What the weekend papers say

A round-up of the weekend's news affecting the hospitality industry...

Whitbread facing defeat in race for Premier Lodge
Analysts are tipping venture capital firm Apax Partners to defeat Whitbread in the £500m auction of Premier Lodge, the budget hotel chain owned by Spirit Group. – The Times, 26 June

Successor named for Ramsay’s failed Glasgow restaurant
Room Holdings, the company behind the trendy Room restaurant in Leeds, is to take over the fine-dining area in Glasgow’s One Devonshire Gardens hotel. The company, run by John Pallagi and Simon Wright, will open a new restaurant replacing Gordon Ramsay’s Amaryllis. Pallagi said the new restaurant will offer a completely different dining experience to that of Amaryllis. – Sunday Herald (Scotland), 27 June

Gresham hotels bid looks finally to go through
Precinct, the consortium that has made a takeover bid for Gresham Hotels, is expected to have acceptances from shareholders holding more than 40% of the shares in the company when the deadline expires on Tuesday. – Sunday Times (Irish edition), 27 June

Osmond may sell Wellington pub company
Hugh Osmond, the pub and restaurant entrepreneur, has appointed NM Rothschild to advise on the possible sale of the Wellington Pub Company with an estimated price tag of £400m. – The Times, 26 June

Wildlife is new tourism hit for Scotland
Scotland is experiencing a huge upsurge in wildlife tourism, and the recent trend of natural history programmes turning the camera lens towards domestic species is receiving the credit. A survey from VisitScotland’s shows that since 1997 the number of jobs in wildlife tourism has increased from 1,973 to 2,960.  – The Scotsman, 26 June

Failed Dublin restaurant’s debts were €840,000
Bruno’s restaurant in Dublin, which went spectacularly bust a couple of weeks ago, finished with estimated debts of €840,000 (£560,000). – Irish Independent, 27 June

Buy this week's Caterer magazine for more industry news and analysis