City Diary — 5 November

Hall fingered for being a Luddite

Orchid Pub Company boss Rufus Hall came to a meeting last week of this magazine's club for the UK's top managed multiples, MA150. He was presenting to members on the quality of the information the company obtains from its Zonal EPoS systems. Self-effacingly, he was keen to stress that he was a "technological Luddite", holding up both hands, which were sporting four plasters on his finger tips and elsewhere. He added one word by explanation: "Hedge-trimmer."

Ace up to scratch in Pork Idol win​

A winner emerges in the one of the most hotly-contested pub arena competitions of the year — who makes the best pork scratchings? Walsall-based Ace Pub Supplies has been chosen by Marston's to supply its Q Pork Scratchings and other snacks to 1,500 of its pubs after it came first in Pork Idol, a nationwide contest to find the best pork scratchings.

Director Philip Rolls said it could lead to the creation of almost half a dozen jobs and £50,000 was being ploughed into new machinery at its factory. "It's the equivalent of a major record deal in the pub snack world," he added

Happy ending for JDW love-in​

A couple are so devoted to JD Wetherspoon that they named the tables at their wedding reception at Nottingham University after pubs they have visited together. The story sparked a bout of nostalgia from Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin, writing in the company's in-house magazine: "Spookily enough, I went to Nottingham University myself, and the photo may be outside the Lakeside Pavilion, where I met the missus."

Not the capital of all-you-can-eat​

BBC Radio Two's Jeremy Vine held a discussion on the merits (and the binge-eating de-merits) of Taybarns last week. Guardian columnist Tanya Gold was among those holding forth on Whitbread's all-you-can-eat phenomenon. London-centric contributors had one thing in common though — none of them had actually been to one and Whitbread declined to take part in the programme. Perhaps the BBC should look a little further afield for contributors.

Teaching an old dog new tricks​

Industry veteran Ian Payne, who chairs Town and City Pubs and Bay Restaurants, was poking a little fun at the expense of City Diary's editor last week. Talking to a meeting of the MA150 club of managed multiples he quoted a previous week's feature on Punch's managed division. Payne claimed that one sentence in the feature was worthy of New Labour spinmeister Alastair Campbell: "Lacking the right range of trading concepts, it (Punch's managed division) was unable to properly monetize the innate quality of its pubs". Payne added: "We just call them dogs."

Luminar shows its a glass act​

Good news on glassings at nightclub company Luminar. The annual report noted an "overwhelming reduction in the number of incidents and injuries" involving glass following the introduction of polycarbonate plastic to its clubs — the number of recorded incidents involving broken glass was reduced by 43% in the year to January 2008 compared to the previous year. In the year to January 2009, the number of recorded glass-related incidents dropped a further 32% both inside and outside.

Admiral site for sale at £1m​

Here's proof that Admiral Taverns has property in its portfolio that's still worth a few bob. It's selling the Cooler Bar and Gallery Club on Paignton's seafront for a cool £1m. Admiral Taverns had been considering whether to find new licensees or refurbish the site — but it has now opted to sell up. Neal Barnes, disposal manager for Admiral Taverns, said the early interest he'd already received for Paignton's Gallery suggested its £975,000 asking price would be met quickly. He added: "We've got a fair bit of interest this week, seeing as we've only had it for sale since Monday. "The 'for sale' sign is up outside, so it's attracting attention. We've priced it to sell. We feel it's a good price for the market. The premises will be sold as it is."

Harvester goes for mini makeover​

City Diary hears that Mitchells & Butlers might be shifting Harvester upmarket ever so slightly. It's trialling a new menu at the 160-strong Harvester chain which contains a selection of options that some might call premium. The trial is taking place at its Morden branch in Surrey with a view to rolling it out across the rest of the chain. Among the changes are noodles on the salad bar and the banishment of onions. There's pork cutlets, rib-eye steak and a much better vegetarian selection added to the main menu. There's a big ad campaign set to break early next year, to relaunch the restaurant and its menu.

Badger competition odds prompts cyber-space debate​

A Hall & Woodhouse advertising campaign that offers a chance to win a £30,000 Land Rover Defender is prompting a degree of hot debate in cyber-space. The competition, marketed through bottled Badger involves matching 10 identical badgers with 10 identical kennels. To make matters even more tricky, the solution changes every time the game is played — making the odds of winning an estimated one is six million. Brands marketing manager Rick Payne says: "It's just a bit of fun. We are not trying to con anybody. We would be delighted if someone won." Hall & Woodhouse are putting the promotional collars on two million bottles of Badger ale. So far, 50,000 people have downloaded the 50p vouchers. Edwin Mutton, compliance officer at the Institute of Sales Promotion (ISP), is less than impressed, saying: "Personally, I do not like this type of contest."