- In one of the largest transactions ever seen in the UK restaurant sector, Richard Caring has sold a majority stake in The Ivy Collection and the rest of his restaurant and private members’ club empire for £1.4bn to DIFA, an affiliate of Abu Dhabi–based IHC. The transaction includes The Ivy, Sexy Fish, Scott’s, Harry’s Bar and private member’s club Annabel’s, spanning across three core parts of Caring’s hospitality interests: The Ivy Collection, Caprice Holdings and Birley clubs. Bill’s is not included, with the deal understood to focus on the premium end of Caring’s largely UK-centric, but increasingly global, portfolio. Caring, who first explored a sale two years ago with a focus on The Ivy Collection, will remain in the business as executive chairman. DIFA has already established a presence in the premium international restaurant market, having acquired Zuma and Roka last year.
- Franco Manca is set to close around 16 of its 70 UK restaurants through a CVA launched by parent company Fulham Shore. The closures are expected to impact around 225 jobs, with the affected sites identified as no longer sustainable in the current environment. Fulham Shore says the decision comes despite operational improvements in recent years, with the business citing wider pressures on the hospitality sector, including high UK taxes and a lack of business rates relief. The news comes after Fulham Shore owner Toridoll Holdings had warned The Real Greek and Franco Manca operator could close ‘a substantial number of underperforming sites’ as it struggles with a ‘sluggish restaurant market’.
- Harrison Brockington has won the 2026 Roux Scholarship, beating five other competitors at the final held at The Waterside Inn and making him the 42nd recipient. The final challenge required contestants to create a Mediterranean-inspired surf-and-turf dish influenced by the honorary president of judges Mauro Colagreco. Competitors had to work with a fixed list of ingredients, including Dover sole, cuttlefish, pork sausage meat, asparagus, mushrooms and at least one citrus fruit variety. Brockington, who previously reached the final in 2024, is the head chef and owner of Gather in Totnes, Devon, which he opened in 2019 with friends following experience across several restaurants across Devon and training at the Michael Caines Academy at Exeter College. His win earns him up to £12,000 in funding, along with the option of a stage at a three-Michelin-starred restaurant or a bespoke training placement.
- Nick Molyviatis, former head chef at Kiln and co-owner of Singburi, is joining forces with Barry Karacostas to open a Greek-Cypriot restaurant called Zylia in Covent Garden this May. Located adjacent to the soon-to-open Arcade food hall, with its own street entrance, Zylia is inspired by Molyviatis’ upbringing in Athens and Karacostas’ Cypriot heritage. The 50-cover restaurant will include counter seating at the kitchen, dining room tables, and window seats beneath Arcade’s arched windows. The menu has been created by Molyviatis, who has previously led kitchens at Kiln, Oma, Agora, and Singburi. Arcade Covent Garden will be located in the former site of TGI Fridays occupying a 12,500sq ft space on Bedford Street with room for 385 covers across a single floor and is described as ‘the most ambitious expression of the Arcade model to date’. Also set to sit alongside Arcade is Luke Farrell’s southern Thai concept Plaza Khao Gaeng, which will open early next month with 75 covers, offering cooking inspired by Thailand’s southern border regions, including Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat aka the country’s ‘deep south’.
- MEATliquor has appointed administrators after closing more than half of its restaurant estate. Last month the group shut five of its eight UK restaurants, leaving only two MEATliquor sites in London - Oxford Circus and East Dulwich - alongside its sister bar BLOODsports in Covent Garden. Its restaurants in Islington, Clapham Junction, Queensway, Brighton and Forest Hill have closed. In its most recent accounts, brand owner Meatailer reported pre-tax profit of £118,000 for the year to 30 June 2024, up from a loss of £65,000 the previous year.