Friday Wrap: A round-up of the week's hospitality news

Story of the week: Heston Blumenthal has issued an official apology to the victims of the food poisoning outbreak at his three-Michelin-starred restaurant the Fat Duck. 

British people are the rudest guests and poorest tippers, according to a straw-poll of front-of-house staff conducted by Caterer.

A new Italian restaurant is set to open in London next month on the former site of Gennaro Contaldo's famous Passione restaurant, which closed in March this year.

Pierre Koffmann's pop-up restaurant at London department store Selfridges has been extended by two weeks following overwhelming demand for bookings.

Chef Steve Love has left the Cotswold House hotel to relaunch his own operation, Love's Restaurant, with a new site in the heart of Birmingham.

Victims of the food poisoning outbreak at Heston Blumenthal's three-Michelin-starred Fat Duck restaurant are seeking legal damages from the chef.

Double Catey winners Pascal Aussignac and Vincent Labeyrie have relaunched their Croque Gascon restaurant at London's Westfield shopping centre, Caterersearch can reveal.

Gordon Campbell Gray hotels is to launch a new eco-hotel in the south of France in the summer of 2011, Caterer can reveal.

An eco-friendly five-star hotel is to be launched on Battersea London's new Left Bank, as part of Falcon Wharf Development.

The luxury boutique hotel 22 Jermyn Street is set to close on 1 October due to the redevelopment of the city block in which it is located.

Luxury hotel group Langham Hotels is spending £612m on expanding its portfolio by a further 13 properties over the next few years.

Aramark has lost the lucrative catering contract at news service Bloomberg's London offices to Compass Group's Restaurant Associates, Caterersearch has learned.

BaxterStorey boasts strong business growth in 2009 with a string of new contract wins despite the challenging economic climate.

Compass Group has announced that from October all of its fresh beef will be sourced from Britain.

Sodexo has scooped a £35m facilities management contract with one of the UK's largest NHS Trusts.

Punch Taverns has put a further 300 properties from its 'troubled pubs' division on to the market.

Managed pub operator Mitchells & Butler has unveiled better- than-expected results so far this year but warns of a gloomy outlook for 2010.

The plastics industry has hit back against criticism regarding the replacement of drinks glasses with plastic designs in UK pubs in order to curb violence. 
 

Editor's Pick 

• Caterersearch.com Web Awards 2009 - deadline for entries has been extended. Closing date is now Wednesday 30 September. Enter now!
• Entries are invited for the Caterer and Hotelkeeper Equipment & Supplies Excellence Awards 2010.
• Go digital thanks to LG offering readers the chance to win an LG 300c 32-in LCD TV.
• Table Talk member Peter Hancock has become the second person to win in our Acorn Scholarship weekly prize draw. Congratulations Peter, you win a dinner, bed and breakfast and spa treatment at any Malmaison or Hotel du Vin property of your choice.
• Win, win win! To stand a chance of winning prizes over the next few weeks, courtesy of the Acorn Scholarship, join Table Talk now. 

Quote of the Week 
"The key challenge for operators will be to wean their customers off discount vouchers before the expectation gets embedded in their psyches."
Glyn Bunting of accountancy firm Deloitte