News Olive Press, Flight Centre and Leeds Roads Funding Cut

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The Olive Press Closes in Second Blow for Heathcotes

Celebrity chef Paul Heathcote has announced the closure of his Leeds restaurant, The Olive Press, resulting in 17 job losses. The restaurant that specialised in stone-baked pizzas and hand-made pastas was closed after struggling to keep afloat. It is reported that the restaurant, housed in a lovely former grain-house on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal off Water Lane, suffered from a lack of footfall. Mr Heathcote, a Michelin star holder whose flagship Liverpool restaurant, Simply Heathcotes, has also recently closed after 10 years, is said to be in talks with local restaurants to try to find his employees work in the city. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see what takes the restaurant’s place in this prime spot by the canal. In previous incarnations the building just off Water   Lane was Simply Heathcotes and, before that, the highly regarded Rascasse restaurant.

Flight Centre UK Ltd Relocates

Flight Centre UK Ltd, with its two corporate brands FCm Travel Solutions and Corporate Traveller, is to relocate to 3,457 sq ft of prime office space in The Gateway. The £150m mixed-use development in Leeds also lets to Breast Cancer Haven, Etap Hotel and Motiv8 Gym and not only will the staff benefit from their new prime location, they will also find the on-site gym, shop and café particularly useful. Further benefits to the new office space include easy access to the bus and train stations, a high level of security and on-site car parking at a stone’s throw from the city centre.

Leeds Roads Funding Suffers Cuts

Leeds’ road maintenance budget is set to be cut by a third as the Department for Transport’s budget falls by between 25 and 40 per cent. The blow is set to be made even worse by proposed changes to the Highways Maintenance Block Grant.

It is reported that ministers are proposing poor road conditions should not be taken into account when deciding how much money each local authority should receive. This comes after the coalition government has claimed that, with the system it inherited, councils that keep up with highways maintenance are being punished for good work, while those that fail to perform have been benefiting from the extra funding they receive.

If the proposed changes are agreed on, Leeds would lose 5% of its already dwindling budget. The news comes after workers found a massive pothole on Otley   Road in Headingley, leading to disruptive road closures and diversions on one of Leeds’ busiest roads.

Posted on Friday 10th September 2010
Rosie Bryan-Adams

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