Provence pubs downward spiral
Rapid price deflation continues apace at many of the pubs that discredited company Provence sold to gullible investors. Take, for example, the Golden Cross in Billinghay, Lincolnshire, which was sold for £445,000 at auction in April 2005. It's up for auction again with a guide price of £170,000 to £190,000. Likewise, the Blue Bell in Egremont, Cumbria, was sold by Provence in February 2004 for £181,000 (Frederic Robinson had sold it for £57,000 three months before). It's now back at an Eddison auction for a modest £60,000-plus.
Ladhar shows that it cares
Shy and retiring Ladhar Group is one of the UK's largest multiple managed operators with 64 pubs and clubs. But the Newcastle-based company thinks care homes may be a better route of expansion than the leisure sector. It already owns five north-east care homes and recently opened its first outside the region, near Doncaster. This will be followed by a further five in South Yorkshire, after securing bank funding for its
plans. Ladhar development manager Nick Riggs said: "The success of the care-home sector is not dependent on the performance of the economy; it's dependent on demographics."
Amphire buys Barbox for £1.75m
Amphire — the e-commerce and purchasing services provider — bought
Barbox in August for an undisclosed sum. Barbox, previously a joint venture between Coors Brewers and Scottish & Newcastle, has grown from a standing start in 2000 to handling weekly orders worth up to £8m per week. At the time of the sale, no figures were available. The newly-filed Coors accounts indicate a purchase price of £1.75m
Regent Inns cuts its losses
It's normally a pretty bad sign when it's cheaper to close a site and pay the rent than operate it. Such is the fate of the Old Orleans in York — one of a dozen or so Regent Inns sites on the market — which has been boarded up. It has been closed down by its owner Regent Inns as part of a drive to cut the company's debts and operating costs. A spokesman says it's one of only three Regent sites to have closed its doors.
Lamb takes on closed Yates's
Good to see one more shuttered Yates's finding a new lease of life. The Yates's in Harrogate's Parliament Street has reopened as No 19 Bar & Grill. It's been opened by Alan Lamb, who has plenty of experience in the industry, as he already runs successful pub-restaurant, the Fox & Hounds in Walton, West Yorkshire, which features in the Michelin food guide.
JDW hit by postal computer chaos
Anyone who has the pleasure of new technology arriving in the office knows it can be two steps back before there's a step forward. So it's proven with the Royal Mail's new Pegasus computer, which provides automated mail sorting. In Watford, 17 postal workers had their short-term contracts terminated, with chaos ensuing. Up to 250,000 items of mail languished in the town's Ascot Road sorting office, which upset customers were visiting daily to seek their undelivered post. JD Wetherspoon, which is headquartered in Watford, is rumoured to be among a number of businesses believed to have made formal complaints to Royal Mail after receiving irregular deliveries in recent weeks.
Tenantless pubs in Safe hands
Boom time for Safe Estates, the company that secures empty properties. The company, which has nearly 30 depots and 500 staff, provides shuttering and supervision services for pubs without a tenant. A quick City Diary count found Safe Estates providing security at 76 of the pubs that one well-known tenanted pub company has on the market. Safe Estates also provides live-in caretakers. Neither service is particularly cheap.
Martin top of the board scores
City Diary still comes across people who insist that JD Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin is now a semi-detached chairman. The company's 2008 report, though, shows Martin scored top in board-meeting attendances in 2007 to 2008. He attended seven out of eight, with the chief executive not far behind on six and newish finance director Keith Down present for five.
Moorhouse's on the TV offensive
City Diary says bravo to plucky Moorhouse's. It went on the offensive and launched a new series of adverts in the north-west, promoting its beer and pub-going. The ads are set in the Rising Sun pub in Blacko, near Burnley, and follow Moorhouse's TV debut last December. "With the filming taking place in a real pub, we believe it will help the trade generally by showing the pub as a great place to go for a night out," says managing director David Grant. Too right.