Scottish catering and hospitality news in Scotland

Glasgow-based Harlequin Leisure Group, Europe's largest chain of Indian restaurants, has today changed hands in an 8 million pound deal. The agreement sees Charan Gill, MBE, hand over the ownership of the group to long-term business associate and entrepreneur, Sanjay Majhu:

'I made a decision some time ago that the time was approaching for me to pass on the business to a new owner,' said Charan. 'Over recent years, I've concentrated on assembling a very professional and able team, and Sanjay has been a key part of that team for some time.

'All things have to evolve and if they don't evolve, they will die. We all need fresh ideas from time to time and the input of young blood. That's what this handover is all about â?? taking Harlequin to its next phase of success.'

Comprising 16 restaurants employing 350 staff and generating an annual turnover of 12 million pound, Harlequin Leisure Group is now gearing up for a period of rapid expansion under its new owner.

The last eight years has seen Harlequin's turnover grow considerably through the development of the Ashoka Shak brand together with a strong rental income stream from its franchise partners.

An Edinburgh restaurant has become one of a select group of Scottish establishments to be presented with a prestigious food hygiene award.
The Braidburn Inn is the first venue in the capital and the fourth across the country to receive the Eat Safe Award, which aims to reassure customers of the exceptional hygiene standards of catering premises throughout Scotland.
The scheme, launched by the Food Standards Agency Scotland (FSAS) in January this year, is designed to promote excellence in food hygiene and food safety management, and improve public confidence and consumer choice in catering establishments across the country.

Thirty of Scotland's 32 Local Authorities have given their backing to the scheme, which was launched following discussions between the FSAS, the society of Chief Officers of Environmental Health of Scotland, the Scottish Food Advisory Committee (SFAC), Scottish Local Authorities and the FSA in Northern Ireland, where the scheme began last year.

'It's great news that the first catering establishment in Edinburgh has now been awarded Eat Safe recognition,' said Peter Midgley, Head of the FSAS's Local Authority Food Law Enforcement branch.
'We are confident that in the coming weeks and months, businesses will really begin to reap the benefits of increased consumer confidence in the scheme.'

Eligible establishments are assessed for the Eat Safe Award as part of scheduled food hygiene inspections carried out by Environmental Health Services. The issue and control of certificates is through local authorities and will be reviewed at every planned food hygiene inspection.

'As a council that is committed to ensuring the highest possible standards of food hygiene, we congratulate The Braidburn Inn on receiving this award,' said Councillor Robert Cairns, Executive Member for Environmental Services at the City of Edinburgh Council.

Further information about the Eat Safe award scheme is available at the Food Standards Agency website

A major new initiative aiming to responsibly promote oil-rich fish as part of a healthy balanced diet for children will be launched by the Sea Fish Industry Authority (Seafish) and Seafood Scotland later this year.

Pelagic fish like mackerel and herring which contain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids are widely recognised for their health benefits and the Scottish Executive have sought to ensure such fish is specified within Hungry for Success, an initiative that sets out a vision for a revitalised school meals service in Scotland. Seafish and Seafood Scotland's campaign, which is part-funded by the Scottish Executive's Environment and Rural Affairs Department (Seerad), will back this up by actively encouraging children to eat oil-rich fish.

'Our job is to ensure that when offered a choice of mackerel fish cakes, macaroni cheese or pizza at the school canteen then the kids opt for the healthy option,' says Karen Galloway, Youth Marketing Manager at Seafish. However, our biggest challenge is to find ways to motivate the youth of today to do this.

'Oil-rich fish needs to be positioned as more than being just 'good for me'. We have to convey real benefits that are motivational to the kids and to the mums who we want to encourage to introduce oil-rich fish into mealtimes at home. We feel we've come up with a campaign that will start to educate kids and mums but in a fun and involving way.'

The campaign will be tested in selected regions through March and April prior to a roll-out in the summer term and through the rest of 2005.

For more information, contact Seafish on 0131 524 8656

As European Commissioners gather to debate the future of Genetically Modified (GM) crops and food tomorrow, environment and consumer representatives have exposed an EC Recommendation guiding member states on GM crops, as legally and fundamentally flawed. The NGOs are calling for the Recommendation to be withdrawn and are calling for an urgent meeting to discuss its legal status and content.

Paul Lasok QC, a leading European Lawyer, was asked by Which?, Friends of the Earth, The Soil Association, Greenpeace, the Five-Year Freeze Campaign and GeneWatch UK to advise on the EC Recommendation on the growing of GM crops alongside non-GM and organic crops.

The Recommendation says that such co-existence measures should not go further than to keep GM contamination of non-GM and organic crops below the threshold set down in European GM labelling legislation, currently 0.9 per cent. It also says that measures should ignore environmental concerns and be limited to economic issues. If member states put in place measures, like separation distances, based on this guidance, widespread GM contamination of crops and food is likely to occur.

However, the legal opinion condemns the EC position as 'fundamentally flawed' and criticizes the UK Government for following this approach, which has no basis in community legislation and is legally incorrect. The opinion concludes:

'This legal opinion destroys the European Commission's position on GM crop co-existence with non-GM crops,' says Friends of the Earth's GM campaigner, Clare Oxborrow. 'Countries around Europe are already putting in place laws to control contamination from GM crops, but they are being misguided by flawed advice. There is a growing movement for GM free areas in Europe, and consumer demand for GM-free food remains as strong as ever. The Commission must now ditch its misleading guidance and replace it with tough, EU-wide laws that will truly protect our choice for GM-free food, our health and the environment from the threat of GM crops.'

At today's meeting in Brussels, European Commissioners will discuss GMO policy, current applications for the import of GM food and the national bans on GMOs in Austria, France, Greece and Italy.

'One reason consumers choose organic food is to avoid eating GM products, yet the European Commission is trying, we believe illegally, to impose rules that could mean almost one in every hundred mouthfuls of organic food was actually GM food, with no requirement to tell people what they are really eating,' says Peter Melchett, Policy Director of The Soil Association.

If you would like to know more about GM foods, comtact Peter Melchett at the Soil Association, on: 07740 951066

The brand-new website for entering the CIS Excellence Awards has gone live.
CIS Excellence online provides all the information you need to enter, nominate or sponsor a particular award category, including criteria and judging guidelines and booking forms for attending the event, scheduled to take place on the evening of Thursday 12 May at the Hilton Glasgow.

Open to all types of established and emerging businesses and talent, from chefs and contract caterers to hotels, restaurants, ethnic food producers and tourism organisations, there is a category to suit you or your company.

Aimed at recognising and rewarding the highest standards in the Scottish catering, hospitality and tourism industries, the Awards will showcase and celebrate the best that Scotland has to offer.

With a wealth of support from companies and organisations througout the catering, hospitality and tourism sectors in Scotland, the CIS Excellence Awards are positioned as the must-attend event for eveyone employed by or connected to the industry.

NOW is the time to enter or nominate your company, colleagues or associates. Visit the CIS Excellence Awards website for more details.

Malcolm Rann has been appointed as GM for the Radisson SAS Hotel on the Royal Mile. Returning to the capital following a four-year stint managing five-star hotels in the Middle East and Africa, Malcolm takes the helm as the hotel undergoes a 5 million pound refurbishment programme. The investment by the Brussels-based hotel group means the hotel will be transformed to give it a contemporary Scottish appearance.
Rann, with more than twenty years' experience in the industry, took up his first General Manager position in Edinburgh in 1999 at The George Intercontinental:

'I am delighted to return to Edinburgh at a time when the tourism industry looks in much better shape than when I left,' he says. 'Both business and leisure tourism are on the up and the expansion of direct and indirect air routes into the city has made Edinburgh more accessible than ever before'.

While the refurbishment programme is currently underway and is on course for completion by May this year, the hotel will remain open throughout the process, with the minimum disruption to guests.

A further 43 products were added yesterday to the list of foods contaminated by the illegal food dye, Sudan-1, bringing the total to 580.

New items include ready-made meals from the Safeway, Iceland and Morrisons supermarket chains, in addition to brands like Birds Eye, the Food Standards Agency said. However, the Agency was unable to clarify exactly when it received the new information on the affected products, or when they had been withdrawn.

'The risk to health is very small but it is sensible not to eat the foods concerned. We have worked hard to ensure that food companies meet their responsibilities to consumers and local authorities will check what actions have been taken. We will also work with them in considering what enforcement action may be appropriate following these investigations.'

An updated list of affected foods is provided at the Foods Standards Agency website .

The famous border village of Gretna Green will witness the laying of the first stone for Smiths at Gretna Green, Britain's latest contemporary hotel, which is due for completion in January of next year.

The five-million pound project will be built and managed by Gretna Green Group (GGG) Ltd, a family-run business led by Managing Director Alasdair Houston:
'Today's consumers are far more demanding than yesterday's and rightly so,' he says. 'I am not interested in simply introducing another hotel to the area. It has to be something special, and this is.'

GGG Ltd aim to 'create a hotel unique to the area - product that delivers stylish yet unpretentious levels of service in a contemporary environment'.

The hotel will offer guests a choice of fifty bedrooms, eight innovatively designed family rooms, three suites and a bar/brasserie.

Conferencing and function facilities will provide business clientele with a new venue for corporate events and meetings, and a function room will be constructed for wedding receptions, parties and other social occasions.