!
It’s not long before Chip Week (16-22 February 2015) officially gets underway, so now is the time for chefs and caterers to prepare for one of the biggest events in the chipping calendar!
Chip Week, a long-established promotional week run by the Potato Council, provides a fantastic opportunity for owners and operators of chip shops, pubs, restaurants and other catering establishments to promote their chips and increase revenue.
In fact a recent Potato Council survey of chip shops participating in Chip Week 2014 showed that for some operators, chips sales increased by as much as 40% during the week – and by as much as 30% in the following weeks.
New analysis from VisitBritain has revealed that more international tourists are starting to travel across the country than ever before, with spending hitting new record levels in the majority of nations and regions for the first nine months of 2014.
According to new figures from the Office for National Statistics, in the first nine months of 2014 overseas tourist spending reached new records in Wales (£303 million), Scotland (£1.5 billion), London (£8.9 billion), East of England (£693 million), North West (£849 million) and the South East (£1.7 billion).
Birmingham’s NEC closed its doors yesterday on 2015’s Hospitality Show, where for the last three days an array of exhibitors including catering equipment developers, foodservice suppliers and technology specialists showcased what they have to offer to the industry.
On day one of the event, the Knorr gravy train rolled into Birmingham International with a carriage full of chefs to escort them to the show in style.
Later in the day, Orderella won the Hospitality Show’s Star Product Award for its innovative mobile ordering and payment system. Orderella was crowned victorious at the Business Briefing Stage where all ten products were recognised.
Ale Trail goes digital to increase footfall to pubs
An Ale Trail designed to encourage people to support pubs in East Anglia will return this summer with, for the first time in its history, an App to make navigating pubs even easier.
The Woodforde’s Ale Trail, which has become a mainstay in beer lovers’ calendars for over a decade, is returning from 21st June to 30th September 2015, with the aim to highlight the region’s array of real ale pubs.
This year participants can choose to follow the Ale Trail via the App or, as in previous years, by using a printed guidebook available from participating outlets.
· One in three employees weigh up career opportunities through the New Year[i] period
· Cost of replacing individual workers estimated at £30,614[ii]
· One in three working in the hospitality industry think feeling valued in a job is a top priority
· Over three quarters of engaged employees are passionate about their jobs
· Wednesday 21st January marks the UK’s first Employee Motivation Day
Excellent service comes from staff with passion for the job. Good news for the hospitality industry, over half of workers say being passionate about what they do is what motivates them most.
Pub is The Hub has received confirmation this week that funding for its popular advice, guidance and training service for England has been secured for a further three years by the Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Communities programme.
The organisation will receive £452,000 over the next three years enabling its Regional Advisors to continue work with interested local authorities whereby they match community priorityneeds with additional services which can be provided by the local pub and a good licensee.
This new funding follows the success of the first three-year programme launched in 2011 which inspired a variety of projects around England across eleven local authorities which resulted in a range of twenty-seven different services from shops and libraries to help for elderly residents.
The Carer
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