Independent Operators

Delwyn Lewis and Martin Bates were charged £74 a day for electricity

£74-a-day electric bill for new hosts

By John Harrington

Hosts were charged a staggering £74 per day for electricity at a 40-cover pub after being stuck paying inflated "out-of-contract" rates. BizzEnergy...

Protz: salutes quality cellars

Master of his trade

By Roger Protz

Quality-focused licensee Bryan Walsh has just been named Fuller's Master Cellarman of the Year.

Charity: how much profit will pubcos share?

Just how bad is it out there?

By The PMA Team

A leading City analyst emailed me this week to claim that analysis of the pub sector has become far too black and white, with managed companies...

Admiral: absorsbing price increase

Admiral absorbs second price rise

By John Harrington

Admiral Taverns has opted not to pass on to tenants the second wholesale price rises announced by four major brewers this year. In a letter to...

Flatters: take advantage of stressed workers

Pubs can capitalise on "sod it" factor

By Martyn Leek, M&C Report

Pub retailers should concentrate on the segmentation of their offering if they are to survive a recession, according to a leading futurist and...

Witherspoon Holdings now has 12 pubs

New pub company expands to 12 sites

By The PMA Team

A new pub company is expanding in a number of geographic areas thanks to rock-bottom pub prices. Witherspoon Holdings, based in Hanley,...

Dusanj brothers: back at Cains

Dusanj brothers buy back Cains

By Ewan Turney

The Dusanj brothers have regained control of the Cains brewery and nine pubs from administrators — as widely expected following revelations they still owned the brewery freehold.

Five Walkabouts are on the market

Regent puts 11 sites up for sale

By The PMA Team

Regent Inns, the troubled bar and restaurant operator, has placed six Old Orleans sites and five Walkabouts on the market. The company, which also...

Protz: Smoking ban was wrong

Repent ye pro-ban pubgoers

By Roger Protz

The launch of the Good Beer Guide has fanned further debate about the smoke ban.

Gary Hibberd: sentenced to six years

Two Babushka directors jailed for fraud

By The PMA Team

Two directors of discredited bar company Vodka Bar Management, Gary Hibberd and Timothy Allen, have been jailed for conning £2.5m out of a bank and a loan company to fund extravagant lifestyles.

Bars beat the ban

Bars beat the ban

Top-end bars are bearing up better than pubs during the smoking ban and the credit crunch, according to exclusive research compiled by The Publican's...

Pring: Honesty is key to debate

The importance of being honest

By Andrew Pring

The impending Parliamentary review of the Tisc inquiry should pose more difficult questions for the pubcos.

Regent: Old Orleans sites up for sale

Regent puts Old Orleans sites up for sale

By Mark Stretton, M&C Report

Regent Inns, the troubled bar and restaurant operator, has placed six Old Orleans sites on the market, M&C Report has learnt. The company, which...

Pub unaware of sale

Pub unaware of sale

A licensee was shocked to read a newspaper article stating her pub had been sold and was due to be converted into a synagogue. Ellen McLean, manager...

Enterprise has taken action after tragic accident

Gas checks: pubco acts

By John Harrington

Enterprise Inns is ensuring all tenancy agreements are issued with a valid gas certificate after news emerged of the tragic accidental death of one of its tenants from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Floods hit several pubs again

Funding for flood-hit northern pubs

By John Harrington

A Government-backed body has promised funding to help flood-hit pubs in north-east England. A £500,000 flood relief fund is being offered for firms...

MPS: 60 prosecutions so far this season

New season, new foreign sat prosecutions

By John Harrington

Licensees at more than 60 pubs face prosecution for screening Premiership football via foreign satellite systems so far this season, according to Media Protection Services.

S&NPE is rolling out poker-night package

S&NPE launches poker-night plan

By MA reporter

Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises (S&NPE) is rolling out a poker-night package to 200 community pubs.

SBPA chief executive Patrick Browne has hit out over Scots alcohol proposals

SBPA hits out at alcohol proposals

By Ewan Turney

The Scottish Beer and Pub Association has hit out at attempts to introduce minimum pricing and introduce a responsibility fee for licensees.

Few have used currency in pubs

Pubs take part in Lewes currency scheme

By MA reporter

An experimental launch of a local currency — involving four pubs — saw all 10,000 pound notes snapped up within five days of coming into...

Kheng: Give pubs a break

'Give pubs a break'

By Ewan Turney

Pubs across the country united yesterday to ring their bells as a wake-up call to Westminster. The mass bell-ringing, organised by the British Beer...

All Tye'd Up

All Tye'd Up

By Hamish Champ

Few executives like to see their best laid plans splashed all over the media within hours of being confidentially announced to members of staff. Nor...

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