Today’s news in brief – 02/10/23

BaxterStorey has secured a nine-year contract extension to provide campus catering services at Birmingham City University (BCU), serving over 30,000 students and staff. The Curzon campus now features Rahina’s Food Fusion, a street food pod inspired by an apprentice commis chef’s Indian and Pakistani heritage. Additionally, a new Student Saver space and theatre bar called The Assembly, offering Korean BBQ bao buns and more, have been set up. The extension aims to enhance dining experiences and community engagement at BCU.

Over 88 hospitality businesses, including Wasabi, Greene King and Fuller’s, have signed an open letter urging rail unions RMT and ASLEF to avoid strikes over the Christmas period. The ongoing rail strikes, which began on 30 September, are expected to cost the hospitality sector up to £400m on top of the £3.5bn lost over the last 16 months. The letter emphasised the importance of the festive season for the sector and urged the rail unions to make a public commitment not to strike during this critical period to prevent economic harm to hospitality businesses and workers.

Brakspear has appointed Marc Rawling as the operations manager of its managed pubs division, Honeycomb Houses, which consists of 10 pubs. Rawling will oversee four of these pubs, having gained 19 years of experience at Fuller Smith and Turner. His responsibilities include maintaining the ethos of “our house, your home” across the estate and supporting the pubs in delivering exceptional experiences, particularly during the festive season.