in brief

City Centre Restaurants, whose brands include Caffe Uno and Garfunkel's, has reported a 10.5% rise in sales to £205m for the year to 31 December 1999. Pre-tax profits rose only marginally, from £18m in 1998 (before exceptional items) to £18.1m in 1999.

Hilton Group chief executive Peter George received a total of £554,000 in pay and bonuses during 1999, 58% down on the £1.326m he enjoyed in 1998. One reason for the slump was that his 1998 pay was boosted through a long-term incentive scheme paid every two years. The company's failure to hit profit targets also ate into George's 1999 bonuses. David Michels, who became chief executive of Hilton International after the group bought Stakis in March 1999, netted £412,000. He earned £448,000 in 1998 as chief executive of Stakis.

The GMB union has stepped up its campaign against Pizza Hut's practice of paying younger staff a lower hourly rate. Young union members protested on Saturday outside the Pizza Hut in Brent Street, Hendon, north-west London, by handing out stickers labelled, "If you're young, you're cheap." The GMB said the £3.20 rate deprived young workers of £400 a year (Caterer, 21 October, page 14). But Pizza Hut says it is introducing new basic rates on 3 April.