Thames Valley and Hampshire: New CEO for CH&Co and latest hotel and restaurant news
Luxury five-star hotel and spa Pennyhill Park, at Bagshot in Surrey, is to be the home of the Rugby Football Union England team for the next 10 years. The RFU is to build a new indoor training facility on the grounds, which will include an indoor pitch, gym, changing areas and an outdoor sprint track.
Pennyhill Park will also have access to the complex, to allow partnership with other high-performance teams such as the American National Football League (NFL). Exclusive Hotels and Venues managing director Danny Pecorelli said: “This is a really exciting development for Pennyhill Park."
- Dominic Chapman has resigned from the one-Michelin-star Royal Oak in Paley Street, near Maidenhead, where he has been head chef for seven and a half years. Chapman said he now wants to run a restaurant of his own.
Chapman added that he had enjoyed a fabulous working relationship at the Royal Oak with the owner Nick Parkinson (son of Sir Michael) and restaurant manager Mo Gherras.
- Independent Reading-headquartered catering company CH&Co has named Stuart Lawson as group CEO, reporting to chairman Tim Jones.
The appointment aims to allow Jones to commit more time to existing senior client relationships, developing strategies and seeking new areas for business development.
Lawson joined the company as a non-executive director last October.
- Andrew Oxley has been appointed general manager of Down Hall Country House hotel, near Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, after spending five years at Bracknell's Coppid Beech Hotel. Oxley has more than 15 years’ experience in the hospitality industry during which time he has worked at the Macdonald Bath Spa, Oakley Court, Tylney Hall and Hartwell House & Spa.
- Chef John Burton-Race, who ran L'ortolan near Reading, has announced plans to open a restaurant in Notting Hill. The new restaurant will be called the New Angel after the restaurant in Dartmouth that he originally opened in 2004.
The 54-cover restaurant on Chepstow Place will offer a seasonal European menu, with a French-led wine list.
- Financing has been secured to allow the completion of the delayed development of a 175-bedroom Hilton hotel at the Rose Bowl in Southampton, home to Hampshire County Cricket Club.
The development was delayed last year when contractor Denzien went into administration. Now finance group Omni Capital will fund the £27.4 million project, which is being restarted with Powells Group as the new contractor.
