Newspaper roundup
Pubs in the Papers – Enterprise's Townsend ‘no idea’ on MRO numbers, Vardy Bombs and arm wrestling saving pubs
To MRO or not to MRO?
Enterprise chief Simon Townsend gave an interview to The Times’ Dominic Walsh in which he said that he had ‘absolutely no idea’ how many Enterprise tenants would be taking up the Market Rent Only option.
Townsend claimed the company was ‘getting much closer to publicans’ and was stabilising the pubco as it attempts to cut its enormous £2.3bn debt pile.
He also called out the anti-pubco campaigners, stating they were ‘a very small minority of the total estate’ and that they will ‘never be persuaded otherwise’.
- http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pubs-chief-refuses-to-cry-into-his-beer-over-a-loosening-of-the-ties-that-bind-s35tcs56k (subscription required)
Saturday night was a Vardy party
Images were rife across national papers on Sunday morning as Leicester town centre celebrated local club Leicester City being crowned champions of the Premier League on Saturday night. Indeed, it looked like quite a few 'Vardy bombs' were sunk.
MailOnline showcased the party in all its glory – and also claimed that several clubs and bars had to close due to the overcrowding of the city centre and for safety reasons.
Local paper the Leicester Mercury focused on Hogarth’s gin bar and it turned out it wasn’t only captain of City, Wes Morgan, paying for the drinks, as champagne was passed around the venue.
One fan summed it up when he told the paper: ‘It’s a dream come true….I never, ever, ever, ever thought I would see this moment.’
Could arm wrestling save pubs?
According to the Daily Mirror, that’s one man’s hope.
We all know the stats about pub closures, but Charles Brook of leisure company Arm Grip is aiming to reverse the decline by promoting arm wrestling across the UK’s pubs.
Brook claims that an arm wrestling tournament could produce as much as 200 to 300% increase in takings.
Unfortunately an online poll on the Mirror website suggested the public aren’t as enthusiastic. At the time of writing, a majority (56%) said they wouldn’t try arm wrestling in pubs’.
But the Publican’s Morning Advertiser likes Brook’s entrepreneurial approach to saving pubs.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/british-businessman-found-perfect-sport-7921843
