Miscellaneous

💰 Benugo, a café and restaurant group, reported a 2023 operating profit of £10.7m, a significant increase from £3.7m in 2022. With over 40 locations nationwide, including prestigious venues like the Victoria & Albert Museum and London Zoo, the company's strategic exits from poor performing locations and focus on training and productivity have led to a stronger financial performance. Benugo is poised to tackle 2024's opportunities and risks with a solid balance sheet and cash position.

🍕 Dez Amore, Italian street food brand, launches its first London restaurant, occupying 1,178sq ft on the Sloane Stanley Estate. Founders Leonardo Masi and Simone Parentini offer traditional Italian dishes with a contemporary twist, including pasta, pizza, antipasti, and gourmet burgers. Announced last year, this flagship store marks the brand's expansion beyond food halls, following successes in Camden, Mercato Mayfair, and Boxpark. Miles Commercial and Levy Real Estate represented the estate, while Chiara Ciroldi acted for Dez Amore.

🏠 Austrian architect Jakob Sprenger designed Aesop's skincare store featuring 1920s plaster medallions in Paris' 17th arrondissement. The medallions, dating back to 1923, were from the demolished Hotel de la Guilonniere. The store's layout is based on four 19th-century gypsum ceiling medallions discovered during renovations, arranged around a sculptural sink within a triangular floor plan. The retail space is divided into two sections with the primary area upfront and a burgundy red lacquered billing and checkout nook at the back, harmonized with rounded geometries. Reclaimed French tomette tiles were also incorporated into the flooring. Sprenger, having previously worked on Aesop stores in Rome and Salzburg, emphasizes creating lasting values that resonate with the location's historical and cultural context.

🏆 Olympic Holidays recently celebrated their 16-year partnership with Paxport, who are marking their 30th anniversary. Key figures from both companies, including Olympic Holidays's MD Michael Vinales and Paxport's head of commercial Simon Taylor, attended the event. Olympic Holidays has been in business for over 60 years, relying on aviation and Paxport's services, including airline distribution and payment technology. The event acknowledged the enduring relationship and collaborative success between the two companies.