Bath helps Macmillan Cancer Support with coffee funds

There was a gigantic coffee morning last year – aptly named the World's Biggest Coffee Morning campaign – which was run by the charity Macmillan Cancer Support and aimed to raise funds for the charity. Millions of pounds were raised (and still counting) under the campaign, as coffee mornings, big and small, were held along the length and breadth of Britain. Many did their bit.

The recent online news for the beautiful city of Bath, for instance, has revealed that they did a very good job of making money for the cancer charity. How much did they raise? In excess of £12,000 no less, which was raised in a series of events – more than 182 apparently in the Bath and North East Somerset area – to make money for this cause. And it is said that the money is still coming in from post-coffee event collections.

What sort of things were done in the area to raise money? Apparently, the biggest event in Bath was organised by Ms Samways. Unusually, Ms Samways won a competition which was run by Kenco (the coffee company), to 'win' a coffee morning of a value up to £5,000, which included costs such as the venue, catering and entertainment. The event was held in the Assembly Rooms and the entertainment which was provided was rather spectacular and unlike run-of-the-mill coffee morning entertainment. What was it? A six piece jazz band was on hand to entertain those at the event and also a man creating models out of balloons. Something for everyone, in fact.

Happy employment news for those in Grantham

Fed up of hearing about economic disasters? From the spectacular problems of countries such as Greece and Italy, to the local tales of woe and increasing job losses, spending cuts and personal debt issues, it's all rather a sorry state of affairs.

Cue: Brakes, the catering equipment supplier of food to many pubs, restaurants and others in the catering industry. This firm is bucking the gloomy trend by offering a ray of sunshine. Why? What is Brakes doing that is causing these statements to be made?

According to reports in the industry press, Brakes is constructing a new 5,200 square metre warehouse in Grantham. The knock on effect of this development, is that 50 jobs have been created at the depot.

This is an addition to the company's already significant workforce of 500 employees in the main site which is to be extended.

The marketing director at the company has been quoted in the press as describing the new facility as a 'single multi-temperature' facility. Of course, the company is putting its money where its mouth is in investing in the building, both in providing work in the area and also in increasing the handling of its food.

The company wants to supply high-quality products to its clients. It is also said that the company prides itself on using seasonal food products which are sourced locally – something that customers often value highly these days. Many restaurants, cafes and supermarkets are using this notion – of seasonal and locally sourced goods, to satisfy their customers too.

School cookery competition judged by celebrity chef

At the Edgbaston High School for girls, the well-known chef, James Martin, made a special appearance recently as part of the cookery competition using catering equipment. Surely he would have livened up the event and set tongues a-wagging.

You are probably familiar with the sight of James Martin on the telly each Saturday morning, as he entices his viewers into the weekend with ideas and recipes for delicious food. However, he made an entrance in a different milieu recently when he went for the Red Tractor Mmmake it with Mince Challenge 2011. It was, in fact, the cook-up for the regions.

As one would expect from the title of the competition, the aim of the game is to create a dish using beef and lamb made with catering equipment. It is a 6 year old competition, aimed at 11-16 year olds, to encourage them to develop a passion for cooking and also to learn a little more about the origins of ingredients and to provide a better understanding of the components of a nutritious meal.

Who was the winner in this particular heat? Charlotte Heath, from Stratford-upon-Avon Grammar School for Girls won the category. What did she cook? A lamb and date tagine. Elsa Court from Edgbaston High School for Girls and Jabber Hussain from Hodge Hill Sports and Enterprise College came second and third, respectively.

The overall national winner of this Challenge will be treated to a visit to the BBC Saturday Kitchen and will also go to a Michelin-starred restaurant in London and meet some of the chefs.

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Britain is the place to be for hotel developments

When it comes to the hotel industry, there is good news for the British. According to recent reports, the United Kingdom could be destined for some serious action in the hotel industry in the coming years who will need catering equipment.

Of course, as we are bombarded at every turn with gloomy economic outlooks and miserable stories of spiraling debt and unemployment, long projections for recovery rates in the markets and other such tales, this is indeed welcome news.

The UK was picked out as the place of choice for development schemes for new hotels, as reported in a Deloitte survey, which has been carried out recently. According to reports, a healthy 46% claimed that they would pick the UK rather than France, Germany, Italy and Spain for their new projects which might need catering equipment. The runner up was Germany, which had almost a third of the votes. France had 16% and came in third place of preference.

There is another encouraging statistic too – according to PKF, the regional hotels in the country had an increase of 2.2% occupancy in September.

However, all is not completely rosy on the horizon. Reported quotes from Nick van Marken at Deloitte has said that the general picture is still uncertain when it comes to the global industry.

As you may well guess, one of the problems in terms of future investment is the issue of confidence in the market. Sadly, although the results of the Deloitte survey are positive, there is still room for improvement in terms of expectations of optimism and investors putting their money where their mouths are.

Another celebrity chef to help revisit school dinners

You may well recall that in 2005, Jamie Oliver launched a new idea on television in his School Dinners series: he was alarmed by the state of nutrition in school dinners made with catering equipment across the country and the links with obesity and the health of the young generation. As such, he started the now infamous Feed Me Better campaign.

Over the subsequent years, the issue of nutrition and school dinners has been re-evaluated by many educational establishments, in an effort to improve the quality of food available to youngsters. However, the 'battle' Is not yet over and there is still plenty of room for improvement. Sadly, it has been said that Britain has the highest levels of childhood obesity in Europe.

Cue a new celebrity chef who is looking to take up the gauntlet: Marco Pierre White.

It has been reported that this Michelin-starred chef has been in talks with politicians to create a new programme for school meals made with catering equipment, where professionals from the catering profession work alongside the in-house school cooks. The chef met with the education secretary, Michael Gove, relatively recently on the subject.

It is likely that the scheme will be test-driven in some pilot schemes initially, possibly starting with specially chosen primary schools. It has been said that White thinks it is important to encourage a real love of good food early in a child's life.

In the meantime, it is also said that Jamie Oliver is hoping to launch the sequel manifesto to improve the quality of food in the UK.

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