Blowing in the wind
I can't be the only one curious to see what the wind turbine on top of JD Wetherspoon's new green pub, the Kettleby Cross, in Melton Mowbray, looks like. I had visions of some thick-bladed monstrosity whirling around to ensure the pub's glycol beer system keeps working. But it's rather elegant really. For those who are wondering why Wetherspoon is making so much effort on green issues, chief executive John Hutson was happy to clarify things at the last results meeting. "We think it will make us more attractive to our customers vis-a-vis our peer group," he says. A new front has opened up.
Auntie probes pub food hygiene
Had a phone call from a top BBC factual programme producer who is taking a long, hard look at the woeful food hygiene record of a well-known pub company. Tells me he's had a number of interesting chats with environmental health officers. Unfortunately, no prizes on offer from the City diary desk for correct guesses as to the name of the pubco in question.
Pubs keep it real
You'd hope the pub industry would be immune from the allure of reality TV. But 2007 seems to be the year the industry has fallen for the temptations of instant fame. First Stevie Thomas, the son of big Steve Thomas, Luminar's head honcho, took part in Shipwrecked, the Channel Four series that sticks youngsters on a remote tropical island and watches the sparks fly. Then Lee Cash, founder of Peach Pub Company, turned up as a judge on BBC2's interminable The Restaurant. Now I hear that Ziggy, of Big Brother fame, is the cousin of Ian Edwards, the former director of Duke Street Capital who is a non-executive director at La Tasca Group. Whatever next? Maybe Stephen Oliver, of Marston's Pub Company, right, fronting a programme aiming to improve the standard of pub food in Scotland, a subject he's known to have strong views on.
Choosing the ultimate name
It's not easy choosing a new company name. Ultimate bosses liked the ring of Premium Bars & Restaurants Group, then decided it was too similar to The Restaurant Group. Having alighted on Premium Bars & Restaurants, there was a mad dash down to Companies House on results day to register the name. Only problem was that nobody had remembered to bring the cheque book. "We had to buy a cheque to get it registered," admits Ultimate boss Mark Jones.
Ideas factory
Good trading ideas are worth their weight in gold, aren't they? Walkabout operator Regent Inns has adopted a novel approach to finding them. Suppliers are being asked to present them to a Dragon's Den-style panel made up of site managers and senior executives such as commercial director Simon Kaye, left, and Russell Scott. So far, there have been two panel days with 50% of ideas presented moving through to a trial. Among the items have been a boxing machine and a fingerprinting device that allows smokers to return after a tab. "It's a fast tracker for ideas that previously might have got filtered out," says Kaye. "It's also a fun format for suppliers."
M&B boss criticises short-term pricing
Interestingly, Mitchells & Butlers chief executive Tim Clarke thinks that some of his competition is taking a dangerously short-term approach on pricing - although no names were named. He told analysts: "There's a lot (of market share) to go at against the scale of price increases going through. (They're the) most substantial real term increases in drink prices I can remember. There's a sharp focus on protecting short-term profitability." I get a little confused. One of the pub companies he might be talking about was regularly accused of dropping prices unnecessarily when it was in private-equity hands.
East End civil partnerships
The Blind Beggar, infamous as the Whitechapel boozer where Ronnie Kray shot gangland rival George Cornell with a 9mm Mauser in the 1960s, is getting a civil partnership licence. Barman Kieran Kennington-Apollinaire, 25, who had to travel outside London to "get hitched" himself, said: "There are a lot of gay and lesbian bars around here. But there are very few places in the East End which do gay weddings." Ronnie, who was, of course, gay would surely approve.
Going tribal at the Beda bash
Anyone who has attended the Bar Entertainment & Dance Association (Beda) awards in Birmingham will know it's a pretty tribal affair. Normally, nightclub king Luminar tends to dominate proceedings with as many as eight tables booked for the event. This year, though, Luminar was down to a piffling two tables and there was no sign of top man Steve Thomas. I was unable to attend this year, but contacts report that Luminar was on the receiving end of a fair bit of booing, of a good-natured sort, naturally. Goodness knows what Bruce Parry would make of it all...
Penalty for buying beyond the tie
A lessee of a major tenanted operator is facing a High Court injunction for supplying his numerous Polish customers with their native beers. The licensee, who has run the pub for 34 years, bought crates of Tyskie and other major Polish brands outside of the tie because he says he couldn't get them through his pubco. "I didn't have a choice, trading is harder than ever and I had to offer my customers what they wanted," the licensee tells me. City Diary doesn't condone buying outside of the tie, but don't pubcos need to be a little more fleet of foot in supplying the right products for the right pub?