Diary

Jamie lease story not quite true

There have been suggestions that chef Jamie Oliver is taking on a Young's lease at the Cock & Camel in Oxford for his first Italian restaurant. Not so. Young's surrendered the lease on the Cock & Camel to Oxford City Council last year. Oxford Council then granted a new lease on 9 January 2008 to Jamie's Italian Ltd.

JW Lees caught in perfect storm

Forecasts of 8,000 pub closures are flying around. The question is: where are they all going to come from? Well, JW Lees is prepared to admit it's closing a few. Pub operations director Mark Welch admits to shutting five or six. In the town of Middleton, closing the Who'd a Thowt, he told the local newspaper: "It's not just us, if you look around Middleton there are pubs closing everywhere. This is a nationwide problem as well. We've had a perfect storm as far as the industry is concerned."

Barracuda backs out of village plan

People power has forced Barracuda to withdraw a plan to open a Smith & Jones in Timperley Village. The plan sparked a furious reaction, with more than 200 letters of objection sent in. A spokeswoman for Barracuda Group said: "As a responsible licensed retailer we feel that the views of the local residents should be taken into account, and as a consequence we are in the process of withdrawing our planning application."

Dining concept kept in the family

A major new family dining concept is being developed by a sizeable managed company. It's under wraps at the moment and City Diary has promised to keep it schtum. It's just that the rest of the world keeps breaking radio silence. A public relations company has been talking about it on its website. Now another "agency" has referred on its website to a relaxed, unbuttoned new chain that concentrates on serving high-quality food, actually naming the new brand for good measure. Keeping quiet is killing us.

Is West End Hog still priciest pub?

City Diary is wondering whether the Hog in the Pound pub in London's South Molton Street, sold by AG&G on behalf of Capital Pub Company, still holds the record for the most expensive pub ever sold. It changed hands in December 2006 for a mighty £9.5m, being bought, inevitably, by property investor Kenmore Group. Among the candidates for the title, but still a long way short, are the Intrepid Fox in Soho, which is rumoured to have sold for £5m, and the Polar Bear, Lisle Street, which is rumoured to have fetched £6m. Anyone know of pubs sold for more than the Hog?

Taybarns could be an A-bomb

Is Whitbread's Taybarns all-you-can-eat offer in Swansea, chugging out an estimated 8,000 meals a week, a category A-bomb, able to suck the air out of managed and tenanted pubs trading within its shadow? Managed operators are rolling up in large numbers to try and make their minds up. Here's a view from someone senior: "It's very interesting and we've given a lot of thought to it. We've not got a definitive view on it. We're not certain about some elements, such as the obesity worries."

Fleetwood rumour mill running wild

Such is the fear in some communities that the local might be lost to alternative use that all sorts of wild rumours can take hold. In Fleetwood, Lancashire, there were suggestions in the local rag that Enterprise Inns' boarded-up Strawberry Gardens might be turned into a, wait for it, mosque. But an Enterprise Inns spokeswoman said: "These stories are not true — it is just a rumour. In fact, we have a partner in place to reopen the Strawberry Gardens as a pub restaurant in the coming weeks."

Ring and all will be revealed

Two years ago, private-equity boss Jon Moulton claimed there would be further problems ahead for some pub-sector businesses, not least because they suffered from bad management. He cited the example of one unnamed company that had to ask its suppliers what volumes it sold. City Diary now knows which company this is. Ring on (01293) 610344 to be told.

Pub buyers adopt wary approach

Interesting the way those buyers still active in the pub market are sifting sites ever more carefully. Take Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises (S&NPE), for example. It bought 30 sites from Tadcaster Pub Company and sister company Tadcaster Inns & Hotels last week, but was at pains to find the venues that closely matched its business model and the balance of income streams that it sees as crucial going forward. This kind of entirely sensible approach may lead to slow deal transaction times, though — Tadcaster has been on the blocks since September 2007.

Fatboy Slim in praise of Okinami

The pub and restaurant sector has a new investor — world-famous DJ Fatboy Slim. Brighton resident Fatboy Slim — otherwise known as Norman Cook — has invested in a sushi restaurant called Okinami in the city, after naming it as his favourite place to eat in several newspaper articles. The move comes after Cook made a successful investment in the New York gastropub, the Spotted Pig. "Norman was interested in the restaurant because the Spotted Pig was giving him a good return," says his new business partner Mike Dodd. Cook's taking a stake comes after he began to use the restaurant on a regular basis — he has been in discussions about making an investment for a number of years. The opportunity arose after it was decided to move Okinami from Hove to central Brighton.

JDW caught out on Burns Night

Burns Night went down a storm at JD Wetherspoon — but has caused a mini-tempest of complaints. One customer pitched

up at 6.30pm to buy a plate of haggis, neeps

and tatties to face major disappointment. Barstaff said that all 25 portions had already been sold. "I fail to understand how such under-ordering can occur," says the customer. Writing in the company magazine, boss Tim Martin is as helpful as ever: "We've been caught out by big demand. We're going to increase the orders next year and quadruple them for your pub, so please bring your friends."