Snifter salutes Jock Woodhouse

Snifter is saddened to hear of the death of John "Jock" Woodhouse, former commander of the Special Air Service Regiment, former chairman of regional brewer Hall & Woodhouse and all-round truly remarkable man, at the age of 85.

He saw active service with the East Surrey Regiment in Tunisia, Sicily and Italy and was awarded the Military Cross in 1943 for a patrol raid on German headquarters.

After the war he learned Russian at Cambridge and his post-war service was spent mainly on intelligence staff appointments. He joined the Special Air Service Regiment in 1950 and saw active service in Malaya before returning to command the 22nd SAS Regiment in Hereford.

During his period with the SAS the then Major Wood-house introduced what became known as a "selection course" in 1952. Before that troops had earned their credentials in the field.

Lt-Col Woodhouse retired in 1965 to look after his family estate at Higher Melcombe, beginning in business with Hall & Woodhouse in Blandford. When he joined he was called Jock because there was a John Woodhouse working in the business and it was deemed too confusing to have two "Mr Johns".

He was tasked with turning around the small loss-making Sunparlour Soft Drinks Company. He revived its fortunes and was responsible for the launch of the nationally successful Panda Pops. His retirement came in 1983 but, following the early deaths of his brewery cousins, John and Edward Woodhouse, he was called back in 1988 to become chairman of Hall & Woodhouse, a position he held for a further decade.

Phil Thorley's golden words of pub-industry wisdom

Phil Thorley, boss of Kent outfit Thorley Taverns, is, arguably, the best public speaker in the industry. The current edition of the BII magazine, BII Business, devotes almost 1,000 words to Thorley's soundbites from a recent regional seminar. Here are three corkers.

l "I'm not always right so I listen to what our people are saying all the time - we've got two ears and one mouth for a reason."

l "Value all the people in your organisation. When I walked in here the first impression I got was a smiley face behind reception and it was spotlessly clean. Your cleaners are worth their weight in gold."

l "I use texting a lot. It's a great motivator. If I'm looking at figures late at night and see someone has performed well I send them a text. It's instant and I know they'll be feeling 10ft tall." Is the pub industry making best use of Phil Thorley?

Plans for high-street Rovers Return rollout 'pure speculation'

Coronation Street fans will be disappointed to learn that the rollout of the Rovers Return pub to the UK's high streets may have stalled. The concept, proposed and reported on by The Times, could have seen the Rovers look offered to pubs across the UK in a bid to boost sales and viewing figures.

But ITV have dismissed the idea as "pure speculation" after the company said it was looking to capitalise on the commercial potential of the soap. Peter Eyles, of food-led pubco Cross Oak Inns, who was quoted in the article as a potential runner for the franchise, said that the article was "just a giggle" and that he had no plans to take on the idea.

ITV communication director Lizzy Morgan said: "It's just an example of a number of ways that we could take the programme."

So a microwaveable line of Betty's notorious hotpot has not been ruled out, then.