All ASK Italian articles
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Event NewsMCA’s Pub Conference partners with Ask for Angela
The conference returns on 26 June with a new charity partner, Ask for Angela - an initiative adapted by businesses around the UK and internationally to help promote safety and wellbeing
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NewsOpenings of the week
MCA rounds up this week’s biggest openings stories, including Wagamama, ASK Italian, Big Mamma Group and Three Uncles
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NewsAzzurri Group unveils new sustainable dining strategy
The Recipe for a Better Future report sets out the goals of providing carbon labelling and making 65% of dishes low carbon options
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InterviewsAzzurri Group: ‘We remain committed to delivering value’
The Zizzi, Coco di Mama, and Ask Italian operator is looking to evolve all three brands, CEO Steve Holmes tells MCA
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Analysis & InsightAzzurri Group recovery driven by omnichannel approach
The group is renewing its focus on improving and expanding the proposition, through operational efficiencies, delivery, loyalty, and digital
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NewsIn pictures: ASK Italian's new community concept restaurant
Learnings from the revamped restaurant in Horsham will be rolled out to other ASK Italian sites in the coming year.
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NewsAzzurri: ‘Coco di Mama has become omnichannel’
Coco Di Mama has gone from being a central London bricks and mortar business to having a nationwide proposition, with licensing and franching opportunities in play. And it’s all down to the pandemic.
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NewsAzzurri: Staff shortages impacted by business rates
The chief executive of the Azzurri group, which operates the Ask Italian and Zizzi casual dining brands, is finding new ways to cope with staff shortages, while at the same time raising the issue of “outdated” business rates.
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Analysis & InsightHow technology is revolutionising the post-pandemic restaurant sector
At the end of 2019, if a customer wanted to order and pay for their food using their mobile phone the number of restaurants in which they could do this would have been relatively small. Fast forward to this year and, once lockdown is lifted, the number of places offering digital order and pay will be significantly bigger.
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Analysis & InsightAlixPartners: Gradually building momentum
Just over a month since restart, it is obvious that the sector’s revival will take time, and sadly it will not include everyone.
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NewsAnand steps down from CDG
Rooney Anand has stepped down from his role as non-executive chairman of Casual Dining Group.
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NewsHow Azzurri Group went into administration
One of the star performers in a competitive casual dining sector, and an even more competitive Italian subsector, Azzurri Group was formed out of the break-up of Gondola.
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NewsAzzurri latest to announce closures after rescue deal
The Azzurri Group has been acquired by TowerBrook Capital Partners via a pre-pack administration process, but 75 sites will close. Azzurri, which is made up of 301 restaurants including Zizzi, Ask and Coco di Mama, said when the coronavirus hit it acted “swiftly to protect its employees and customers, deciding to close all restaurants ahead of the government’s lockdown. Azzurri took all possible steps to protect the financial position of the business by ceasing all capex, renegotiating rental payments and food supplier costs and furloughing all restaurant staff and non-critical central staff.”
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NewsAzzurri in advanced talks over pre-pack sale
Azzurri Group could be on the verge of a pre-pack administration which would involve the closure of 20-25 restaurants, The Times reports.
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NewsEpiris frontrunner to buy CDG
The former backer of TGI Friday’s is in advanced talks to buy Casual Dining Group, Sky News reports.
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NewsAzzurri sounds out sale
Ask Italian and Zizzi operator Azzurri Group is exploring a sale of the company, Sky News reports.
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InterviewsAzzurri CEO Steve Holmes: Things are changing all the time
Do you remember what is was like to go to a restaurant and order a plate of spaghetti? I miss it hugely, and I’m just a hungry customer. So how does Azzurri CEO Steve Holmes, who runs 295 restaurants, feel about seeing his entire estate shut down? “It’s desperately sad, because we’ve made really strong progress over the last four years,” he says. “Zizzi’s NPS score moved up to number six, the highest ever. Ask was also racing up. We opened an Ask in Westfield just before everything closed and it was trading incredibly well.”
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NewsDebt enforcement moratorium still needed - MCA poll
More than half of operators, (54%) said that their landlord had refused to offer any concessions, with an additional 34% saying that negotiations were ongoing, according to the latest weekly Hospitality Leaders Poll by MCA Insight/HIM. The results highlight further the need for a debt enforcement moratorium, one of the key pillars of Hospitality Union’s original six-point action plan, to give both commercial tenants and landlords breathing space against litigation.
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NewsGBK and Azzurri reportedly appoint advisors
Gourmet Burger Kitchen and Azzurri Group have reportedly appointed advisors to assess their options going forward through the coronavirus crisis.