Innovation - or empire building gone mad?

After much speculation on the part of industry watchers Punch Taverns finally sold just shy of 900 of its pubs to Admiral Taverns this week. But it was the pubco's deal to acquire half of wines and spirits distributor Matthew Clark, announced a few days earlier, which raised a few eyebrows.

Some licensees went ballastic, claiming they would refuse to do any more business with Clark from here on in.

Punch couldn't understand the fuss. It will do 'what says on the tin', it said, offering its tenants a wider range of products plus access to associated expertise. It will also have "the potential to deliver attractive financial returns for shareholders", according to Punch chief executive Giles Thorley. Indeed it does.

Nevertheless, one wonders how Matthew Clark's non-Punch customers feel about it, let alone the guaridans of free trade. While it should be 'business as usual' for them, with Punch now owning half of the country's largest independent drinks wholesaler one can understand any concerns, despite protestations to the contrary.

Meanwhile Matthew Clark is banging the drum for its independence, and it will make good business sense for Punch to cut it enough slack to realise new growth potential.

Thinking out-of-the-box, maybe the venture heralds a new phase of vertical integration? Not everyone agrees. "Nah," said someone familiar with the situation. Why? "Simple. Most brewers are loss-makers."

Monopoly? Wot monopoly?

Sky TV often gets it in the neck from licensees. More recently it's been handbagged by Richard Branson, whose Virgin Media has highlighted Rupert Murdoch's satellite television dominance. But Branson should be wary of drawing attention to other people's monopolies.

A friend of mine had hoped to attend the recent FA Cup semi between Chelsea and Blackburn. Trying to book a train from London to Manchester on the line's 'sole carrier', Virgin Trains, he was quoted £800 for a standard return, such was the 'demand'. 800 quid!!!

Having delivered a suitable 'riposte' to Virgin, he repaired to his local boozer in sarf London where he watched the Blues stride into the FA Cup Final on the pub's widescreen TV. The broadcaster? Sky, of course.