A price war in the cost of watching live sport at home could force more pubs to close. The cost of watching the English Premier League and Ashes cricket is expected to fall by a third when Ofcom this week reveals plans to force BSkyB to reduce the price it charges rivals to broadcast its Sky Sports channels. While individual customers will benefit from the expected price war, pubs and clubs - which pay an average of £432 a month for Sky Sports - have been left out of the biggest shake-up of Britain's pay-TV industry in its 20-year history. - Daily Telegraph
A 49-year-old pub landlord appeared in court on Saturday charged with murdering his 29-year-old partner. Michael Tucker, landlord of The Compasses Inn in Snettisham, Norfolk, appeared before magistrates in nearby King's Lynn accused of killing landlady Rebecca Thorpe. Detectives arrested Tucker after Miss Thorpe's body was found in a freezer in an outbuilding at the pub on Tuesday, police said. - The Independent
David Bruce, the pub entrepreneur who founded the Firkin pub chain 30 years ago, is set to raise up to £10m for the next stage of his latest venture. He has already raised cash to purchase and develop sites for the first phase of his Country Pub & Dining brand and is looking to have 10 sites set up within two years. Bruce has established funds worth up to £2m each for his first five ventures, and will start fundraising for the second tranche at the beginning of the next financial year in April. He believes this "flog or float" strategy ensures a return for investors. - The Independent
Speaking about the Budget last week, Michael Turner, chairman of Fuller, Smith & Turner, the pub operator and brewer, said brewing was suffering the combined negative impact of over-regulation and huge increases in duty. "Beer is a British product," he said. "More than 90 per cent of it is produced in this country using raw materials from British farmers. The idea that you can go on hammering it is such a waste. The chancellor is destroying British industry and British jobs. At the same time as he's driving down beer volumes, he's not getting back much more tax revenue." - Sunday Times