21-May-2008 By John Grogan
Fair Pint campaign needs to be focused, says MA columnist and Labour MP John Grogan
21-May-2008 By John Harrington
Market report predicts more gloom for pubs over the next two years
21-May-2008 By John Harrington
Trade lobbyists and campaigners must put differences aside to save the pub
Back to basics: Choosing a poker operator
20-May-2008
LAST SEPTEMBER the gambling powers-that-be finally laid their cards on the table and the law over poker in pubs became clearer. When it confirmed...
Mark Daniels: Fighting a losing battle
20-May-2008
You know the type I mean: you wake up to bright sunshine streaming through the window, the children have risen and quietly made themselves...
Trade leaders meet to fight for future of pubs
20-May-2008 By Matt Eley Matt
Industry leaders met at the House of Commons today in a bid to unite and fight for the future of the British pub. In a meeting called by Publican...
Hamish Champ: One of life's 'average' pleasures
19-May-2008 By Hamish Champ
We hear a lot about 'averages' these days. Average age of customers in a pub; average customer spend; average pub profitability, etc, etc, ad...
Fat ladies and other tales
18-May-2008 By Hamish Champ
So the fat lady has finally sung regarding which pubco will be first to convert to a real estate investment trust (REIT). True, Enterprise Inns...
Andrew Meadowcroft: Looking at the fundamentals
18-May-2008
Just as I was starting to accept there was little positive in the sector to report, two things happened. Firstly, I read what I have always believed:...
Pub Bitch
17-May-2008
Feeding his egoTop marks to the BII and John Mac for another sterling annual lunch at the Grosvenor House hotel in London last week. No marks at all,...
16-May-2008 By Stephen Crawley
Caledonian boss Stephen Crawley says retail is detail
Marc Allinson: Losing the great in "Great Britain
16-May-2008
Everyone seems to remember how much better things were when they were young. Unfortunately I agree. We are now living in a state where life is more...
Award-winning pub opens shop next door
16-May-2008 By Matt Eley Matt
A couple that have won awards for the food and drink at their pub have opened a shop so customers can enjoy their ingredients at home. Chef TJ Drew...
Arkell's finance director blames red tape for early retirement
16-May-2008 By Hamish Champ
Ray Fisher, finance director of Swindon-based Arkell's Brewery, is retiring after 34 years at the company, blaming government red tape for his...
Under my umbrella
15-May-2008
Boarded up and in the hands of a property developer eager to knock it down and put 14 houses in its place, the Summer Cross in Otley, near Leeds, was...
Opus gives out pub's bank details
15-May-2008
An energy company that has been slammed for its high bills has now come under fire for the way it handled a customer's personal details. Gary Grant...
14-May-2008 By Ewan Turney
Labour peer says up to 30 ADZs in first year but supermarkets will be included
News update: Sell More pubs in action
14-May-2008
* With many licensees hoping that the brighter weather this month will herald a summer-long boost to their businesses, Paul Barden in Southampton is...
Crunch time
14-May-2008
Rural pub the Rose & Crown in Selling, near Faversham in Kent, is a typical, food-led, rural outlet catering for a wide customer profile - from...
Pete Robinson: Nu-Labour - a long road ahead
14-May-2008
Some say we need to state the licenced trade's case more loudly.That's already been tried. It's being shouted from the treetops with industry leaders...
13-May-2008 By Ewan Turney
Scotland suffering repeat of the SIA licensing delay fiasco in England
BII chief makes rallying cry to industry
13-May-2008 By Matt Eley Matt
BII chief executive John McNamara has said the 'serious threat' the pub industry is facing is also a marvellous opportunity. Speaking to more than...
Sunshine brings welcome boost to trade
13-May-2008
Record trading has been reported in the first weeks of May as glorious sunshine draws customers to pubs across the UK.Takings were up by as much as...
13-May-2008
MA forum regular Nigel Wakefield has been made a Companion Member of the BII at today's annual lunch. Wakefield, who aside from giving invaluable...
Time for a new model?
12-May-2008
The pub industry's prospects appear bleak and things are likely to get much worse if the UK economy goes well and truly into recession. Moreover, the...
Going Forth - Fast
12-May-2008
Steve Mallon, managing director of Scottish pubco Maclay Inns, is in a buoyant mood. Following a major investment programme across the group's...
Hamish Champ: Getting a bit of perspective
12-May-2008 By Hamish Champ
Like everyone sometimes I have a crap day at work. Sometimes this stretches to a crap week, such is the way my life occasionally goes. Either it's...
Doing the REIT thing
12-May-2008 By Hamish Champ
Until last week the likelihood of significant pub sector corporate activity in the near future was relatively low. Money - or rather debt - to fund...
12-May-2008 By Ewan Turney
A Lincolnshire licensee has received a visit from Alistair Darling - and told him he is barred. Unfortunately, Darren Cheesman of the Hit or Miss in...
09-May-2008 By Peter Coulson
MA legal editor Peter Coulson considers the OFT's role in investigating the beer tie
Pete Robinson: Pub killers get a bloody nose
09-May-2008
Without doubt they are 'Pub Killers', but more about that later.In reality there's very little that's 'new' about this Labour Government. Anyone my...
Mark Daniels: Pubs don't do cheap booze. But supermarkets do.
08-May-2008
Well, let's scrap that last one, shall we? Although I did find my missing safe keys and thirty five quid in a pair I dug out of the wardrobe on...
A spent force?
08-May-2008
Licensed Victuallers' Associations (LVAs), once a mainstay of the pub industry, are suffering shrinking membership lists. Many fear they could soon...
Back to Basics: Hosting comedy
08-May-2008
Heard the one about the pub that hosted comedy? It pulled in the punters and made a barrel (o' laughs) full of money.More and more pubs are turning...
Comment: A raw deal
08-May-2008
"Three bottles of Chablis for a tenner". The words are still ringing in my ears. A contact of mine just rang to chew the fat and mentioned the fact...
REITs could spark pubco deals
08-May-2008 By Hamish Champ
The tax authorities' decision to grant Enterprise Inns the right to convert into a real estate investment trust (REIT) could signal a new phase of...
The Guv'nor Dennis Griffiths
08-May-2008
Let's stop this legal madness and talk A man saw a pig with two wooden legs. He asked the farmer why. "Well", said the farmer, "we quite like the...
British Gas error decimates trade
08-May-2008 By John Harrington John Harrington@william-reed.co.
Licensee takes action on 'appalling' bills A licensee suffered 18 months of hell after a billing blunder meant he couldn't afford to heat his pub...
My New Pub The Three Horseshoes
08-May-2008
Allensmore, Herefordshire Agent: Christie+Co Jason Ratcliffe has taken over the Three Horseshoes after four years as assistant manager. His parents,...
Steve Tucker, director, Humberstones
08-May-2008
Like many recent MA contributors, I have spent a lifetime in the licensed trade starting at the tender age of 19 as an off-licence manager for...
08-May-2008 By David Elliott
Enough moaning — let's have some action Reading the daily papers over the past few days, anyone in the licensed trade could be excused for thinking...
Bar Talk
08-May-2008
How was trade over the Bank Holiday weekend? Ian Rigg The Taps Lytham Lancashire Absolutely brilliant. We had the first decent weather this year...
Moves
08-May-2008
Brennan appointed to Hydes finance role Manchester-based Hydes Brewery has appointed Claire Brennan as financial controller. Brennan joins the...
My pub juke box
08-May-2008
Trade consultant Phil Dixon chooses his favourite tracks Christmas Day 1963 brought with it a Dansette record player, closely followed by The Buddy...
Digest
08-May-2008
Blanc's TV winners quit pub The winners of Raymond Blanc's TV series, The Restaurant, have quit the Thatch, in Thame, Oxfordshire. Jeremy and Jane...
Getting his kicks from life
08-May-2008
Never one to be in the passenger seat, Global Brands MD Steve Perez tells Noli Dinkovski how his single-minded approach to business drives him...
Live and let die
08-May-2008
There are too many pubs and bars and only the market can decide which will survive The father of free-market economics, Adam Smith set out in his...
Facts crucial for pub hours cut
08-May-2008
Earlier this week, judgment was delivered in an important case on the weight to be given to residents' fears over later hours for pubs. Those who...
Q&A
08-May-2008
Smoking at home Q. We have a freehold pub that we own and live in as our home. We have no staff. Could you please clarify the rules regarding smoking...
Your say
08-May-2008
Flexible rents are way forward for pubs With reference to the editor's leader "What's fair and maintainable?" (MA, 24 April), I have a few comments....
