'DON'T QUOTE ME ON THAT'
31-Aug-2006
Beer volumes are only going in one direction - slowly down. This trend applies across the board, not just the on-trade, and, coupled with a decline...
Critics wrong to condemn all
31-Aug-2006
Lucy Mangan, a journalist with The Guardian, had a pop at pub food last week. As a result of being served a bad beef sandwich in a pub in...
The GUV'NOR
31-Aug-2006
With knowledge gathered from working 30 years in the licensed trade and my forthcoming retirement after 27 years at the Cherry Tree, Rowledge,...
What the Sunday Papers said
27-Aug-2006
The multi-billion dollar sale of Vin & Sprit (V&S), the owner of trendy Swedish vodka Absolut, is once again on the cards. The Swedish...
25-Aug-2006 By The PMA Team
Laurel Pub Company, the managed pub operator owned by Robert Tchenguiz, has confirmed it has been talking to a large number of companies about a...
City Comment: Hamish Champ
25-Aug-2006 By Hamish Champ
If one wanted further proof that there is a clear blue sea between Punch Taverns and Enterprise Inns over future strategy one only need note comments...
No need to worry
25-Aug-2006 By James Wilmore
More than half of all licensees believe next summer's smoking ban will not affect the value of their pub. Responding to this year's Publican Market...
25-Aug-2006 By John Harrington
A Leicestershire host has been fined a record £9,000 for selling cheaper spirits as well-known brands of gin, vodka and rum. The Bell Inn at Market...
BarTalk
24-Aug-2006
Are you planning anything special for the bank holiday weekend?
24-Aug-2006 By The PMA Team
Utopian Leisure, the company set up by former Ultimate Leisure boss Bob Senior, has acquired nightclub company Tokyo Industries for an undisclosed...
Licensees serving food could face huge tax hike
24-Aug-2006
Licensees introducing food into their pubs could find themselves slapped with a huge price hike for VAT. The ruling of a recent tribunal case against...
24-Aug-2006 By John Harrington
Licensing reform has not helped live music in pubs because it makes it easier for residents to interfere - says licensee.
Opening doors
23-Aug-2006
All too often door supervisors are labelled as stereotypical burly bouncers dominating a male-oriented profession. Yet the days when the industry was...
Scottish licensees see drop in trade
23-Aug-2006
Nearly half of licensees in Scotland claim they have seen a drop in regular customers since the new no-smoking laws came into force. In the first...
What the Sunday papers said
21-Aug-2006
Mitchells & Butlers has received around 10 initial offers for the 100 or so pubs it put up for sale last month. The managed pub group is believed...
Salisbury licensee wins case against licensing policy
17-Aug-2006
A landlord in Salisbury has won a case against his local authority licensing policy. Joe Duthie, licensee at the Benett Arms in Semley, Salisbury,...
Inn-Direct continuing to trade?
17-Aug-2006
Inn-Direct, the Bradford-based company, at the centre of the rogue recruitment scandal is continuing to trade. The company, which was wound-up by the...
17-Aug-2006 By Ewan Turney
Trade leaders call for vigilance at time of increased threat
Comment: Survival of the fittest
14-Aug-2006
Take a look around the Broad Street/Brindley Place area in Birmingham these days and you will find a plethora of high street names all competing for...
Keen to do a proper job
14-Aug-2006 By Hamish Champ
It's past midnight on a Wednesday in mid-July and the streets circling the Central, St Austell Brewery's snazzy bar in the middle of Newquay, are...
City Comment: Hamish Champ
14-Aug-2006 By Hamish Champ
Recently the brewer had written to the Competition Commission - currently investigating the trading practices of the supermarket giants - to suggest...
Closure order is revoked on Sussex pub
14-Aug-2006
A licensee in Sussex has been left out of pocket despite the decision to suspend his licence being revoked.Joseph Williams, licensee of the Sportsman...
What the Sunday papers said
14-Aug-2006
Alcohol could carry compulsory cigarette packet-style health warnings under plans to tackle excessive consumption. The European Commission is calling...
Inn Direct forced to close after 'misleading' clients
10-Aug-2006 By The PMA Team
Pub industry is plagued by rogue recruitment firms, claims Insolvency Service investigator
Licensees conned by Inn-Direct continue to contact The Publican
10-Aug-2006
Scores of publicans say that they have been ripped off by rogue recruitment company Inn-Direct, which was wound-up by the Department of Trade and...
Licensees optimistic about the future, says The Publican's Market Report
10-Aug-2006
Licensees are in an optimistic mood, according to The Publican's Market Report 2006.Despite what has been one of the most crucial years in the...
Change of venue leads to GBBF triumph
10-Aug-2006
The new Earls Court venue for the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) has been hailed a great success. The eagerly anticipated change of venue from...
Fuller's buoyant as bold statement reaps reward
10-Aug-2006
It's a full nine months since London brewer Fuller's added Gale's 111-strong pub estate to its London-centred business. One senior pubco boss...
Licensee claims poker victory
09-Aug-2006 By James Wilmore
A Gloucestershire licensee is claiming victory in his fight to allow poker to be played in his pub - despite not having a local authority permit....
09-Aug-2006
Paul Symonds, former MD of Spirit Group's Pubs and Bars division, has been announced as the new chief executive of Laurel. He will report to Laurel...
08-Aug-2006
The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) has slammed proposals to introduce Europe-wide restrictions on alcohol sales which could increase prices...
Westminster restricts pub openings
07-Aug-2006
Westminster City Council is to use planning laws to restrict new pub openings and to encourage more restaurants and cafes in the West End. In its new...
What the Sunday papers said
07-Aug-2006
Police have seized more than 500 fake identity cards from children trying to buy alcohol in a Cornish resort plagued by raucous public school pupils....
07-Aug-2006 By Iain O'Neil
This week sees the launch of the first BII - professional body for the licensed retail sector - Responsible Alcohol Retailing Week. The week will...
04-Aug-2006 By Iain O'Neil
Westminster Council has announced plans to ban any new pubs or bars from opening in London's West End.
04-Aug-2006 By Iain O'Neil
The trade has attacked a report by the Centre for Public Health which says England is a nation of binge-drinkers. The figures, released today and...
Oldham licensees still without certificates
03-Aug-2006
Oldham council has yet to issue a single premise licence certificate, eight months after the legislation came into place.The council is blaming...
Teenager given six years for killing publican
02-Aug-2006
The teenager who killed a South Gloucestershire licensee by running him over has been jailed for six years. Alexander Dix, 19, from Chipperfield...
02-Aug-2006 By Graham Ridout
A leading bar operator has warned that the use of false ID cards is escalating.Ultimate Leisure executive chairman Mark Jones said: "It has increased...
What the Sunday papers said
30-Jul-2006
Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) has complained to the Competition Commission about supermarkets selling cheap alcohol in order to attract...
City Comment: Hamish Champ
27-Jul-2006 By Hamish Champ
The Publican's City desk would like to pass on its congratulations to Messrs Turner, Emeny and Roberts over at west London brewer Fuller's regarding...
A brand with bite
27-Jul-2006 By Hamish Champ
Pulling back from a planned stock market flotation can be cause for a few raised eyebrows, but Karan Bilimoria, who as a 27-year-old accountant...
The Crehan verdict
27-Jul-2006
The "big man wins again" was how licensee Bernie Crehan summed up the loss of his landmark court case in a statement last week. The licensee had...
Heatwave brings problems for pubs
27-Jul-2006
While the hot weather has brought soaring profits for many pubs, licensees have also been experiencing some unexpected problems.The continuing...
Smallest pub in the world?
26-Jul-2006
The Signal Box Inn at Cleethorpes, in Lincolnshire, opens this weekend claiming to be the smallest pub in the world. The pub, which measures eight...
Michael Turner gets top job at Fuller's
25-Jul-2006 By Hamish Champ
Michael Turner, Fuller Smith & Turner's chief executive, is to become the brewer's executive chairman when Anthony Fuller retires at next year's...
25-Jul-2006 By Iain O'Neil
CAMRA has said it is disappointed London Underground has axed a series of spoof tube adverts for next month's Great British Beer Festival. The ads,...
25-Jul-2006 By Iain O'Neil
Scottish licensees call emergency meeting with their MSP to discuss the effects of the smoking ban. NEW COMMENT
25-Jul-2006
Fuller's has reported a good start to the year but says chairman plans to retire next year.
City Comment: Hamish Champ
24-Jul-2006 By Hamish Champ
Operating drinking establishments on the nation's high streets is not for the faint-hearted. Regent Inns's Bob Ivell suggested as much this week,...
