'Women barred from pub for being 'too old''

A group of woman were barred from a city centre pub after door staff decided they were "too old". The 15-strong group, a mixture of middle-aged women and their daughters, had enjoyed a meal together before wandering over to the Courtyard Bar in Leeds. As soon as they reached the doorway they were told they could only go inside if they were 35 or younger - Daily Telegraph​

Pub landlords who let drinkers flout the smoking ban face losing their licence after a High Court ruling yesterday. Hamish Howitt, 57, lost his licence after allowing cigs in his bar. Magistrates later reinstated it, but yesterday Deputy Judge Denyer overturned that decision. The judge said allowing smoking breached landlords' legal duty to prevent "crime and disorder" on their premises - The Sun​

Greene King, the brewer and pub operator that sponsors England rugby union, said yesterday that it was maintaining its interim dividend, despite the worsening economic climate. The company, which operates 2,500 pubs and brews Abbot Ale and Old Speckled Hen, said that despite "increasing and competing demands on our cash", it had decided not to follow rivals such as Mitchells & Butlers and Punch Taverns and scrap the payout to shareholders - The Times​

Greene King chief Rooney Anand believes Scottish consumers are less likely than others to sacrifice their pub visits in an economic downturn, as the Belhaven business he acquired three years ago continued to perform ahead of the rest of the company - The Herald​

Greene King has started an innovative scheme that could allow hundreds of its most stretched publicans to earn their way out of so-called "tied tenancy" agreements. The group has identified about 400 of its 1,469 leased and tenanted pubs which will either be sold off, upgraded, or migrated to new earn-out lease arrangements. The prospect of publicans earning their way out of tie agreements could keep a number of otherwise struggling pubs in business. It also provides Greene King with an alternative to selling the sites at a time when asset prices are plunging and sellers greatly outnumber buyers - The Guardian​

A Derbyshire landlord has been assaulted in a gang raid on his pub. Five men armed with golf clubs and a sledgehammer entered the Spinners Arms, Marsden Street, Hadfield, in the early hours of Monday, police said. The gang punched the landlord before stealing jewellery and a laptop, then smashing open gaming machines, a cigarette machine and the pub's tills - BBC News​