Big Questions don't always get Big Answers

Marston's chief executive Ralph Findlay updated the market last week on his group's first-half trading.

He wasn't quite so ready to reveal whether it was selling any pubs in the run-up to the looming smoking ban, let alone the 300 recent press speculation has suggested are on the block.

Silence on the subject is understandable, but official confirmation or not, we are certain these pubs are up for sale. Now, aided by my trusty Casio Scientific fx-115n calculator, a worn out HB pencil and the back of an old beermat I reckon the proceeds from such a disposal could come in anywhere between £120m and £180m.

Of the £500m of new bank facilities Marston's arranged a while back around half has been used up on buying Eldridge Pope and its own shares back from investors. Which leaves either side of £400m-worth of funding for acquisitions - one doesn't use the term 'war chest', apparently.

The Big Question is who might be the next target for the Midlands group. Needless to say, a Big Answer wasn't forthcoming.

The perils of branding

Gaining and maintaining prominence for one's brand is crucial for many a business model and I certainly understand Greene King's desire to reflect its own brand in, on and around its pubs.

That said, can I make a personal plea?

On the back of the reorganisation of its managed operation (see page 20) I'd like to see the reinstatement of its traditional pub signs, signs that are site-specific and community-friendly, but which have been replaced by a more generic corporate symbol with the pub's name squeezed along the bottom, almost as an afterthought.

With the organisational changes afoot, I reckon now is the perfect time for Greene King to return these icons to their rightful place.