Diageo is to open 100 Burger King restaurants in 1999, creating 3,500 jobs. 31-Dec-1998

Derby City Council and English Partnerships are considering plans to transform two 150-acre sites in Derby into business and leisure parks, creating up to 6,000 jobs. 30-Dec-1998

Lincoln Council is considering plans for a £3m health and sports club, as part of the proposed visitor attraction at Burton Fen to the west of the city. 30-Dec-1998

Fife Council is considering plans for a £12m luxury timeshare complex on the Brankstone Grange estate near Blairhall, and work could start early in the year 2000. 30-Dec-1998

Zetters expects to announce the sale of its football pools and bingo operations within the next three months. 30-Dec-1998

JD Wetherspoon is planning to invest £100m in the opening of a further 80 pubs in 1999, which will create 2,000 jobs. 29-Dec-1998

Preussag of Germany is to take control of Thomas Cook, the travel agency and financial services company, by buying a 24.9% stake from Westdeutsche Landesbank now and a further 25.2% next September. 24-Dec-1998

Alton Towers has announced multi-million pound plans to build a new ride at the Staffordshire theme park. 23-Dec-1998

Derby County has re-submitted plans to build a sports superstore as part of a £9m retail and leisure complex next to its Pride Park football stadium. 23-Dec-1998

High Points Estates has announced plans for a £60m leisure development in Middlesbrough town centre, including a multiplex cinema, hotel, bars, fitness club, swimming pool, bowling alley and casino. 23-Dec-1998

Havant Borough Council is seeking funding for the construction of a £11m sports complex at Portsdown Hill. 23-Dec-1998

Coventry Rugby Club has announced plans for a £3.5m 8,000-capacity stadium. 22-Dec-1998

Direct Holidays has launched a £3m investment to fly from Belfast International Airport direct to 14 destinations worldwide. 21-Dec-1998

Castlebawn, a joint venture consortium comprising property companies R&A Developments and Southgate, have announced plans for a £70m retail and leisure development near Newtownards town centre in Northern Ireland. 21-Dec-1998

Granada is discussing a possible marketing alliance with Nikko Hotels International, which would involve cross-promotion of hotels and the shared use of reservation systems. 19-Dec-1998

Torbay Council is considering four alternative schemes to redevelop the Coral Island site, including a 3D cinema, a hotel, a health spa and a water sports facility. 18-Dec-1998

Gosport Borough Council has announced plans to set up a £3m armaments museum as part of the Portsmouth Harbour millennium scheme. 18-Dec-1998

Marylebone Warwick Balfour Group has bought the Star City leisure development in Birmingham from Richardsons for £80m, more than a year before it is due to open. 18-Dec-1998

Granada has won a contract to supply food to the general public at London's Millennium Dome. 18-Dec-1998

NTL has bought a 6.3% stake in Newcastle United football club for £10m, and will decide whether to bid for the remainder once the Monopolies & Mergers Commission has ruled on the BSkyB bid for Manchester United. 18-Dec-1998

Slough Estates is looking to sell the hunting and fishing estates of its recently-acquired Bilton business. 18-Dec-1998

Great Portland Estates is planning to build a £28m leisure complex on the site of the former Barclaycard headquarters in Northampton, and is seeking permission for a 10-screen cinema, bowling alley, casino and night-club. 17-Dec-1998

Tarmac has won a £20m contract to build the Five Ways leisure complex in Birmingham for Richardson Cordwell. 17-Dec-1998

The National Museum of Science and Industry is planning to convert the Royal Naval Air Yard in Wroughton, Wiltshire, into a £1.4m national collections centre. 15-Dec-1998

Braintree District Council is considering plans for a £6m swimming pool on the site of the Freeport Leisure retail village. 15-Dec-1998

Wessex Taverns is planning to spend £10m on the expansion of its chain of pubs in the north of England. 15-Dec-1998

Waterfall is setting up a ten-pin bowling division to complement its snooker and entertainment businesses, and it has increased its number of outlets from 42 to 75 over the last 12 months. 15-Dec-1998

Cirencester Town Football Club is planning a £6m project to set up a Centre of Footballing Excellence known as the Corinium Stadium, and its existing stadium will be redeveloped into offices and housing. 11-Dec-1998

Swansea council is considering plans from a number of property developers for the construction of a leisure village and luxury hotel on the site of the former Spontex factory in Swansea's marina. 11-Dec-1998

Shepherd has won a £10m contract to build First Stop Hotels in Bristol and Glasgow. 11-Dec-1998

Tower Casino Group has announced plans to turn the Courtlands Country Club in Southend into a £4.5m casino. 10-Dec-1998

The Fishbourne Roman Palace in Chichester has announced plans for a £4.8m redevelopment aimed at creating one of the world's top archaeological tourist attractions. 10-Dec-1998

ICI is looking to sell off Wilton Castle and Norton Hall, its luxury company guesthouses on Teesside, and interest is expected from hotel groups and property developers. 10-Dec-1998

Eurocamp is to change its name to Holidaymaker to better reflect its range of holiday brands. 10-Dec-1998

Thomas Cook, the travel and financial services company, is planning to outsource its recently-opened call centre in Peterborough. 10-Dec-1998

Cinven and Morgan Grenfell Private Equity have gone through to the third round of the bidding to buy the Coral betting shops from Ladbrokes, while Stanley Leisure has pulled out. 10-Dec-1998

Liverpool's Playhouse Theatre is to reopen next October after the first stage of a £3.5m restoration. 09-Dec-1998

The British Tourist Authority is to close 12 of its overseas offices in order to focus on 26 key countries. 09-Dec-1998

The South Bank Centre in London has announced proposals for a complete overhaul of the site, which would replace the concrete buildings with an arts campus. 09-Dec-1998

London Clubs International has applied to open casinos in Birmingham, Manchester, Northampton and Luton, and expects the first to be open within nine months. 09-Dec-1998

Gala Clubs, the chain of bingo halls, is planning a £400m flotation next year. 08-Dec-1998

Peel Developments has won outline permission for a £20m leisure project in Blackburn, including a multiplex cinema, a health and fitness centre, a nightclub, restaurants and bars. 07-Dec-1998

Maltgrade Estates is planning to build a leisure complex in Cleethorpes, including a hotel, restaurant, indoor tourist attractions and a factory outlet retail village. 07-Dec-1998

Tom Cobleigh is planning to invest £50m in new Scottish pubs over the next three years, creating over 1,000 jobs. 07-Dec-1998

Morland is planning to withdraw from the amusement machine business, sell its Newt & Cucumber themed pubs, and pull out of town centres to focus on community pubs. 05-Dec-1998

Deals, the lossmaking chain of upmarket burger bars in London, is for sale. 04-Dec-1998

Welcome Break has awarded a £9.5m contract to the Try construction group to build the Hopwood motorway services area on the M42. 04-Dec-1998

Kier has won a £9m contract to build a Virgin cinema complex in Glasgow. 04-Dec-1998

Bass is planning to boost spending in its hotels division from £185m to £400m, and is seeing better-than-expected cost savings from combining the recently-acquired Inter-Continental Hotels with the rest of its hotels operation. 04-Dec-1998

Stakis, the hotels, casinos and health clubs group, is to increase spending on new-build and development projects to £119m over the next 18 months, compared to last year's £59m. 04-Dec-1998

The Halcrow group has been selected as lead consultant on a £10m project to refurbish Battersea Park in London, and the work will be carried out by a number of design, building and landscaping companies. 04-Dec-1998

Greenwich council has approved plans for the construction of a 5,000-seat cinema and performance venue at the Millennium Dome, but says it must be pulled down after a year. 04-Dec-1998

The National Trust is considering plans to turn industrial plants into tourist attractions, by offering day trips to working steel plants and power stations. 03-Dec-1998

Rossendale Council and Parkwood Tennis Club are planning to build a £1m tennis super centre at Haslingden Sports Centre in Lancashire. 03-Dec-1998

Travel City Direct, the Swansea-based holiday sales company, has acquired 11 travel shops in Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, and is opening a telesales centre in Sheffield. 03-Dec-1998

Glasgow council is launching a £64m scheme to develop sport and recreation in the city, which will involve the transformation of leisure facilities and the construction of new sports centres. 03-Dec-1998

Blue Anchor Leisure is to upgrade the Fantasy Island leisure park near Skegness with a £15m Millennium Rollercoaster. 02-Dec-1998

Nomura International is to put 2,600 of its UK pubs into a new company called Unique Pub Company, which will be floated on the stock market in 2001. 02-Dec-1998

Airtours has acquired Travelworld, the travel agency with 116 outlets, for an initial £9m. 02-Dec-1998

Millington Travel, the long-haul holidays specialist, is launching a telesales centre in Leicester as it aims to transform itself from a local company into a national one. 01-Dec-1998

Bath and North East Somerset Council is considering plans to redevelop the Southgate area of Bath, including new homes and a cinema. 01-Dec-1998

Marston Thompson & Evershed is buying eight pubs from Eldridge Pope for £8m, and will convert six of them to its Pitcher & Piano format. 01-Dec-1998

Jubilee Arts is planning to build a £35m interactive arts and technology complex in West Bromwich. 27-Nov-1998

Sovereign Land has signed up four tenants for its Mermaid Quay leisure and retail development at Cardiff Bay - Whitbread, Greenalls, Break for the Border and Morlands. 27-Nov-1998

The £758m Millennium Dome has secured an additional £36m in sponsorship from four companies - Boots, British Aerospace, GEC and McDonald's. 27-Nov-1998

Warner Village Cinemas has confirmed plans to create a 16-screen multiplex in Nottingham city centre, as part of an integrated leisure complex to be developed by Wilson Bowden Properties. 27-Nov-1998

Richmond Council has approved a scheme by Alsop Zogolovitch/First Premises for a leisure facility on Twickenham riverside, including a three-screen cinema, 450-seat auditorium, restaurants, flats and a health and fitness centre. 27-Nov-1998

Aberdeen city council is to carry out a feasibility study on a scheme to transform Aberdeen Beach into a prime tourist attraction. 27-Nov-1998

Chartwell Land is planning to set up a nine-screen multiplex in Hull city centre, and the scheme could also include a restaurant, bar and fitness centre. 27-Nov-1998

Wrexham council is considering plans from Knutsford-based developers Bushwing for a motel, petrol station and McDonald's restaurant at Halton, which would create up to 100 jobs. 27-Nov-1998

Wrexham Council is to unveil plans in the new year for a £3.7m theatre. 27-Nov-1998

Whitbread Inns has won permission from Penwith District Council to build a £2.5m budget hotel and pub-restaurant in West Cornwall, which will create 60 jobs. 27-Nov-1998

Citygrove Leisure is planning to build a £4m bowling alley and cinema complex in Bishop's Stortford. 27-Nov-1998

Leatherhead Leisure Centre is planning to build a £4m tennis centre. 27-Nov-1998

Sunderland Football Club has announced revised plans for an £8m training ground and academy near Seaburn Dene. 26-Nov-1998

Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council is planning to build a £60m music centre, and tenders will be invited next year. 26-Nov-1998

RF Hotels is planning to build a five-star hotel in Manchester as part of the £100m Chapel Wharf development, creating about 200 jobs. 26-Nov-1998

Granada is to focus on the development of its Travelodge and Posthouse hotel chains, and is also looking to set up an additional 50 Burger King road sites and expand its motorway catering operations by offering "towns by the motorway". 26-Nov-1998

Barnsley Council and a consortium of local companies have won European funding for a marketing initiative to attract an extra 30,000 visitors a year to the Penistone and Hoyland areas, and 70 jobs will be created. 25-Nov-1998

Britannia Hotels is considering plans to spend up to £7m rebuilding the Royal Albion Hotel in Brighton, following a major fire. 25-Nov-1998

ECM Systems of Hull is to build and install multi-media workstations in about 650 bingo clubs throughout the country on behalf of the National Bingo Game Association. 25-Nov-1998

Airtours has announced a £250m convertible bond to fund its strategy of becoming one of the top three tour operators in Europe. 25-Nov-1998

Derry City Council has given three local businessmen approval to build a £9m hotel on the banks of the River Foyle, which will create more than 130 jobs. 24-Nov-1998

JD Wetherspoon is moving into Northern Ireland with plans for a £1m bar complex in Londonderry, creating 30 jobs. 24-Nov-1998

Haven has begun work on the transformation of the Butlins holiday camp near Ayr into a £10m Haven All-Action Park, and it is due to open in March. 23-Nov-1998

Terry Farrell & Partners has been appointed as the architect for Hull's millennium project - the £38m marine science complex called The Deep. 23-Nov-1998

Carlton Communications has ended talks with Arsenal that could have led to an offer being made for the football club. 21-Nov-1998

St Andrews International Golf Club is planning to build another golf and leisure complex in St Andrews, including two new courses, a golf academy and clubhouse. 20-Nov-1998

Greycroft Investment has announced plans to build retail warehousing, a hotel, fast food outlet and offices in Runcorn. 20-Nov-1998

Rank is looking to sell the Waterworld indoor family water park in Stoke for more than £1.5m, as well as its stake in the nearby Stoke Ski Centre. 20-Nov-1998

Centros Miller is planning a retail and leisure complex in Kidderminster town centre, including a Tesco store, a multiplex cinema, a 70,000 sq ft retail park, a drive-in restaurant and bars. 20-Nov-1998

English Partnerships is considering plans to convert Liverpool's Edge Hill tunnels into a tourist attraction. 19-Nov-1998

Probus Estates expects to soon apply for detailed planning consent for the redevelopment of the Aviemore Mountain Resort, and plans will include new hotel space, leisure and conference facilities, and a retail development. 19-Nov-1998

Westport Developments has submitted plans for a £10m student village and leisure complex in Stoke, which would create 50 jobs. 19-Nov-1998

Dream Lifestyle Leisure is planning to build a luxury hotel on Plymouth's Mount Batten peninsula. 19-Nov-1998

Fort Augustus Abbey at Loch Ness is to close with the loss of 22 jobs, and alternative uses for the land and buildings are now being sought. 19-Nov-1998

Stirling Council has approved plans for the £90m Forthside retail, leisure, transport and conference development, which could create up to 800 jobs. 19-Nov-1998

Arsenal Football Club has awarded a £6m contract to Henry Boot for the construction of a training centre neat St Albans. 19-Nov-1998

Century Inns is planning to spend about £10m over the next year on the purchase and development of managed pubs. 19-Nov-1998

Ibis, the budget hotel group owned by Accor of France, is planning to expand its UK chain from 17 to 80 hotels by 2003. 18-Nov-1998

Work has begun on Norwich's £25m Riverside leisure, retail and residential development, which is expected to create around 1,000 jobs by the year 2000. 18-Nov-1998

Havant Sport & Leisure Trust is planning to build a £2m sports centre in Waterlooville. 18-Nov-1998

Discovery Properties is planning to build a multiplex cinema in Abingdon on behalf of Warner Brothers. 18-Nov-1998

Wakefield Council is in discussions with developers for a £23m waterfront regeneration scheme, which will include restaurants, bars, clubs, galleries, workshops, offices and a hotel. 18-Nov-1998

Mansfield Brewery is reducing its capital expenditure this year from a planned £30m to £23m, and expects to open about 15 pubs. 18-Nov-1998

Great Portland Estates is planning a leisure development in Northampton, but has decided not to proceed with a similar scheme in Ashford and a mixed-use development in Harlow. 18-Nov-1998

Warner Village Cinemas has been selected to operate a multiplex at the £40m Market Quay development in Fareham. 17-Nov-1998

First Choice Holidays has acquired Intatravel Group, the chain of 32 travel shops, for £8m. 17-Nov-1998

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has won planning permission for a £75m expansion in order to create more gallery space. 17-Nov-1998

Warburg Pincus, the US private equity supplier, is paying £36m to take a stake of more than 40% in the Jordan Grand Prix motor racing team. 17-Nov-1998

Dunloe Ewart has announced plans for a speculative £20m office and leisure development at Lanyon Place in Belfast. 16-Nov-1998

Norwest Holst has submitted plans for a multiplex cinema and four-star hotel in a £30m redevelopment of Derby bus station. 16-Nov-1998

Charlton Athletic is planning to raise £3.5m in a share placing in order to develop the facilities at its football ground in London. 13-Nov-1998

The Mill Hotel in Chester has won planning permission for a £2.5m development that will create 50 jobs, and plans include a leisure and health club and conference facilities. 13-Nov-1998

Gosport Marina has won planning permission for a £6m redevelopment, which will be completed by summer 2000. 13-Nov-1998

Oriel Leisure is planning to build a 103-bed Holiday Inn Express Hotel in Gloucester. 13-Nov-1998

Spean Bridge of the US is planning to set up a chain of multiplex cinemas in the UK, with the first opening in Aberdeen by the end of next year. 13-Nov-1998

Airtours is to set up a new telephone enquiry centre in Accrington, creating up to 230 jobs. 12-Nov-1998

Watermouth Holiday Cottages, the 12-acre holiday village in North Devon, has been put up for sale through Barnstaple-based agents Facey Cowling. 12-Nov-1998

CTP has awarded a £3m contract to Llewellyn Construction to build a cinema and leisure complex in Aylesbury. 12-Nov-1998

The Birmingham Royal Ballet is planning to refurbish its Hippodrome Theatre at a cost of £32m, and four construction companies have been invited to submit bids. 12-Nov-1998

Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries is considering plans to bid for Marston Thompson & Evershed to create an enlarged group with three breweries and almost 2,000 pubs. 12-Nov-1998

First Leisure, the night clubs, bars and entertainment group, is moving its national administration headquarters to new offices at Enderby near Leicester, creating 60 jobs. 11-Nov-1998

Menzies Hotels is looking to sell four hotels for £2.3m, including the Lion Hotel in Belper. 10-Nov-1998

Colchester Council is considering plans from a local businessman for the creation of an £8m Roman circus, which would accommodate 1,200 visitors and create 150 jobs. 10-Nov-1998

Tarmac has won the contract for the £50m Birmingham Mailbox project, which will refurbish the former Royal Mail Sorting Office with restaurants, shops, a health club, a 200-bed hotel, and apartments. 10-Nov-1998

St James Securities has won government approval for a £70m leisure and shopping complex in the centre of Leeds, which will include a 15-screen cinema, restaurants and bars. 10-Nov-1998

Dragons Health Clubs is planning to open up to five new clubs a year, and is focusing on an older age profile for its membership. 10-Nov-1998

Neptune Marina has unveiled plans for a docklands project in Ipswich, including a quayside restaurant, student accommodation, office units, retail space and boatyard facilities. 09-Nov-1998

Mandale Properties is planning a £40m hotels, homes, offices and shops scheme in Hartlepool. 09-Nov-1998

Holiday Inns is planning to build a 77-bed hotel complex in Grimsby next year, creating at least 100 jobs. 09-Nov-1998

Delta Land was won permission to build a £100m five star hotel near St James's Palace in London, and is in negotiations with a number of hotel groups interested in operating the hotel. 07-Nov-1998

Diageo has abandoned plans to sell the Gleneagles golf and hotel resort as it did not receive a sufficiently high offer. 07-Nov-1998

Greenalls has failed to sell its 1,400 franchised and tenanted pubs for £400m following the withdrawal of Punch Taverns and Charterhouse Development Capital from the auction, but it will continue to seek bids. 07-Nov-1998

Plymouth Council is to consider plans for the creation of a maritime museum at the abandoned Jaeger factory in Union Street, and up to 100 jobs could be created. 06-Nov-1998

Barwood Developments is devising plans to develop a £30m shopping and leisure complex at Fratton Goods Yard in Portsmouth. 06-Nov-1998

Swindon Borough Council is supporting the Railway Heritage Centre Trust's plans to build an £11m railway museum at a former rail workshop. 06-Nov-1998

Acer Snowmec is planning to build a £100m winter theme park called Xanadu in Birmingham, which will create 3,000 jobs. 06-Nov-1998

Capital & Regional Properties is planning to build a swimming pool, health and fitness club, pub diner and restaurant, in Chingford. 06-Nov-1998

Yates Brothers Wine Lodges is planning to open 25 outlets this year to add to the existing 108. 06-Nov-1998

First Choice Holidays is to begin flights from Blackpool airport to Alicante next year. 05-Nov-1998

HBG Construction has won a £12m contract from the London Borough of Newham to build a leisure complex in East Ham. 05-Nov-1998

St Andrews Bay Development is in discussions with construction companies about a £50m leisure development in St Andrews, which will include a hotel and two golf courses. 05-Nov-1998

Old English Pub Company is planning to buy a further 55 pubs over the next year to add to its existing 172. 05-Nov-1998

English Heritage has announced plans to build a visitor centre at the site of the Battle of Hastings in Sussex, but is facing resistance from the Battlefields Trust. 04-Nov-1998

Rank is said to be in discussions with a number of companies about the sale of a package of 19 nightclubs. 04-Nov-1998

Wirral Council is to consider plans next week for the £150m Ocean Dome leisure project in New Brighton, Merseyside. 03-Nov-1998

English Partnerships is to invite Hollywood special effects experts to Royal William Yard in Plymouth with a view to transforming the site into an international tourist attraction. 03-Nov-1998

Next Generation Tennis, the David Lloyd-owned sports club business, has revealed plans to build a £7m sports centre in Plymouth, including tennis courts, squash courts, and swimming pools. 02-Nov-1998

City Centre Leisure is to take over the running of Torbay Leisure Centre from the local council, and will invest £5m in its refurbishment. 02-Nov-1998

Rank Group is said to be vulnerable to a takeover having received a number of approaches about a possible £2bn break-up of the restaurants, cinemas, bingo clubs and holiday businesses. 02-Nov-1998

Stakis has agreed a contract to operate a luxury hotel that is being developed by London & Regional Properties in Cockspur Street, London. 31-Oct-1998

BSkyB's takeover bid for Manchester United football club has been referred to the Monopolies & Mergers Commission. 30-Oct-1998

Plymouth City Council has said that work on a £30m 23,000-seater stadium in the city's Central Park will start within 18 months - with or without the support of Plymouth Argyle football club. 30-Oct-1998

North Tyneside Council has approved plans by the Duke of Northumberland to build a multiplex cinema, houses and a new metro link at Backworth near Whitley Bay. 30-Oct-1998

Richmond Council has given planning permission for the Great Western Railway Preservation Group to convert a disused maintenance depot into a working railway museum. 30-Oct-1998

Lincoln City Council and the university are inviting companies to build sports centres, bars, bistros, shops, cafes and apartments in an £80m expansion of the university's campus and Brayford Pool area. 29-Oct-1998

Tom Cobleigh is planning to build a £2m pub at Huddersfield's McAlpine Stadium, creating 50 jobs. 29-Oct-1998

A new multi-million pound swimming pool and leisure centre is being planned in inner-city Nottingham, and the council is looking for suitable sites. 29-Oct-1998

Ballast Wiltshier has won a £7.5m contract to build a sports complex for the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, and is also expected to win a £3m contract to build a museum for North Tyneside council at Segedunum Roman Fort. 29-Oct-1998

First Choice is acquiring the Bakers Dolphin chain of 52 travel agencies for £12m, as well as minority stakes in Hays Travel, Holiday Express and Holiday Hypermarkets, as part of a plan to create a network of 700 outlets. 29-Oct-1998

Whitbread has announced plans to set up 14 more David Lloyd health clubs, and to invest £300m in the Travel Inn chain of budget hotels. 29-Oct-1998

Leisure Parcs of Blackpool is considering plans to transform its recently-acquired South Parade Pier in Southsea into a leading leisure attraction, by making it look like a cruise liner. 28-Oct-1998

Oxfordshire county council has linked up with Kvaerner Construction and estate agents King Sturge to devise plans to transform a historic prison site in Oxford into a hotel, offices and restaurant. 28-Oct-1998

Odeon Cinemas is planning to set up a 16-screen cinema at the planned £30m Rotunda Leisure Scheme in Kingston, London. 28-Oct-1998

The Science Museum in London is to get a £1.5m donation from Intel to stage an exhibition of cutting-edge digital technology, as part of the museum's £40m Wellcome Wing development. 28-Oct-1998

Liverpool city council has announced that the £125m National Discovery Park will not be ready in time for the millennium due to funding problems. 28-Oct-1998

Southport Pier has secured funding for a £3.9m refurbishment, and it will also benefit from the proposed £20m Ocean Plaza leisure complex on the seafront. 27-Oct-1998

Hampshire County Council is considering plans to convert the historic railway station in Gosport into a tourist attraction. 26-Oct-1998

Richardson Developments is planning to open the £75m Starcity leisure complex in Birmingham in Easter 2000, and it will include a 30-screen cinema, swimming pool, fitness centre, bowling and live music. 26-Oct-1998

Crest Nicholson is to develop a 15-screen Odeon cinema at Bristol's new Harbourside leisure complex, and there will also be a nightclub, casino, health and fitness centre, bars and restaurants. 26-Oct-1998

Football World is now considering the Trafford Centre in Manchester as the site for its proposed £40m international football centre. 26-Oct-1998

McDonald's is said to be planning to invest £12m at the millennium dome in Greenwich, which will involve sponsoring one of the dome's zones and operating food outlets. 26-Oct-1998

Pinnacle Leisure, the operator of health and fitness clubs, has postponed plans for a £70m flotation due to market conditions. 24-Oct-1998

Formula Trading of Stoke has bought the Portland House fitness and leisure complex in Loughton, and intends to expand the club. 23-Oct-1998

Landmark Developments is planning to build a new hotel in York that will create up to 100 jobs. 23-Oct-1998

Winchester Ale Houses is to open three pubs in Gosport, Portsmouth and Southsea before Christmas, and two of the outlets will have their own breweries attached. 23-Oct-1998

Bass is set to cut more than 200 jobs in its leisure retail division, which will affect the divisional HQ at Birmingham's Cape Hill brewery and the information technology centre at Warley. 23-Oct-1998

Leisure Villages is planning to develop a £60m SnoWorld winter sports and leisure complex in Manchester, creating 2,600 jobs. 23-Oct-1998

Holmes Place has bought The Lido complex in Bickley, Kent, for £1.9m, and plans to develop it into a 55,000 sq ft health club. 23-Oct-1998

The owners of Gravesend's Town Pier, the oldest-surviving cast iron pier in the world, have announced plans to restore the structure and build a restaurant, bistro, shops, and viewing gallery. 23-Oct-1998

North Devon District Council is in discussions with a number of companies interested in developing a multi-screen cinema at the North Devon Leisure Centre in Barnstaple. 23-Oct-1998

Crest Nicholson is planning to build a cinema, leisure and retail units during the redevelopment of Gloucester Docks, and the cinema will be operated by Odeon. 23-Oct-1998

Ladbroke is said to be considering plans to build a 250-bed Hilton International hotel in Leeds, and it is looking at a number of potential sites. 23-Oct-1998

Thistle Hotels is set to cut 154 jobs in Leeds by closing its Mount Charlotte Building Services subsidiary, and refurbishment work will now be contracted out. 22-Oct-1998

Rank Leisure is to close or sell the Odeon cinema in Coventry city centre to make way for a new multiplex being built as part of the £38m LeisureWorld and Arena 2000. 22-Oct-1998

Old English Pub Company has bought 12 more coaching inns for a total of £10.8m, bringing its total estate to 172. 22-Oct-1998

Scottish & Newcastle is launching a supermarket-style cashback service in its 564 pubs and restaurants to enable customers to withdraw cash at the same time as settling their bills. 21-Oct-1998

Luminar Leisure Group is investing £1.7m in a new restaurant and night club in Plymouth that will create 90 jobs. 20-Oct-1998

Brighton and Hove Council is planning to invite developers to make bids for the £20m refurbishment of the Brighton Centre, which is said to be one of the country's leading conference venues. 20-Oct-1998

Fitness First Clubs is developing a £1m health club in east Belfast which will create up to 50 jobs, and it is now looking for more sites in Northern Ireland. 20-Oct-1998

A number of companies are said to be preparing to launch bids for the Coral chain of betting shops, including the Tote, Stanley Leisure, Charterhouse, CVC and NatWest Ventures. 17-Oct-1998

Pearson is negotiating the sale of Madame Tussauds, the waxworks and funfair group, to a management team with the backing of Charterhouse Development Capital. 17-Oct-1998

Warner Village Cinemas has won approval to build a £6m multiplex cinema at the Conway Park development in Birkenhead, creating 70 new jobs. 16-Oct-1998

Allied Domecq has won approval to build a £3m hotel at Blackpool Airport, creating 70 jobs. 16-Oct-1998

Manchester City Council is planning to build a £28m leisure complex called the Urbis centre using the design of a giant ship, and it will get £20m of funding from the Millennium Commission. 15-Oct-1998

Luminar is planning to open six more Chicago Rock Cafes by the end of the year, followed by a further 14 next year. 15-Oct-1998

Four Torquay-based timeshare holiday companies - Travel Time (UK), Embassy Enterprises UK, Harmony Holidays and Marlborough Promotions - face being wound up by the government following complaints over their selling practices. 15-Oct-1998

Morbaine has won council approval to build a £15m ice rink and food store in Altrincham town centre. 15-Oct-1998

Cliveden is planning to build a chain of small luxury hotels in major European cities and exclusive holiday destinations. 13-Oct-1998

Kingspark has announced plans to build a £10m leisure complex in Crewe, including multi-screen cinema, five restaurants and a nightclub. 13-Oct-1998

Riley Leisure, the snooker group, is setting up a new 65,000 sq ft headquarters and manufacturing facility on the Network 65 business park in Burnley, creating an extra 34 jobs. 13-Oct-1998

Oakgate Leisure has submitted plans for new development at Monks Cross in York, including a hotel, restaurants, leisure facilities and a sports medical centre, creating up to 1,000 jobs. 13-Oct-1998

Kestonbond Holst has won approval to build a £17.5m leisure and housing complex in Grimsby, including multiplex cinema, hotel, restaurant, bowling alley and pub. 12-Oct-1998

Greenalls is considering plans to sell Inn Partnerships, its tenanted and franchised pubs business, in order to raise £400m to expand its hotel and health club interests. 12-Oct-1998

JD Wetherspoon is planning to open a £1.5m pub in Union Street, Plymouth, creating 35 jobs. 12-Oct-1998

Scottish & Newcastle has announced plans to invest £21m in the creation of a chain of 150 community-orientated pubs, creating 750 jobs. 12-Oct-1998

Hibernian football club has bought back its Easter Road stadium in Edinburgh and rejected a takeover offer from the owners of Weatherseal Group. 12-Oct-1998

Shepherd Neame is planning to buy more pubs outside its home county of Kent, and is also preparing to invest more in the upgrade of its existing pub estate. 09-Oct-1998

Morrison Developments is planning a £10m retail and leisure development in Thamesmead, which will include a Warner Village multiplex cinema. 09-Oct-1998

Deep Sea Leisure is considering plans to set up a £20m deep sea aquarium near Sheffield. 09-Oct-1998

Plans are being prepared for a £10m scheme to regenerate the Quayside maltings in Mistley, Essex, and up to 500 jobs could be generated. 09-Oct-1998

Bristol City football club has unveiled plans for a 40,000 seater stadium at Hengrove Park. 09-Oct-1998

Amec is planning to build a hotel, bowling alley and cinema complex at a 43-acre leisure park in Dudley, creating about 340 jobs. 09-Oct-1998

Holmes Place is to develop Nottingham's Low Level Station as a health and fitness centre in a £9m deal with Lincoln-based Simons. 09-Oct-1998

Laing has started construction work on the £36m Nottingham Ice Arena, which is due for completion by the end of 1999. 09-Oct-1998

Blackpool council is looking for leisure companies to submit plans for a potential leisure development on the site of a demolished multi-storey car park near the beach. 09-Oct-1998

Bondway Properties is planning a £50m cinema and leisure complex in Edinburgh, including health club, bowling alley, night club and bars. 08-Oct-1998

Vico Properties has unveiled plans for a £30m leisure development in Dundee, including ice rink, cinema and a hotel. 08-Oct-1998

Woodbridge Edenside is planning to set up a leisure complex in Chichester including a hotel, multiplex cinema, bowling alley and restaurants. 08-Oct-1998

Lingfield Securities has been given the go-ahead to build a multi-million pound arts, shops and leisure complex in Bromsgrove's Recreation Road. 08-Oct-1998

Cardiff, Swansea and Caernarfon have submitted bids to re-house the National Maritime and Industrial Museum, which was previously based at Cardiff Bay. 08-Oct-1998

Helios Properties is planning to convert the 1860s Exchange Buildings next to the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle into a 133-bedroom hotel with restaurants and underground parking. 07-Oct-1998

Planning applications for the £500m Legend Court leisure resort near Magor are expected to be submitted to Newport and Monmouthshire councils at the end of the month. 07-Oct-1998

Peel Holdings is considering plans to develop a series of leisure sites along the ship canal from Manchester to Liverpool, including a racecourse, shooting, boating, windsurfing, fishing, archery, orienteering, and pony trekking. 05-Oct-1998

The Royal York Hotel is planning to build York's first dedicated conference hall, which will be able to accommodate 375 delegates. 05-Oct-1998

Portsmouth City Council is planning to invite proposals from major leisure operators to transform Southsea's seaside amusements area around Clarence Pier. 05-Oct-1998

Regal Hotel Group is said to be discussing a deal with Alchemy Partners which would take the company private. 02-Oct-1998

Time Warner and United News & Media have shortlisted three sites between Rugby and London as potentially suitable to set up a Movie World theme park and film production studio. 02-Oct-1998

Capital Corporation has received two possible takeover approaches following a fall in profits at its casinos, and talks are taking place. 02-Oct-1998

Work has begun on a £42m scheme to restore the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, which will link up with the rest of the South Wales canal network. 02-Oct-1998

Grosvenor Estate Holdings is set to pay £7m to Wilcon Homes for the proposed Fife Leisure Park development, which will include a cinema, bowling, restaurants and hotel. 02-Oct-1998

Taylor Woodrow has won a £14m contract to build the World of Glass visitor centre and museum in St Helens. 01-Oct-1998

Mowlem, Crest Nicholson and Barratt Homes have formed a consortium that is planning a £2bn development on the Thames in London, including a major office complex, marina, hotel, and shipyard. 01-Oct-1998

Oriel Leisure and Union Property are planning to build a 131-bedroom hotel on the site of the old Whitbread Exchange Brewery in Sheffield. 01-Oct-1998

Spit Bank Fort, the historic fort one mile off the coast of Portsmouth that includes a restaurant and conference centre, is to be auctioned off by its current owner. 01-Oct-1998

Stakis has won approval to set up a £5.6m casino in Hull. 01-Oct-1998

Leeds Sporting has won council approval to build an arena, 200-bed hotel, restaurants, bowling alley and other leisure units alongside Leeds United football stadium. 01-Oct-1998

The historic Union Hotel in Penzance has been put up for sale. 01-Oct-1998

Virgin is to open a 20-screen cinema complex in Sheffield in November, including the biggest screen in the UK. 30-Sep-1998

Northern Leisure is planning to open a further 16 dance halls this year and believes it can expand the chain from 57 to more than 200. 30-Sep-1998

Penscynor Wildlife Park in Cilfrew, Neath, is to close with the loss of 50 jobs due to falling visitor numbers. 30-Sep-1998

Warner Village Cinemas is to build a £7m seven-screen multiplex cinema in Hartlepool by next March, as part of the £200m Marina scheme being developed by Discovery Properties and Freehold Portfolio Estates. 30-Sep-1998

Halifax is to redevelop the former Leeds Permanent Building Society headquarters in Leeds, and it will include a 15-screen cinema developed by South African firm Ster-Kinekor. 30-Sep-1998

Warner Village has won the contract to operate the 10-screen cinema in Reading's Oracle centre, and it will open next autumn with the creation of more than 100 jobs. 30-Sep-1998

Morrells of Oxford has been set up as a new company to acquire Morrells Brewery of Oxford for £48m, and has promised to invest in the 132 pubs although the brewery itself will be shut. 29-Sep-1998

Honeycombe Leisure, the operator of pubs in the Preston area, is planning to raise £3m through a share placing on Aim. 28-Sep-1998

Berkeley Group is planning a £50m redevelopment of a former defence site in Gosport, which will include a marina for large yachts, commercial premises and other leisure facilities, and up to 500 jobs could be created. 28-Sep-1998

Dayrise, the London-based tour operator, has ceased trading. 26-Sep-1998

Rymark Property Developments is planning a £50m residential and leisure project in Bournemouth, including a virtual reality complex, a fitness centre and restaurants. 25-Sep-1998

Greenalls has won permission to build a 98-bed hotel Village Hotel at Arlington's Coventry Business Park. 25-Sep-1998

Ulster Waterways Group is pressing for the £100m restoration of Northern Ireland's waterways, and claims it will create up to 200 tourism jobs. 25-Sep-1998

Dundee is to get a £6.7m ice rink, including a 2,350-seat stadium, bar, restaurant and hospitality suites, having received a lottery handout of £2m. 25-Sep-1998

CLS Holdings is planning to develop a £300m retail and leisure centre in Lambeth, London, including a dry-ski run, mountain bike trail and 10-screen cinema, and up to 3,000 jobs could be created. 25-Sep-1998

Burford has won council approval for the £3m redevelopment of the Trocadero leisure centre at Piccadilly Circus, London. 25-Sep-1998

Amec has won a £5m contract to build a millennium exhibition centre and theatre in Ardeer, Ayrshire. 24-Sep-1998

The Glasgow Science Centre is planning to set up a £33m discovery complex, including a 3D cinema and a 100m tall observation tower. 24-Sep-1998

Richardson Developments is planning a £35m redevelopment of the former Grants department store in Croydon, and the project will include a multiplex cinema, restaurants and nightclub. 24-Sep-1998

Ladbroke has been blocked by the government in its attempt to merge with Coral, and will be required to sell all 833 Coral betting shops within six months. 24-Sep-1998

Jurys Hotel is in discussions to acquire Doyle Hotel which would create an enlarged group with 28 hotels in Ireland, the UK and the US. 24-Sep-1998

Benton Hall Golf Club is planning to build a health and beauty complex at its Wickham Hill site in Witham, including swimming pool, children's pool, gym and aerobics rooms. 24-Sep-1998

Apollo Leisure is planning to set up an annual movie festival and multiplex cinema in Torbay. 24-Sep-1998

Forte Hotels is planning to build a health and fitness centre as part of multi-million pound plans for a sports village in Wakefield. 24-Sep-1998

First Direct, the direct banking operation, has launched a travel division called First Direct Travel that will enable customers to book holidays by phone. 23-Sep-1998

The government and English Heritage have announced plans to reinstate the original landscape around Stonehenge by re-routing the roads, and a visitor's centre will be built a few miles away. 23-Sep-1998

Barry Action, the partnership between the Welsh Development Agency and the Vale of Glamorgan Council, has begun work on a multi-million pound steam railway tourist attraction in Barry. 23-Sep-1998

Macdonald Hotels is planning to build a £6.7m hotel in Dundee, creating up to 150 jobs. 23-Sep-1998

Butlin's is to close its SouthCoast World holiday centre in Bognor Regis for six months from October for the final phase of a £40m refit, and up to 100 jobs will be lost. 22-Sep-1998

Anglo Haussmann Group has proposed plans for a £5m multiplex cinema and retailing complex in Gosport. 22-Sep-1998

Bell-Fruit Manufacturing, the fruit machine company, is planning a major re-structuring which could lead to job losses among its 300 employees in Nottingham. 22-Sep-1998

The Glengoyne Distillery near Killearn in Stirlingshire is planning to upgrade its visitor facilities and increase tourism at the site. 22-Sep-1998

PizzaExpress is to double the size of its chain of pasta restaurants to 22 this year and will add a further 20 pizza outlets to take the chain to over 200 by next June. 22-Sep-1998

The Blackburn Theatre Trust is looking to raise £1.8m to renovate the Red Brick Theatre in Blackburn. 21-Sep-1998

AvCa Marketing, the Belfast-based holiday company, is under investigation by the Trading Standards Office following complaints about the way it sells timeshare holidays. 21-Sep-1998

Plans have been approved for an 18-hole golf course at Brookfield Farm, in Hankelow, Cheshire, and a hotel could be built on the site at a later stage. 21-Sep-1998

Leeds Sporting is looking for corporate partners to set up a TV channel and assist with a leisure development alongside the Elland Road stadium. 18-Sep-1998

Caverdale Group has bought Pulse Fitness, the fitness equipment maker, out of administration for undisclosed terms. 18-Sep-1998

Queensborough Holdings is to put three Isle of Wight tourist attractions up for sale, including The Needles Pleasure Park, Alum Bay Glass, and the Isle of Wight Wax Museum. 18-Sep-1998

Warner Brothers is planning a £15m 12-screen cinema project at Shepherds Bush, London. 17-Sep-1998

Amec Developments is planning a £30m retail and leisure development at Eastlands in Manchester, including hotel, entertainment centre, shops and dock facilities. 17-Sep-1998

Carlson of the US is said to be discussing the merger of its Inspirations holiday business in the UK with Westdeutsche Landesbank's Thomas Cook group, which would create the UK's largest travel agent. 17-Sep-1998

The Arts Council of England is planning to reduce its workforce from 322 to about 150, as part of a strategy to leave funding decisions to the 10 regional arts boards. 17-Sep-1998

Easy-Cafe is planning to launch a chain of at least 20 cybercafes in London, with 24-hour opening. 17-Sep-1998

JD Wetherspoon is to continue to expand its pubs chain by about 80 new outlets a year, and claims there are plenty of suitable sites. 16-Sep-1998

Hoyts of Australia is planning to open up to 15 multiplex cinemas in the UK over the next four years at a cost of £75m, and has already secured sites in Kent, London, Liverpool and Wolverhampton. 16-Sep-1998

Northern Land Holdings and William Cook Estates are planning a five-acre leisure development in the area around Newcastle Central Station. 16-Sep-1998

Gosport council is considering plans to convert a former aircraft hangar at Lee-on-the-Solent into a major entertainment centre, offering concerts and indoor sporting events. 16-Sep-1998

Pizza Hut is to open two more delivery units in Leeds with the creation of 120 jobs. 16-Sep-1998

The government is planning to replace the Royal Tournament with a "more relevant and modern" event, although the charity that runs it says it is being scrapped because the Ministry of Defence won't underwrite the £2.5m annual cost. 15-Sep-1998

Capital & Regional Shopping Centres is planning to develop a £57m sports village in Milton Keynes, including retail facilities, multiplex cinema, ski centre and tenpin bowling. 15-Sep-1998

The Huddersfield Canal Society has won approval for the £31m redevelopment of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, which is scheduled for completion by April 2001. 15-Sep-1998

Jet Ski (UK), the jet skiing and go-kart leisure business based in South Cerney, has been put up for sale at a price of £1.25m. 14-Sep-1998

City Cruises has ordered four new river cruisers from shipbuilder Vosper Thornycroft to provide a direct river link between central London and the Millennium Dome. 14-Sep-1998

The government has ordered a public inquiry into plans by Northumberland's Training Enterprise Council for a £100m Virtual Reality Valley near Morpeth, as it may conflict with national policy on planning matters. 14-Sep-1998

Evergreen Travel Service, the Sheffield-based travel agent, has ceased trading after the Civil Aviation Authority called in its Air Travel Organiser's Licence bond. 14-Sep-1998

Perfect Pizza is launching a major re-branding drive by spending £1.3m to unite its four brands of Pronta Pizza, Perfect Pizza, 241 Pizza and Gino's Dial A Pizza under the single name of Perfect Pizza. 14-Sep-1998

Franchisee Allied Leisure is to open 25 more Burger King restaurants in the North-East and the North-West, creating 900 new jobs, and is also taking over seven existing Burger King restaurants. 14-Sep-1998

Hawtin has acquired Aquamarine, the French supplier of spas, pools, sunbeds and gym equipment, for £350,000, and is now looking to expand further into continental Europe. 14-Sep-1998

Manchester United is planning a £30m expansion for its Old Trafford football stadium, creating an extra 12,400 seats. 11-Sep-1998

Hoyts of Australia is to open cinemas at two leisure schemes being set up by THI in Wolverhampton and Liverpool. 11-Sep-1998

Marston Thompson & Evershed is planning to raise £100m for its brewery and managed pubs by securitising most of its tenanted estate with Nomura. 11-Sep-1998

St Andrews International has submitted a planning application with Fife Council for a £7m museum and international visitor centre. 11-Sep-1998

BS Group of Bristol has sold its electronic betting division DataTote to HiTech Holdings of the West Indies for £1.6m, in order to focus on developing property and stadiums. 11-Sep-1998

An unnamed London company is said to be planning to set up a multi-million pound hotel, cinema, and retail complex in the centre of Leicester. 11-Sep-1998

Discovery Properties is planning a £17m leisure complex in Ilford, including cinemas, a fitness club, restaurants and bars. 10-Sep-1998

The Royal Opera House is threatening to close Covent Garden unless unions agree to job cuts and new working practices. 10-Sep-1998

Queens Moat Houses is selling 11 hotels in France and Belgium to Westmont Hospitality of the US for £42m, as part of a strategy to focus on Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. 10-Sep-1998

Holmes Place is looking to open more health and fitness clubs in the London area and is in discussions with British Land about the acquisition of two Broadgate clubs. 09-Sep-1998

Next Generation Club is planning to build an £8m indoor tennis and sports centre in York, which could create more than 100 new jobs. 09-Sep-1998

Greene King, the pubs group, is taking legal action against Inter Lotto, the operator of the Pronto online pub game that was suspended recently, as it claims it is owed over £300,000 in commissions. 08-Sep-1998

Stakis LivingWell is to build a £4.5m health club at Belfast Harbour Exchange, including pool, saunas, and other facilities, creating 50 jobs. 08-Sep-1998

Direct Holidays, the Yorkshire-based tour operator, is setting up bases at three airports in Humberside, Leeds Bradford and Teesside, and claims it can offer holidays up to 19% cheaper than rivals as it cuts out the travel agent. 07-Sep-1998

The government is said to be planning to create a "Scottish Riviera" on the Edinburgh shoreline, with the construction of new hotels, shops, beaches and houses, and the creation of up to 4,000 jobs. 07-Sep-1998

Northumberland Training and Enterprise Council is planning a £5.5m development to expand the Longhirst Hall four-star hotel, creating up to 30 new jobs. 04-Sep-1998

Clubhaus is looking to acquire additional golf courses, particularly in warm-weather locations in Europe. 04-Sep-1998

Wembley is considering how to spend the £103m it will receive from the sale of Wembley Stadium, and options include the acquisition of a leisure business and a share buy-back. 04-Sep-1998

Manchester has been awarded £90m of National Lottery and council funds to build a 50,000 seater stadium that could be used for both Manchester City football club and the Commonwealth Games in 2002. 03-Sep-1998

Britt Allcroft is considering plans to set up a theme park in the US, based on its Thomas the Tank Engine character. 03-Sep-1998

Worcester Rugby Club is planning to build a new £1.8m South Stand, and is looking for a commercial backer to help underwrite the cost of the project. 03-Sep-1998

Bovis is set to win a contract to build an £80m performing arts centre at Cardiff Bay, which is expected to include a 2,000-seat auditorium and leisure facilities. 03-Sep-1998

Jarlow is planning a £45m retail and leisure scheme in Glasgow on the site of the former Post Office in George Square. 03-Sep-1998

Norwich City Football Club is to become the first in the UK to set up a "mini call centre" which will call fans directly in a bid to persuade them to buy match tickets. 02-Sep-1998

Sky Savers, the Preston travel agent, has gone into liquidation. 02-Sep-1998

The £74m Eden Project to build the world's biggest greenhouses near St Blazey in Cornwall has been given the go-ahead by the local council, and the project includes a scientific institution, educational facility and visitor attraction. 02-Sep-1998

Miller Developments is planning a £50m leisure scheme in Leeds which will include a 20-screen cinema, family entertainment centre, restaurants and bars. 02-Sep-1998

BGR, the restaurant and fish supply company, is buying One Lawn Terrace, the Blackheath-based restaurant, for £1.4m. 02-Sep-1998

Legend Court has indicated that up to 9,000 jobs could be created at the planned £500m theme resort at Pencoed Castle, near Magor. 01-Sep-1998

The Old Monk Company is planning to raise £3m with a flotation on Aim in order to fund the expansion of its pub chain from 18 to 30 outlets over the next year. 01-Sep-1998

Electra Fleming, the venture capital concern, is acquiring a 27% stake in Media Partners, the Italian sports marketing company that is planning a breakaway European football super league, for £18m. 29-Aug-1998

The Egypt Mill hotel in Nailsworth near Stroud is planning to transform itself into a £12m leisure complex, with the creation of 100 jobs. 28-Aug-1998

Inter Lotto may be about to withdraw its Pronto pub lottery game due to a technical dispute with British Telecom. 27-Aug-1998

Dawa is planning to build a £3.6m multiplex cinema in Worcester. 27-Aug-1998

Holmes Place is planning to build a £2.6m health club at the Wimbledon Indoor Tennis Club in London. 27-Aug-1998

Citygrove Leisure has announced plans for the £30m redevelopment of Hove's King Alfred Leisure Centre into a major entertainment complex, including a 13-screen cinema, restaurants, a casino and a nightclub. 26-Aug-1998

Greenalls Hotel & Leisure has opened the £12m Village Hotel & Leisure Club complex in Cardiff. 26-Aug-1998

Ladbroke is to launch an interactive betting service on the internet within a few months, the first major bookmaker to do so. 26-Aug-1998

King Consolidated Holdings of South Africa is planning to move into the UK and open up to 50 Keg and McGintys pub-restaurant franchises over the next two years. 25-Aug-1998

Limavady Borough Council in Northern Ireland is planning to build a £3m arts centre and museum at the town hall. 25-Aug-1998

First Leisure is planning to build a £5m sports centre with golf clubhouse and ancillary facilities in Glasgow. 25-Aug-1998

The Teviotdale Leisure Centre in Hawick is to create a museum to commemorate the Waverley railway which closed in 1969. 25-Aug-1998

Isle of Anglesey Railway is planning to transform the Amlwch freight branch into a tourist line using steam and diesel traction, and services could start early next year. 25-Aug-1998

BGR is planning to open Bank restaurants in Birmingham and Edinburgh as part of an expansion plan that will result in a chain of eight outlets by 2000. 25-Aug-1998

Eurocamp is close to agreeing the sale of its recently-acquired chain of 25 Baldwin restaurants, and interested parties are said to include a Malaysian businessman and First Leisure. 24-Aug-1998

Inspirations, the tour operator that has been put up for sale by its US parent Carlson, is said to have attracted the interest of three leading holiday companies - Thomas Cook, First Choice Holidays and Airtours. 24-Aug-1998

Nomura has appointed Warburg Dillon Read to advise on a possible flotation for the William Hill chain of bookmakers, and it could be valued at about £900m. 24-Aug-1998

Holmes Place, the fitness club operator, is said to be interested in acquiring Broadgate Club, the London gym currently owned by British Land. 24-Aug-1998

Restaurant Express, the Liverpool-based call centre that processes restaurant deliveries across the UK, has gone into voluntary liquidation. 21-Aug-1998

The Tote pool-betting operation has appointed Close Brothers to advise on strategies to develop the business, following the government decision to look at the possibility of selling the Tote to the private sector. 21-Aug-1998

The New Millennium Experience Company is creating 5,000 temporary jobs at London's millennium dome, and is looking for people to work in catering, cleaning, sales and exhibitions. 20-Aug-1998

Vardon has acquired the Club Athletico private health club in Worcester from Serco for £3.2m. 20-Aug-1998

Thistle Hotels is looking to sell 30 provincial hotels, and has broken off talks with a potential bidder for the company - thought to be Nomura of Japan. 18-Aug-1998

Stakis is considering plans to expand its hotels, casinos and fitness clubs into continental Europe, and is also looking to buy more hotels in London. 17-Aug-1998

Camelot is launching a new service that will allow players of the National Lottery to pay by direct debit, thereby saving them a trip to the local newsagent. 17-Aug-1998

Caffe Nero, the chain of Italian espresso bars, is considering plans for a flotation that would value the company at about £15m. 17-Aug-1998

Slug & Lettuce Group, previously known as Grosvenor Inns, has secured the properties that will enable it to reach its target of expanding its chain of bars from 29 to 35 by May 1999. 15-Aug-1998

Airtours is planning a 5% cut in the number of summer holidays offered next year, in order to avoid a return to the over-capacity that hit the sector in 1995. 13-Aug-1998

Pinnacle Leisure, the chain of health and fitness clubs, is planning a flotation later this year in order to raise £20m for expansion. 12-Aug-1998

Lady in Leisure, the chain of women-only fitness clubs, has received an approach that could result in a takeover offer. 11-Aug-1998

Visits to England's historic properties rose 2% to 71m last year, according to the English Tourist Board. 10-Aug-1998

Avebury Taverns has bought 253 pubs Whitbread for £42m, taking its estate to more than 720 outlets. 06-Aug-1998

Celtic football club is planning to move from Aim to the main Stock Exchange next month to enable the chairman to sell his 50% stake. 06-Aug-1998

Rank Group is looking to sell a number of businesses, including 53 nightclubs, the US holidays division, and possibly its Oasis holiday village, in order to focus on core activities such as Odeon cinemas, Mecca bingo, Haven holidays and film services. 05-Aug-1998

Kunick is looking to acquire amusement businesses from the brewery and hotel groups, and also wants to make acquisitions to expand its Relaxion division, which manages leisure facilities on behalf of local authorities. 05-Aug-1998

Diageo, the food and drink group, has put the Gleneagles hotel and golf resort on the market, having been approached by about a dozen interested parties. 05-Aug-1998

Pearson has reported strong interest in the sale of its leisure businesses, including Madame Tussauds, Alton Towers and Chessington, and expects to complete a deal by the end of the year. 04-Aug-1998

Virgin Entertainment is negotiating the acquisition of multiscreen cinema sites in New York and Los Angeles, and is also close to purchasing two further sites in Japan. 04-Aug-1998

The UK's first tax-free betting service is being launched on the internet by a new company called Sportingbet.com, and it will be run from the tax haven island of Alderney. 31-Jul-1998

SFI is planning to open 12 new pubs over the coming year, with a focus on town and city centres. 31-Jul-1998

Parisa, the off-licence company bought out from Greenalls, is to open a restaurant with micro brewery in Putney High Street, and a further two restaurants will be opened in the next six months. 31-Jul-1998

Nikko Europe is said to be planning to acquire the Blue Boar and Takeabreak road service area businesses for up to £80m, in order to integrate them with its Roadchef network. 30-Jul-1998

Orient-Express Hotels has bought the Hotel da Lapa in Lisbon for £24m, which will be its third hotel in Portugal. 30-Jul-1998

Belgo is in discussions to acquire Caprice Holdings, the operator of a number of restaurants in London. 28-Jul-1998

Littlewoods is planning to review its leisure business, which could result in its withdrawal from football pools in order to focus on its core home shopping operation. 28-Jul-1998

Occupancy rates at UK hotels are forecast to fall from 77.7% to 76.5% this year because of economic factors, and this follows six years of growth according to the consultancy Pannell Kerr Forster. 27-Jul-1998

Four Seasons Hotels of Canada is expected to announce plans for a luxury hotel development at Canary Wharf in London. 25-Jul-1998

Vernons is to launch a football-based National Lottery game next month with a £1.5m jackpot. 25-Jul-1998

Starwood Lodging Trust of the US is looking to develop a luxury hotel in Bloomsbury Square, London, and is in advanced negotiations to buy the site from Blackfriars Investments. 23-Jul-1998

Stanley Leisure has expressed an interest in acquiring all or some of the 833 Coral betting shops if Ladbroke is forced to sell by the Monopolies & Mergers Commission. 23-Jul-1998

The government is expected to go for an early relaxation of licensing laws, allowing much greater flexibility in pub opening hours, following a report from a government taskforce that calls for fundamental reform. 22-Jul-1998

London Clubs International has won a contract to lease and manage a casino in the Bahamas, which will be part of a new resort being built by Hutchison Whampoa. 22-Jul-1998

Gowrings has bought seven Burger King restaurants in the Midlands for £2.6m. 21-Jul-1998

Forte has signed franchise agreements for the management of two Meridien hotels in Israel, one in Tel Aviv and one in Eliat. 20-Jul-1998

Young & Co is said to be considering a bid for Morrells, the Oxford brewer with 132 tenanted pubs, in order to gain additional outlets for its brewery. 18-Jul-1998

The Uefa ban on football clubs under common ownership playing in the same European competition has been successfully challenged in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland, meaning that Enic of London can enter more than one of its clubs in the Uefa Cup this season. 18-Jul-1998

Thistle Hotels has come up with a shortlist of five bidders to acquire all or part of its hotel chain, and the list includes financial buyers and other hotel groups. 18-Jul-1998

Casino operators will be allowed to run limited adverts in the national press and the maximum payout by fruit machines will rise form £10 to £15, following government moves to relax its rules on gambling. 16-Jul-1998

Old English Pub Company is set to acquire 10 hotels from Regal Hotel Group for £12.5m, as well as seven Forte Heritage Hotels from Granada for £13m. 15-Jul-1998

Zetters, the football pools and bingo company, has announced that it is close to selling the business. 15-Jul-1998

Inn Business is looking to spend up to £20m on acquisitions to expand its pub chain. 11-Jul-1998

Morrells Brewery of Oxford has been put up for sale, as it has not been generating sufficient profits to invest in its estate of 132 pubs. 10-Jul-1998

Oriental Restaurant Group is planning to set up a centralised kitchen in London which will enable it to expand its chain of restaurants from seven to up to 30. 08-Jul-1998

The leisure industry was the fastest growing market for the construction industry in 1997, with orders for cinemas, leisure centres, sports complexes and pubs rising from £1.4bn in 1996 to £1.85bn, according to a report from Building magazine and Market Tracking International. 07-Jul-1998

Punch Taverns is to prevent its 1,400 pub tenants from selling guest beers produced by local breweries, telling them that they can only sell beers supplied by the 20 brewers with which it has supply agreements. 03-Jul-1998

Hilton Hotels Corporation is planning to separate its hotels and casinos businesses, which raises the possibility of a merger with Ladbrokes, the operator of Hilton hotels outside the US. 02-Jul-1998

Zetters has decided to sell its bingo and pools businesses separately, having failed to attract a satisfactory offer for the whole group. 01-Jul-1998

The government has confirmed plans to soften the impact of the recently-announced changes to the gaming duty payable by medium-sized casinos, by raising the threshold at which casinos qualify for the 40% rate. 01-Jul-1998

Gala is expected to announce the acquisition of the Ritz bingo chain from Hambro European Ventures, in order to create the UK's largest bingo company with 149 outlets. 30-Jun-1998

Nomura International is splitting its pub estate into two, creating a new group that will include all the pubs that have signed up for its SupplyLine scheme for the supply of discounted drinks. 30-Jun-1998

Gioma Restaurants is planning to open up to 10 more outlets within two years, to add to the existing three. 27-Jun-1998

Ladbroke is planning to launch an international chain of mid-market hotels through its Hilton International division, and the first will be opened in Sao Paolo, Brazil. 26-Jun-1998

Pearson is planning to sell the Tussauds Group leisure business, which includes the Alton Towers theme park, and is said to be looking for more than £350m. 24-Jun-1998

Hogg Robinson has announced plans to bring its business travel and financial services divisions closer together, in order to expand the range of services on offer to customers and to eliminate overlapping costs. 24-Jun-1998

Pearson has sold its 40% stake in Port Aventura, the Spanish theme park, for £40m, with Universal Studios getting 37% and Bank La Caixa 3%. 23-Jun-1998

The Ambishus Pub Company is planning to rise £3m in a share placing in order to fund the acquisition of 10 more pubs from JD Wetherspoon. 23-Jun-1998

Regal Hotel Group is forming an alliance with the Restaurant Partnership that will result in the development of restaurants within Regal's hotels. 23-Jun-1998

Thomson Travel has made a £60m bid for Scotland-based Direct Holidays. 22-Jun-1998

Burger King is linking up with Granada to open up to 100 co-branded Burger King/Little Chef roadside restaurants over the next five years. 20-Jun-1998

The Wineworld theme park in London is expected to open next May, and plans are being prepared for an exhibition of the world's wines as well as restaurant and corporate entertainment facilities. 19-Jun-1998

Enterprise Inns has expressed an interest in acquiring the tenanted pub estate of Vaux, but would not want to buy any managed pubs. 17-Jun-1998

The government has decided to retain the Scottish tourist board, but the English tourist board is still under threat of closure due to the government's spending review. 16-Jun-1998

Vaux has ended takeover discussions with an unnamed company, thought to be Stakis, prompting speculation that Stakis may now turn its attention to Thistle Hotels. 13-Jun-1998

The government is looking at ways to involve the private sector in the running of the Tote, which has an exclusive licence to operate pool betting. 12-Jun-1998

Macdonald Hotels has bought the four-star Bobsleigh Inn at Hemel Hempstead for £2.4m, as part of a strategy to buy and develop provincial hotels. 12-Jun-1998

Mansfield Brewery is to open a further 15 concept pubs this year. 11-Jun-1998

Granada is in discussions to sell three unbranded London hotels to individual purchasers for a total of about £145m. 11-Jun-1998

Thistle Hotels has received approaches from a number of companies that could result in a takeover bid, and interested parties are thought to include Stakis and some US real estate investment trusts. 10-Jun-1998

Yates Brothers Wine Lodges is to open 25 pubs over the coming year and is particularly targeting the south and London. 10-Jun-1998

Jarvis Hotels is looking to expand in continental Europe, but would mainly be interested in managing hotels rather than owning them. 10-Jun-1998

Luminar is to open another 12 Chicago Rock Cafes this year, as well as three discos and a Rhythm Room Bar and Grill. 05-Jun-1998

Thomas Cook is to use its high street travel shops to sell overseas properties built by large developers in Europe and Florida, as part of a diversification strategy intended to replace the foreign exchange income that will be lost with the introduction of the euro. 04-Jun-1998

Compass is to acquire Restaurant Associates, the US retail food service concern, for £54m, which will give it access to the US market for events and leisure catering. 04-Jun-1998

A group of MPs has commissioned a report that claims that Ladbroke's takeover of the Coral bookmaking chain, which has been referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, will reduce competition, put punters at a disadvantage, and give Ladbroke a dominant share of the betting market. 03-Jun-1998

JD Wetherspoon has arranged a deal with Castlemore Securities for the £29m sale and leaseback of 14 pubs, in order to raise money for the expansion of its pub chain. 02-Jun-1998

Fuller Smith & Turner, the London brewer, is planning to open up to 10 outlets this year with an investment of £20m. 29-May-1998

Millennium & Copthorne is considering the sale of one or two of its smaller regional hotels, but has denied reports that it has been in discussions to sell a large part of its business. 29-May-1998

Coffee Republic is planning to expand its chain of coffee stores out of its London home and into other parts of the UK, and is looking particularly at Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow and Edinburgh. 28-May-1998

Pubmaster is acquiring 54 pubs from the Devonshire Pub Company for about £15m, in order to boost its presence in the North West. 28-May-1998

Airtours is looking to acquire holiday operators in the north-eastern US and eastern Canada, although no deal is imminent. 28-May-1998

Eldridge Pope is planning to expand its pub estate by buying small groups of pubs or by acquiring a regional brewer, and has set aside £12m to invest over the next three years. 27-May-1998

Kunick has formed a joint venture with Bell Fruit Manufacturing and JPM International to develop its Midas system, which monitors the performance of computer games in pubs. 27-May-1998

Thomas Cook is planning to sell timeshare holidays, initially concentrating on the UK, Spain, Portugal, Florida, New York, and the Canary Islands. 27-May-1998

Clubhaus is to invest £20m setting up health and fitness centres at nine of its 15 golf courses, and some of the financing required will come from a £10.6m share placing. 23-May-1998

Hogg Robinson is acquiring a 51% stake in Rider Travel, the Canadian partner of its Business Travel International division, for up to £18m. 22-May-1998

Old English Pub Company is planning to raise £30m in a rights issue in order to fund the acquisition of new outlets. 22-May-1998

Whitbread has sold 40 Beefeater restaurants to a management buy-in for £36m, and the new company will be called Crowded House Pub Company. 20-May-1998

Greenalls is said to be considering the future of three of its businesses - the Inn Partnerships pubs, the Stretton Leisure amusement machine business, and the G&J Greenall spirits distiller - in order to focus on its core retail and leisure businesses. 20-May-1998

Lonrho is close to agreeing the sale of its 10 luxury Princess hotels for about £300m, and potential bidders include Hilton, Host Marriott and Starwood Hotels & Resorts. 16-May-1998

Airtours has acquired a 29% stake Frosche Touristik, the German tour operator, for an initial £17m and has an option to buy the rest of the group in 2002. 14-May-1998

Century Inns is planning a rolling refurbishment programme of one pub a month in order to fully benefit from the recent acquisition of 78 Pubmaster outlets. 14-May-1998

Greenalls has bought the Slaley Hall hotel in Hexham from Aston Hotels for £16m. 13-May-1998

Ask Central is to raise £6.4m in a rights issue in order to fund the expansion of its chain of 35 restaurants. 13-May-1998

Northern Leisure, the dance halls company, has rejected a takeover approach from an unnamed company, thought to be a large brewer. 12-May-1998

Vernons has been granted a licence to operate a National Lottery game, which is expected to be based on football results and will be launched in August. 08-May-1998

Whitbread is planning to open 80 pubs, 80 restaurants, three Marriott hotels, 25 Travel Inn budget hotels, and eight David Lloyd sports centres, creating 5,000 jobs. 07-May-1998

Thomas Cook is investing £25m in the launch of a global travel service, supplied through its Peterborough call centre. 07-May-1998

The government is to review the liquor licensing laws in England and Wales with a view to relaxing licensing hours and allowing pubs to stay open for longer. 06-May-1998

Cliveden, the luxury hotels group, is in discussions that could lead to a takeover offer. 06-May-1998

First Leisure has begun looking for purchasers for its resorts division, which it values at £95m, and hopes to complete the sale by July. 06-May-1998

The Ambishus Pub Company is to float on Aim this week with a valuation of about £10m, in order to raise its profile and allow it to make share-based acquisitions. 05-May-1998

Cinema admissions averaged 3.23m per week in the first quarter of 1998, up 23% on last year and the highest level for 26 years, according to the Cinema Advertising Association. 30-Apr-1998

Scottish & Newcastle is to expand its chain of Rat & Parrot bars from 43 to 70, as part of a £21m expansion that will create 1,300 jobs. 30-Apr-1998

The government has decided to index-link gaming duty on casinos, in response to criticism that the recent Budget would have a damaging effect on London's casinos. 29-Apr-1998

White Horse Fast Ferries is to raise £1.85m on Ofex in order to fund the purchase of new boats to take tourists to the Millennium Experience in London. 27-Apr-1998

Ladbroke has terminated negotiations to acquire a controlling stake in Karos, the South African hotel group, and will now look for other ways to expand its hotel network in the region. 27-Apr-1998

Arena Leisure is buying the Folkestone racecourse in Kent for £3.25m, and aims to generate extra revenue at the course with a number of leisure developments and by enticing French racing enthusiasts. 23-Apr-1998

David Lloyd is linking up with Scottish & Newcastle to invest £100m in the creation of a chain of family-oriented fitness clubs called the Next Generation, which will include tennis courts and beauty parlours. 23-Apr-1998

Thomson Travel, the package tour operator, is to be valued at up to £1.7bn when it floats next month, about a third higher than previously expected. 21-Apr-1998

Menzies Hotels has postponed plans to raise £15m in a share offering due to low offers from institutional investors and volatility in the sector. 20-Apr-1998

Anglo-Welsh Group, the canal boat operator, is looking to expand into waterside leisure opportunities. 18-Apr-1998

Virgin has rejected two foreign takeover approaches for its chain of 30 cinemas which are thought to be worth about £200m. 16-Apr-1998

Littlewoods is said to have been in discussions with a number of potential partners to bid to run the National Lottery, but it will not make a decision until the government has clarified the future structure of the lottery. 15-Apr-1998

First Leisure has received a number of offers for its resorts business, which includes Eastbourne Pier, Blackpool Tower, and a caravan park in south Wales. 15-Apr-1998

Airtours has added a fourth ship called The Song of America to its cruise programme, and will lease it from Royal Caribbean Cruise. 15-Apr-1998

Wembley plc, having recently agreed to sell Wembley stadium, is undergoing a strategic review that could result in the eventual break-up of the group. 13-Apr-1998

MPW Criterion is planning to raise £30m in a flotation next year in order to fund the roll-out of its new restaurant format. 13-Apr-1998

Cendant of the US is planning to set up a chain of up to 70 Days Inn and Howard Johnson budget hotels in the UK over the next five years, and has already granted a master franchise to Premier Hotels of Worthing. 11-Apr-1998

Enic, the UK investment trust, is acquiring 80% of Warner Bros' UK retail business, for £18m, and is linking up with Time Warner to create a worldwide chain of Warner Brothers themed restaurants. 08-Apr-1998

Leicester City has confirmed plans to build a new football stadium, and a number of potential sites are being considered. 08-Apr-1998

Blackstone of the US is said to have made a bid proposal for the Savoy luxury hotels group, and an announcement is expected within a week. 04-Apr-1998

The English National Stadium Trust has finalised plans to buy London's Wembley Stadium from Wembley plc for £103m, in order to demolish it and make way for the construction of a new £240m stadium. 03-Apr-1998

Virgin Cinemas is planning to spend £36m expanding into the US and Japan, and will start with the construction of six multiplexes in each country. 03-Apr-1998

Elite Hotels has bought the Grand Hotel in Eastbourne from Greenalls for £14.5m. 03-Apr-1998

Ushers of Trowbridge has bought nine pubs from Burts Taverns for £2.4m. 03-Apr-1998

London Clubs International and Capital Corporation have warned that the government's plan to raise the gaming duty top rate from 33% to 40% will endanger £140m in annual invisible imports. 02-Apr-1998

GTech of the US has pulled out of the Camelot consortium that runs the UK National Lottery, selling its 22% stake for £51m. 02-Apr-1998

Universal Studios of the US is looking at the possibility of opening a theme park in Europe. 01-Apr-1998

Ladbroke's £363m takeover of the Coral betting shop chain has been referred to the Monopolies & Mergers Commission, and a decision is due on July 7. 01-Apr-1998

City Gourmet, the owner of coffee bars, is planning a flotation on Aim this summer in order to raise £10m, and its expansion programme will continue with the opening of 12 more outlets this year. 30-Mar-1998

Northern Leisure, the dance hall operator, has received a takeover approach from an unnamed company. 27-Mar-1998

Queens Moat Houses is looking to sell its 11 hotels in France and Belgium in order to focus on the UK, the Netherlands and Germany. 27-Mar-1998

Clubhaus is planning to open health and fitness clubs at its golf courses, and will also launch golf merchandise under the Ikarus brand. 27-Mar-1998

City Centre Restaurants is to do away with its Deep Pan Pizza brand, either by selling the outlets or by rebranding them, due to a recent decline in performance. 26-Mar-1998

The number of UK cinema screens is forecast to grow from 2,356 last year to 3,150 in 2002, resulting in a 33% rise in admissions, according to a study by Dodona. 25-Mar-1998

Century Inns has bought nine managed pubs from Yates Brothers Wine Lodges for £3m. 24-Mar-1998

Northern Leisure is to step up its expansion plans and has identified 300 dance halls that fit its acquisition criteria. 24-Mar-1998

The Football Association has reached agreement with the English National Stadium and the English Sports Council to launch a joint bid for Wembley stadium, in order to build the new National Stadium at the site. 21-Mar-1998

The Savoy Hotel is said to have received a £520m takeover offer from Blackstone Group, the New York investment bank, but there have also been approaches from three US real estate investment trusts. 21-Mar-1998

United News & Media and Warner Bros of the US have identified three potential sites between London and Birmingham for a £225m film production studio and theme park, and a final decision is expected within two months. 19-Mar-1998

Thomson Corporation of Canada has confirmed plans to float off its UK-based Thomson Travel holiday business in May, as there is insufficient overlap with its publishing interests. 19-Mar-1998

Airtours is to launch a customer loyalty scheme that will offer points to be redeemed against the price of future holidays, and it will also include a Visa card provided by Beneficial Bank. 16-Mar-1998

Menzies Hotels is planning a flotation over the next month which will value it at about £50m. 16-Mar-1998

Thomson Corporation of Canada is expected to announce the demerger of its UK-based Thomson Travel package holiday business on Wednesday, via a flotation in May. 14-Mar-1998

Prudential has withdrawn its £240m attempt to buy the Cunard cruise line from Kvaerner, as it believes that other parties have come in with higher bids. 14-Mar-1998

Stakis has sold the lease of its St Ermin's Hotel in Westminster to Strategic Hotel Capital of the US for £48m but will retain the management contract for 10 years. 11-Mar-1998

JD Wetherspoon is planning to open a further 50 pubs over the next six months. 11-Mar-1998

Regal Hotel Group is planning a three-year capital expenditure programme of up to £90m, which will include a new yet-to-be-announced name and the rebranding of its 100 hotels. 10-Mar-1998

Old English Pub Company has bought eight coaching inns in the south of England for £7.8m. 07-Mar-1998

Ladbroke has reached agreement with Camelot to set up a rival lottery game based on football results and operated through National Lottery terminals, and has made an application to regulators. 06-Mar-1998

Legend Court, a consortium of property developers, is planning to build a £500m leisure resort at Magor in south Wales, including hotels, rides and a convention centre. 05-Mar-1998

Thistle has outlined its growth plans which include the sale of 30 provincial hotels, the addition of new rooms to existing hotels, and a refurbishment programme. 04-Mar-1998

Millennium & Copthorne is looking to acquire hotel chains in the US, France and Germany in order to improve its coverage and benefit from economies of scale. 03-Mar-1998

Wigan Athletic football club has awarded a £25m contract to Alfred McAlpine for the construction of a 25,000 seater stadium, which will be shared with Wigan Rugby League Club. 28-Feb-1998

Wembley plc is to sell Wembley stadium to the National Stadium Trust next year as compensation for its loss of earnings during the three-year redevelopment of the London site. 27-Feb-1998

Kvaerner has indicated that it may sell the Cunard cruise business later this year, in order to focus on building ships rather than operating them. 25-Feb-1998

Regent Inns is to speed up its expansion programme with the opening of a further 10 pubs in the second half of the year, while an additional 26 sites are under consideration. 24-Feb-1998

Inter Lotto, the company behind the Pronto online pubs game, is threatening to take legal action if the government goes ahead with plans to prohibit frequent-draw lotteries. 20-Feb-1998

Silver Shield is planning to invest £75m in the construction of a 25,000 seater stadium and leisure facilities for Swansea City football club, creating up to 750 jobs. 19-Feb-1998

Accor of France has sold half of its 10% stake in Compass, the contract caterer, which will give Compass a broader shareholder base. 18-Feb-1998

Compass has agreed a 5-year deal that will enable it to use the TGI Friday's brand in airport restaurants in mainland Europe, Canada, South America, and the Asia-Pacific. 18-Feb-1998

Freeport Leisure is planning to build a £34m designer shopping and leisure village near Leeds, with completion by September 1999. 18-Feb-1998

Scottish & Newcastle is buying 311 pubs from Nomura's Inntrepreneur chain for £206m and will convert them into managed outlets. 17-Feb-1998

ICI is said to be considering the sale of its 32% stake in Middlesbrough football club as part of its disposals programme, and possible buyers include the chairman, the fans, local companies and leisure companies. 16-Feb-1998

Clipper Ventures, the world yacht race organiser, is planning to raise up to £1m through a flotation on Ofex in order to move into new areas such as corporate hospitality and management training. 16-Feb-1998

Grosvenor Inns is planning to expand its Slug & Lettuce chain from 22 to 35 outlets by May 1999, and to continue opening 10 a year after that. 14-Feb-1998

Ladbroke is said to have been dropped from the shortlist to acquire the Inter-Continental Hotels and Resorts chain, as the US investment bank advising on the sale has warned that UK stock exchange rules would slow down the process. 14-Feb-1998

Zetters, the football pools operator, has been told that its Spot-the-Ball partnership with Littlewoods is to end, and Littlewoods will now run the competition by itself. 11-Feb-1998

PizzaExpress plans to open at least 30 new restaurants this year, and franchises will also open in Delhi, Moscow, Paris and Cairo. 10-Feb-1998

The Cardiff Bay regeneration project is to get a £20m multimedia complex, with funding from the Welsh Development Agency, the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation and Frontier Media. 07-Feb-1998

Thomson Travel has won EU approval for the £260m acquisition of Fritidsresor of Sweden, which will give it a significant presence in the Scandinavian travel sector. 06-Feb-1998

Ladbroke is to cut 200 jobs at the Vernons pools head office in Liverpool, and will focus the business on games played by telephone or post instead of those involving door-to-door visits. 05-Feb-1998

Fitness First is to raise a further £10m to finance 12 new health clubs by October, which would take the total to 26. 04-Feb-1998

Leicester City football club is considering plans to build a new stadium, but may decide to redevelop the existing Filbert Street site instead. 04-Feb-1998

Bass is set to win European Commission approval for the standard pub leases operated with its tied pubs, although the EC wants one more month to hear comments from third parties before a final decision is made. 04-Feb-1998

Rank Group is linking up with the National Basketball Association to invest £55m in the creation of a chain of 10 themed restaurants around the world, as part of a strategy to boost the Hard Rock brand. 03-Feb-1998

Tupp Inns has bought four more London pubs, and there will be at least nine outlets in total by the time it floats on Aim in the autumn. 02-Feb-1998

Roadchef, the motorway service station operator, is up for sale for about £150m, and prospective buyers are expected to include Welcome Break and Granada. 02-Feb-1998

Heron International has announced plans to spend £175m on entertainment and leisure developments in France, Spain and Sweden, and this will be followed by further investments in other European countries. 02-Feb-1998

Cranks, the healthy restaurant chain, is planning to refurbish its six London restaurants this year, open 20 new ones over the next three years, and expand into the US by 2003. 02-Feb-1998

Bass has emerged as a leading contender to acquire the Inter-Continental chain of hotels, which is expected to be sold by its Japanese owners for about $2bn. 31-Jan-1998

Bass has sold 222 pubs to Avebury Inns, the pub operator that is financed by Daiwa Europe. 30-Jan-1998

Macdonald Hotels is planning to build a £11.5m 146-room hotel in Edinburgh, close to the site of the new Scottish parliament. 30-Jan-1998

Whitbread is looking to sell 40 of its chain of Beefeater pubs, as they are deemed to be unsuitable for the brand. 28-Jan-1998

Premier Telesports is to set up a Tote-style pool betting business in Russia, and it will start installing 300 Tote terminals in Moscow next month. 27-Jan-1998

Belgo is to take its Belgian-style restaurant concept to the US through a joint venture with Apple South, and the first outlet is expected in New York early next year. 27-Jan-1998

Airtours is said to be interested in acquiring a 34% stake in LTU, the German tour operator, from Westdeutsche Landesbank. 27-Jan-1998

Granada has sold its 50% stake in Agip Forte International Hotels back to ENI, the Italian oil company, for undisclosed terms, as part of a programme to reduce debt. 26-Jan-1998

First Leisure has written down the value of its loss-making bingo business by £28m and it may be considering a sale. 23-Jan-1998

Wizard Inns, with the backing of Nomura, has acquired 37 tenanted pubs in the south of England from Phoenix Inns and will convert them into managed pubs. 23-Jan-1998

The British Horseracing Board is planning a trade mission to Japan in May in order to generate investment in the UK racing and bloodstock industry, and will follow this up with discussions with the Chinese. 22-Jan-1998

Whitbread is to reorganise its managed pubs division by creating four regional groups and a separate division to manage the Hogshead chain, resulting in 55 job losses. 16-Jan-1998

Stanley Leisure is looking to acquire additional betting shops and casinos, but is not planning to buy hotels or bingo clubs. 15-Jan-1998

Scottish & Newcastle Breweries has received provisional clearance from the European Commission for the standard pub leases that it operates with its tied-pubs. 14-Jan-1998

Northern Leisure is to raise a further £20.6m in a share placing in order to reduce borrowings and continue its acquisition programme of 15 night clubs a year. 14-Jan-1998

Jurys Hotel has announced a strategy to focus its expansion programme on the acquisition of hotels in large UK business cities. 14-Jan-1998

Grand Pub Company, owned by Nomura, has reached agreement with 15 brewers for the supply of drinks to its Inntrepreneur and Spring Inn pub chains over the next five years, a contract that was previously exclusive to Scottish & Newcastle. 10-Jan-1998

Arcadian International is buying the Malmaison Hotel in Edinburgh from Forth Ports for £4.9m. 08-Jan-1998

Zetters, the football pools and bingo clubs operator, is in discussions which could result in a takeover offer being made for the company. 08-Jan-1998

Scottish Highland Hotels is planning to acquire one or two four-star hotels this year. 07-Jan-1998

Thomson Travel, the package holiday operator, is said to be considering plans for a £1.3bn flotation, having been encouraged by the lenient treatment given to the travel sector by the government's recent review. 07-Jan-1998

China Jazz is to raise £3m from private investors to set up a "new art deco" restaurant in London's Berkeley Square. 06-Jan-1998

Shareholders in Satellite Information Services, the broadcaster of race meetings, are considering plans to bid for Coral's 12% stake in the group following Coral's acquisition by Ladbroke. 06-Jan-1998

Freeport Leisure is planning to invest a further £10m at its discount shopping village near West Calder in West Lothian, where 150 jobs are being created at an indoor ski and snow centre. 05-Jan-1998

Ladbroke has acquired the Coral betting shop chain from Bass for £375m, including 833 UK betting shops and the telephone and on-course betting businesses, and Ladbroke hopes to overcome potential objections from the Office of Fair Trading by selling 128 shops to Tote Bookmakers. 02-Jan-1998

Hall of Fame is now looking into the possibility of using County Hall in London as the site for its proposed football exhibition. 01-Jan-1998

The information on this page comes from the UK Activity Report.
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