20-Aug-2009 By Ewan Turney
With the Ashes series finely poised, the MA caught up with Sky commentator David 'Bumble' Lloyd to discuss pubs.
Julian Grocock: Sometimes you just have to compromise
19-Aug-2009
I was coming back after the Great British Beer Festival and four nights in a windowless cell at Stelios's Easy Hotel in Earls Court. It was indeed...
'Businesses face deluge of job-hunters'
19-Aug-2009 By James Wilmore
The recession has provided employers with a big opportunity - and a potential dilemma - in the form of burgeoning piles of applications from eager...
19-Aug-2009 By Mark Stretton, M&C Report
Two companies acquired earlier this year by Helena Leisure from 3D Entertainment (3DE) have entered a company voluntary arrangement (CVA).
Award-winning host Anthony Mears buys new pub
19-Aug-2009 By Gemma McKenna
Anthony Mears, award-winning licensee, has bought the freehold of the Beckford Inn in Gloucestershire. Acting on behalf of administrators BDO Stoy...
18-Aug-2009 By Ewan Turney
Council officials from Bury, Burnley, Manchester, Portsmouth and St Helens are all to visit Oldham to hear about the measures they are taking to curb promotions. The news seems to play out the trade's fear that the harsh proposals will spread.
18-Aug-2009 By Ewan Turney
Pubs and restaurants must not ease up on the tight cost controls imposed — even if they see an upturn in the run-up to Christmas.
Upcoming conferences
17-Aug-2009 By MA reporter
Upcoming conferences
The Licensees' Choice Awards 2009
17-Aug-2009
Welcome to the very first Licensees' Choice Awards! This new initiative is designed to celebrate the drinks brands in the UK pub market that...
Pub bitch: beaches, maidens and handbags
17-Aug-2009
Morgan's maidens With the weather playing havoc with this year's Ashes Test series, at least Marston's Brewing Company has been on hand to provide...
Pinstripe: Economic green shoots? Or merely a rather unpleasant fungus?
17-Aug-2009
I watched with incredulity last week as ministers of our government effectively leapt for joy at announcements by the French and Germans that their...
Oldham Best Bar None scheme faces funding question mark
17-Aug-2009 By James Wilmore
Plans to introduce a Best Bar None scheme in trouble-hit Oldham are moving ahead, but a question mark hangs over funding for the initiative, a trade...
Pub could be closed after single ID failure
17-Aug-2009 By Matt Eley Matt
A freeholder claims he faces losing his business because he failed to stop just one underage drinker being served. Dean Bull has run the Billy in...
17-Aug-2009 By Ewan Turney
Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey has vowed to pay back £2.5m he owes after his pub and hotel chain collapsed. Morrissey, who is now involved...
17-Aug-2009 By Ewan Turney
Leading pub and restaurant chains are trading positively thanks to an increased spend on marketing and promotions. The Coffer Peach Business...
14-Aug-2009 By The PMA Team
The BBC's Panorama report on Oldham's binge-drinking problems pointed the finger at the supermarkets — but the on-trade isn't entirely blameless
14-Aug-2009 By The PMA Team
Premium Bars and Restaurant administrator BDO has stated that bids for parts of the business will be assessed by the end of the month.
14-Aug-2009 By Ewan Turney
Former Barclaycard chief executive Seymour Fortescue has been named as the first external chairman of drinks industry watchdog Portman Group....
14-Aug-2009 By John Harrington
Coventry's licensing committee has been accused of 'big company favouritism' in its treatment of two pubs that twice failed test purchases. Separate...
13-Aug-2009 By John Harrington
A handful of licensees in south Wales are angry with Scottish & Newcastle UK (S&NUK) after reporting major problems with deliveries. Problems have occurred after S&NUK bought SA Brain's distribution service two months ago, say licensees.
Feargal Sharkey: 'If it wasn't for pubs the Undertones would never have existed'
13-Aug-2009 By James Wilmore
Former Undertones frontman and UK Music chief Feargal Sharkey says his band would not have had a career without pubs. He tells James Wilmore that he...
WSTA argues "majority" don't pre-load
13-Aug-2009 By James Wilmore
The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) has warned the government against giving councils the power to ban cheap supermarkets deals, arguing...
Locals bid to save popular pub from church group
13-Aug-2009 By James Wilmore
Pub regulars have been given a stay of execution in a bid to save their local from being sold off and turned into a church. Customers of the Lynton...
Pubs' recession struggles revealed in Publican Market Report
13-Aug-2009 By Matt Eley Matt
The true extent of the desperate difficulties pubs are facing to stay in business are revealed in this year's Publican Market Report. As recession...
13-Aug-2009 By John Harrington
Managers of three pubs have been granted out-of-court settlements of up to £50,000 after arguing a breach of working time regulations.
13-Aug-2009 By John Harrington
A Government minister has promised to work with National Pubwatch on its Court not Caution campaign.
13-Aug-2009 By Gemma McKenna
Pub rating appeals have been delayed because valuation officials have been busy preparing the new rating list for 2010. Thwaites Brewery said some...
13-Aug-2009 By Jo Bruce
Independent hotel operator Thorpeness and Aldeburgh Hotels have opened a fifth site. The Suffolk company has opened 300-year-old freehold the Crown...
12-Aug-2009 By John Harrington
An agreement between a council-backed trade group and authorities in Newquay not to accept PASS-accredited ID cards is "misguided".
12-Aug-2009 By The PMA Team
Nexum Leisure, the company run by Paul Kinsey, is considering its position on all-inclusive drinks offers.
12-Aug-2009 By Jo Bruce
A Norfolk pub chef is inviting customers to use the pub's garden as an allotment to grow produce for the pub's menu. The Pigs at Edgefield has...
12-Aug-2009 By Ewan Turney
Pubs in Wokingham, Berkshire are opening up their toilets to the public under a new scheme. The council has closed the public toilets and has...
12-Aug-2009 By Ewan Turney
Market research company Nielsen has taken an equity stake in on-trade consultancy CGA Strategy. Nielsen will now transfer its UK on-trade services...
Nielsen takes a stake in CGA
11-Aug-2009
Global market research giant Nielsen and CGA Strategy, the specialist on-trade research house, have announced a strategic partnership which will...
Pubs improve in proof-of-age tests
11-Aug-2009 By Matt Eley Matt
Pubs are getting better at asking youngsters for ID, according to a leading test purchasing company. Figures from Serve Legal show that between...
'Alcohol link to huge rise in oral cancers among people in their 40s'
11-Aug-2009 By James Wilmore
Alcohol is behind a huge rise in oral cancers among people in their 40s, experts said yesterday. The number of men getting tumours of the mouth,...
Paul Smith: The real truth about happy hours
11-Aug-2009
Most of those reviewed premises to date have not (and will not) sign up to these conditions. At Noctis in consultation with the council, when we sat...
Pubs unite against charity box thieves
11-Aug-2009 By Matt Eley Matt
A pub that had its charity boxes stolen in a raid by burglars is fighting back with a day of special events. Heartless thieves broke into the Seven...
11-Aug-2009 By John Harrington
Authorities in Newquay are "urgently investigating" the idea of an Alcohol Disorder Zone in the Cornish resort.
11-Aug-2009 By Ewan Turney
The on-trade performed better than the off-trade in asking young people for ID for the first time in the second quarter of 2009. The figures come...
10-Aug-2009 By Ewan Turney
The Government needs to do more to break the high street banks' monopoly on finance for small businesses, according to the FSB.
Pinstripe: Is the smoking ban the industry's biggest headache?
10-Aug-2009
Hamish Champ is away on his hols and has asked if I would step into the breach and pen a few words for the next couple of Mondays in his absence. I'd...
10-Aug-2009 By Ewan Turney
Darts legends Eric Bristow and John Lowe have voiced their support for National Pub Week. The Week, running from 31 October to 7 November, is the...
07-Aug-2009 By Ewan Turney
A St Helens pub has been ordered to take down its A-board sign — 10 years after it was first placed outside — because it poses a danger to road...
07-Aug-2009 By Gemma McKenna
Industry experts hope that a further £50bn of new money being pumped into the economy will benefit pubs.
06-Aug-2009 By Stephen Oliver
Every rain cloud has a silver lining if you can just turn your mind to it, says Stephen Oliver.
06-Aug-2009 By The PMA Team
Pre-pack administrations might be perfectly legal, but they don't seem very fair — to unsecured creditors or to other companies, says The PMA Team.
Reuben brothers see £52m bid for Premium Bars & Restaurants rejected
06-Aug-2009 By Hamish Champ
Multi-millionaire siblings David and Simon Reuben today claimed they tabled a £52m bid for Premium Bars & Restaurants (PBR) to the group's...
Pub manager reveals horror of samurai sword attack
06-Aug-2009 By Matt Eley Matt
A pub manager has revealed how he thought he was going to die at the hands of robbers who attacked him with a samurai sword, a saw and baseball bat....
05-Aug-2009 By Ewan Turney
The Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) wants the Government to introduce a "People's Pint" by abolishing duty on all beers below 2.8% abv.
