Managing expectations in the pub trade

A City wag suggested last week it was no coincidence JD Wetherspoon announced its 250 pub opening/10,000 jobs creation scheme on the same day that brewer Greene King put out its interims.

A ruse to distract attention away from the performance of the Bury St Edmunds gang? Who knows? Greene King hasn't exactly courted publicity in the last year or so, much to the chagrin of trade journalists like me, preferring to get on with strengthening its pub and brewing businesses in what's been a torrid time for both areas.

Conversely Wetherspoons' chairman Tim Martin knows how to grab headlines and, in the case of his latest stated ambitions, grab them he most certainly did. The question on the lips of many in the media was how will he do it, given the state of the pub industry these days?

Savvy site spotting, a ruthless approach to costs and a pricing policy that appeals to a growing number of cash-strapped punters are among the answers to this particular question.

But while the likes of Greene King's managed pubs are performing well, as indeed are Wetherspoons, it's not all sweetness and light in that part of the industry, at least in the boardroom of the largest managed operator.

You'd have to be pretty hard-hearted not to feel for Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) right now; having seen the back of major shareholder Robert Tchenguiz and all that property joint venture malarkey last year, M&B now has to contend with another investor whose agenda doesn't fit the management's strategic view.

Despite losing his 'team' on the M&B board, as well as the initial battle over his choice of chairman, major shareholder Joe Lewis isn't done yet. He might sell, he might choose to stick, but there will likely be more headaches for M&B before he's done…