Gloucestershire’s 'most popular' foodie hot spot revealed
It’s been open a little over a year, has probably the most eclectic menu, diverse ambiance, some great views, a multi-cultural perspective on food, and it continues to grow.
Dear readers,
I hope your week’s gone well.
Yesterday was interesting. When I first started The Raikes Journal I was told by those who like to discourage that a paid-for subscription model was not going to work.
Here we are still not two years into the second iteration of the website and yesterday’s paywalled story clocked nearly 700 views within the space of a few hours - and that number is still growing.
For an individual story about business in Gloucestershire that’s Premier League level.
We like to think that’s because Raikes is filling a gaping hole in the market. I keep saying it, but we’re the only independent, editorially led business news website edited by a journalist in Gloucestershire.
That space where human beings run rings around AI, the human bit, where people make connections, speak to one another, are genuinely interested in what they say, ask questions, call out BS, provide originality and personality – that magic space, that’s where you’ll find us. It can feel small at times, but it’s where your heart is too, if you’re reading this.
Thank you for your support.
A special thanks to Will Abbott, a partner at Gloucestershire-headquartered accountants Randall & Payne for his expert insight into our lead story below.
Have a great weekend.
Best regards,
Andrew Merrell (editor).
Briefing notes…
💷💷💷💷 Hazlewoods accountants has revealed its corporate finance team supported 141 deals in the last 12 months with a combined value of £1.3 billion, the team’s most successful year to date. It’s a figure for a Gloucestershire-headquartered business that now has more than 600 staff and more than 50 dedicated corporate finance specialists working across its offices, and now also includes Bristol and Cardiff. Twenty-seven per cent of those deals were within the South West and Wales, with the rest taking place nationally and internationally. But it’s not THE headline figure. The business has just published its most recent annual report, revealing its an increase in turnover from £45.99 million in 2024 to £55m in 2025, with operating profit rising from £16.1m to £18.3m.
🪫Ovo, the energy firm founded by Gloucestershire-based Northern Irish-born businessman Stephen Fitzpatrick, is to pay more than £2.7m in redress for Warm Home Discount payment failures. Started in 2009, his Bristol-headquartered firm has grown to become Britain’s fourth biggest household energy supplier - serving more than four million homes across England, Wales and Scotland. But it failed to provide WHD rebates to an estimated 11,646 customers by the statutory deadline of 31 March 2024, and it was not until November 2025 that customers received their dues. Some of its most vulnerable customers were left without the support they were entitled to during the coldest winter months as a result. Ovo apologised and said it was working closely with Ofgem.
Diary dates
Friday
🏉 The match. Gloucester Rugby v Bath Rugby at Kingsholm. KO 7.45pm.
Saturday
⚽ Gloucester City FC play Tiverton Town at 3pm at Meadow Park Stadium, Gloucester.
⚽ Cheltenham Town FC play Grimsby Town FC at 3pm at the EV Charger Point Stadium (Whaddon Road).
⚽ Forest Green Rovers FC play Scunthorpe United FC at 5.30pm away.
Sunday
⚽ Gloucester City Women FC play Pucklechurch at home at 2pm.
Be part of a special apprenticeship opening evening in Gloucestershire
We’re going to be running a few stories focusing on this over the next few days and weeks as the nation runs up to National Apprenticeship Week, and Gloucestershire College prepares its own special event.
The college, which has campuses in Gloucester, the Forest of Dean and Cheltenham, is probably the county’s biggest single provider of apprenticeship training, working with more than 1,000 businesses across 17 industries to support hundreds of apprentices annually.
National Apprenticeship Week, which runs from 9-15 February helps raise the profile of a route to work for thousands every year, allowing businesses to help shape their own staff, bring through the next generation and up-skill its existing team members.
Gloucestershire College is due to run a special Apprenticeship Open Evening on Wednesday 25 February 2026 from 5pm to 8pm at its Gloucester Campus, Llanthony Road. It’s free to attend.
Many of Gloucestershire’s best employers, big and small, will be on hand to chat to anyone who wants to know more and there are still spaces for other businesses to join - for free.
Programmes at the college cover everything from construction, professional services, engineering, dental, catering, teaching and hairdressing to cyber security and computing. Apprenticeships range from entry-level to Level 6 degree (equal to a university degree).
Find out more on eventbrite.co.uk. Employers interested in booking a free stand at the event can email employer.training@gloscol.ac.uk or marketing@gloscol.ac.uk
* The Raikes Journal is a community interest company. Everything you read by us is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne, our sponsors, our Founding Members and wonderful paying subscribers.
If you upgrade to become a paid subscriber you’ll be part of this CIC too. You’ll help make us sustainable, be able to see past the paywalls, comment on our stories, and know you’re making possible the county’s only editorially-led platform dedicated to delivering quality journalism for Gloucestershire about its businesses, charities, education and training sectors.
Sign up for just £2.30 a week - or £1.80 a week if two or more people sign up at once. Or go all in and become one of our Founding Partners or Founding Members!
Gloucestershire’s most popular foodie hot spot revealed
It’s been open a little over a year, has probably the most eclectic menu, diverse ambiance, some great views, a multicultural perspective on food, and it continues to grow.
More than 250,000 customers have come through its doors in the last year alone, and that number continues to grow. Welcome to what is probably Gloucestershire’s most popular food destination.
Unpretentious, multi-cultural, boasting arguably the most eclectic menu, most diverse selection of drinks, incredible local produce and a fascinating collection of entrepreneurial business types.
It’s a catalyst for positive change in an area once derelict, dysfunctional and abandoned by planners, and yet it sits alongside one of the most attractive urban waterside spots you could wish to find.
No, it’s not in the Cotswolds, it’s not in Cheltenham where urbane eateries abound, this hotspot is relaxed and unpretentious - an enterprise that’s the product of a private investor determined to deliver something special.
