City diary

Opening bars of the Bluus

Marston's is lining up a City of London opening for its Bluu Bar Brasseries chain, acquired from the Fat Cat Group a few years ago. The company is converting the former Bank of Iran in Moorgate - the brand's biggest site so far - with a June opening on the schedule. There's also a site in Birmingham, quite close to Mitchells & Butlers headquarters, being lined up and as many as four other sites in the pipeline. Managed division boss Derek Andrew stresses the importance of avoiding "pre-determined" numbers with Bluu openings. "Right size, right place, right terms," is the expansion mantra, he adds. Meanwhile, Colliers CRE is sole retained agent to acquire sites for its flagship Pitcher & Piano brand and Bluu in the City of London.

Better late than never

Allerdale Borough Council is producing its final premises licences - a full 818 days after the start of the new Licensing Act. "Is this some kind of a record?" one operator asks.

Ball back in play for Spirit

Spirit bosses took a hammering in May last year from Deutsche Bank analyst Geof Collyer, below, who claimed management had taken its eye "completely off the ball" in relation to its Mill House Inns acquisition. Collyer added for good measure: "Mill House was expected to 'hit the ground running' yet it looks like it has just hit the ground." News emerging from a recent analysts' briefing suggests the ball could now be heading towards the back of the net - average sales uplift since acquisition is an impressive 54%.

Mixing business with romance

Tycoon Jim Mellon - he employs around 3,000 people working on businesses ranging from hotels to online gambling - is a romantic at heart. He has bought a former Slug & Lettuce in Bayswater, now called the Commander, which he has set about restoring to its former glory. Why would Mellon - who has a penchant for private jets and hiring top rock bands to perform at his parties - bother with a pub? It's where he met his girlfriend five years ago.

Friends in the right places

The incredibly social bar owner Jonathan Downey, above, seems to have a sideline in business brokerage. Turns out that Elbow Room, the business founded by Justin Carter, was bought by Inc Group boss Frank Dowling after an unsolicited approach through Downey, a mutual friend. Some people out there charge a lot of money for this kind of stuff, Jonathan.

The Great Tchenguiz

Robert Tchenguiz is fast becoming a modern day Jay Gatsby, isn't he? In the F Scott Fitzgerald novel, the tycoon Gatsby was surrounded by a swirl of stories, rumours and ill-informed gossip. For Tchenguiz, hardly a day goes by without a fresh market rumour rippling through. In recent weeks, for example, several large blocks of shares in supermarket Sainsbury's changed hands. There was theorising that Tchenguiz might have swapped some of his shares for CFDs (contracts for difference), which would free up some cash to increase his stake in Mitchells & Butlers.

Cook weighs anchor to search for freeholds

City Diary hears that the success of the

Fox & Anchor in London's Clerkenwell has delighted owner Robert Cook, of Hotel du Vin fame. It's a "proper pub" - there are six cask ales and pickled eggs behind the bar - with four boutique hotel-style rooms above. Its motto is: "hops and chops, cuvées and duvets". A source says: "The search is on for freehold pub sites that would convert to a Hotel du Vin-style format."

A calculated twist

CGA Strategy reports an interesting promotion at Novus's Abacus in London. If you buy a £50 round for yourself and your friends they will buy you a £50 round back. The twist is that food has to be included in the round. In other words £100-worth of food and drink will cost £50. Not bad.

Project S goes industrial

Good news for Mitchells & Butlers' Lyttleton Arms in Hagley, near Stourbridge, destroyed by a major fire just before Christmas. The pub is set to reopen as part of the company's Project S gastropub brand in the coming months after a £2m refurbishment. City Diary contacts suggest the new-style Lyttleton Arms will see design cues transferred across from the Farm, Lichfield, Paul Salisbury and Paul Hales's blockbuster "posh Harvester" concept taking £50,000 a week. "There will be a bit of an industrial look with lots of stone,' a source says.

GK presses on with Loch Fyne

Plans by Greene King to expand its Loch Fyne seafood restaurant chain aren't limited to converting existing pubs. City Diary hears it's got its sights set on the Somerset town of Taunton. The company has been granted a licence to use half of the Cider Press Garden, on Corporation Street, between April and September each year - an outside dining area is a pre-condition of coming to the town. Taunton Deane Council has granted a licence to the company, which will now submit a planning application.

Laurel smoked out of Torquay

The crucial importance of high-street bars having a smoking solution is rammed home by Laurel's shuttering of 22 venues last week. One of the places hardest hit is Torquay where two of Laurel's three venues were closed - the Yates's stayed open but the Hog's Head and Bar Med venues were boarded up last week. Laurel has been highlighting the damaging effect of the smoking ban. Torbay's Licensed Victuallers' Association spokesman Steve Goss concurs: "There is nothing wrong with Torquay and the night life is not dead. At Bar Med and the Hog's Head there is nowhere for folk to go outside and smoke. There are too many chain bars for the size of Torquay. It's just supply and demand."

shock entries on laurel's long list

The Laurel Pub Company's 94-strong disposal list has a few surprises. First of all, a mighty 46 sites out of the Yates's acquisition are on the market - 42 Yates's, two Ha! Ha! bars and two Santa Fe venues. One of the Sante Fes is now called Bedouin and saw a refurbishment only last year. Best-value rent is £35,000 per annum at Yates's in Burnley - the only catch is that it's believed to have a barrelage commitment to landlord Thwaites.