Celtic Inns homes in on 100-pub estate target
10-Feb-2005
by The PMA Team Tenanted pub company Celtic Inns, which runs 63 pubs, is considering an acquisition that would help it reach its target of an...
DTI launches investigation into Dorset broker
10-Feb-2005
The Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) has agreed to look into Dorset broker Gateway Finance.co.uk after licensees across the UK were left out...
Licensees and trade officials petition against smoking ban
10-Feb-2005
The battle to block moves by councils in Liverpool and London to ban smoking in all public places - including pubs - is officially under way.The...
New tipping guidelines issued by Taxman
10-Feb-2005
The Inland Revenue has released revised guidelines which could save on National Insurance bills for pubs which use tips to bring staff up to minimum...
Drink Talking: Alison Smith
10-Feb-2005
Is our society really ready for flexible trading hours asks Alison Smith of Bar One Nine, Keynsham in Somerset.As you will know, the new licensing...
Reasons to be cheerful
10-Feb-2005
In spite of doom-laden headlines ANDREW JEFFORD is in positive mood Something odd's been going on. Snow shuts airports from New York to Chicago;...
MacArthur sails into St Austell pub
10-Feb-2005
Sailing heroine Ellen MacArthur celebrated her record breaking solo journey around the world with a slap-up meal at the Five Degrees West in...
Unite for tsunami cause, pubs urged
10-Feb-2005
by Ewan Turney Pubs are being urged to rally one last time to raise money for the victims of the tsunami disaster by charity organisation Pub Aid....
We'll fight NY-ban say capital pubs
10-Feb-2005
by Tony Halstead A leading London trade group has attacked attempts by local councils to force through a "New York-style" pub smoking ban in the...
Yates Group snaps up Santa Fe chain
10-Feb-2005
Yates Group has bought the seven-strong Santa Fe restaurant chain for £3.55m, plus the assumption of £2.5m in debt. Sante Fe, which has two sites...
Time for change
09-Feb-2005
After February 7 a clearer picture of the new licensing regime in England and Wales is beginning to emerge. But the trade in Scotland still has a...
Hungry for more
09-Feb-2005
Barracuda chief executive Mark McQuater has taken the company he founded from strength to strength over the past five years. Andrew Catchpole...
Publican fights church over nuisance bells
09-Feb-2005
An angry publican who hasn't had a decent night's sleep for more than a year, is fighting to ban the church bells that are keeping him awake.Graham...
Regent rallies as City confidence returns
09-Feb-2005
Three months into Bob Ivell's stewardship Regent Inns is on course for recovery as profits grow.Interim results released this morning (February 9)...
Berkshire licensee to auction pub's antiques
08-Feb-2005
The licensee of a Berkshire pub is auctioning some of the pub's bric-a-brac and antiques and is inviting his customers to place bids.Robin Macdonald,...
What the Sunday papers said…
07-Feb-2005
The debate on 24-hour drinking has focused mainly on binge-drinking, yet staff are more worried about antisocial hours than antisocial behaviour,...
National Pubs Week: Raise a glass
04-Feb-2005
National Pubs Week will be upon us before you know it. The CAMRA-organised event is a great opportunity to draw some attention to your community...
National Pubs Week: Boost trade
04-Feb-2005
National Pubs Week is almost with us and CAMRA hopes that even more licensees will take the chance to generate some fun and boost profits. Daniel...
Charles Wells gives staff cash after £3m windfall
03-Feb-2005
by The PMA Team Bedford brewer and retailer Charles Wells has given its entire staff an extra week's pay after a windfall profit of £3.1m with the...
Uproar over broker loans
03-Feb-2005
Licensees across the UK have been left out of pocket after promised loans have failed to materialise.Complaints about Gateway Finance.co.uk, which is...
Drink Talking: Martin Rawlings
03-Feb-2005
When applying for your licence there are a few things to bear in mind says Martin Rawlings, director of pub & leisure at the British Beer &...
Pubco held responsible for manager's 'tipping'
03-Feb-2005
Massive chief Peter Linacre has hit out at a law that left his pubco culpable for the behaviour of one of his managers.The 35-strong pub company was...
Will you be glued to the Michael Jackson trial?
03-Feb-2005
Andrew Parry The Duck onthe Pond Long Itchington Warwickshire "I must admit, given the small amount of time that I get to watch TV, Michael...
The high street has to change
03-Feb-2005
by M&C editor Mark Stretton The pressure from Whitehall and the media for the industry to stop flogging cheap drink and stem alcohol-fuelled...
Mark Jones comment
03-Feb-2005
It is clear that the industry (and particularly those of us who operate on our high streets) is entering a potentially turbulent time. The changes in...
Pub is Hub set to surge ahead after cash boost
03-Feb-2005
by Tony Halstead Scores of isolated rural andvillage inns will get a much-needed lifeline to survival later this month when Pub is theHub announces...
Last thing we need is 24hr quick fix
03-Feb-2005
The technical problems of the new law that I have outlined above have been swamped by the 24-hour opening/binge drinking furore, to which the...
Hosts urged to get set for
03-Feb-2005
St George's Licensees are being urged to stock up on supplies and plan ahead for St George's Day as the popularity and recognition of the occasion...
Best Pubwatchof the year
03-Feb-2005
This award is sponsored by Laurel Pub Company and is aimed at recognising the group that has made the most effort in the past year to understand and...
Camra targets binge ghettos'
03-Feb-2005
The Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) has attacked huge vertical drinking warehouses for turning town centres into "late-night ghettos of binge...
Two in bar' to be scrapped
03-Feb-2005
QWhere existing licensed premises, which do not have a PEL, have taken advantage of the "two in a bar rule" and wish to provide similar entertainment...
Pulling power
02-Feb-2005
Despite operating only three per cent of pubs in the UK, Mitchells & Butlers rakes in nine per cent of the industry's sales. Andrew Catchpole...
Taking a stand
02-Feb-2005
The Publican's Butt Out! campaign has had overwhelming support. Tom Sandham went along to a Pubwatch meeting in South-East London to hear what the...
Brains bolsters its spread in Wales
01-Feb-2005
SA Brain has strengthened its presence in west Wales with the purchase of 27 pubs from Cardigan-based Innkeeper Wales for an undisclosed sum. This...
What the Sunday papers said…
31-Jan-2005
None of the publicans responding to a BBC survey said they would stay open 24-hours when licensing laws are relaxed next month, largely because it...
SFI appoints advisor to consider its options
27-Jan-2005
by The PMA Team SFI Group has appointed an advisor to look at refinancing or selling the company. The company, which saw its banks swap debt for...
A speedy solution
27-Jan-2005
MP Martin O'Neill, the man who led the Trade & Industry Select Committee's recent probe into the pubcos, tells Daniel Pearce why the subsequent...
Licensees glory in Wetherspoon smoking ban
27-Jan-2005
JD Wetherspoon plans to introduce a smoking ban have been welcomed by other licensees - because it could mean more trade for them.The chain is to...
New SIA problems as deadlines draw closer
27-Jan-2005
The Security Industry Authority (SIA) is continuing to struggle in its efforts to get door supervisors to sign up for its new licence.Police in most...
Going for Gould
27-Jan-2005
Stephen Gould made the switch from major pubco to family firm two years ago, and will now take over as Everards' MD six months earlier than planned....
Hours fixing' is next hurdle facing hosts
27-Jan-2005
The latest twist in the sorry tale of licensing reform and the one probably most important for the majority of licensees is the "fixing" of...
Livingstone joins gay pub flag row
27-Jan-2005
by John Harrington A row over gay Soho pubs flying rainbow flags has erupted, after London mayor Ken Livingstone condemned Westminster Council for...
The giving game
27-Jan-2005
Charity collections in pubs may be fairly commonplace but the recent crisis insouth east Asia has raised the stakes. CAMILLA PALMER reports on the...
Trade up in arms over Alcohol Disorder Zones
27-Jan-2005
by Ewan Turney Pubs and bars in problem areas could find themselves "yellow-carded" and dumped in Alcohol Disorder Zones, with the prospect of...
Willing and able
26-Jan-2005
Turning Cains around is no short-term project for its dynamic directors - they are in it for the long haul, as they explain to Andrew...
Stalled progress at SFI sparks potential sale
24-Jan-2005
The troubled SFI Group has appointed Kroll as corporate advisor as it weighs up sale or restructuring as possible routes to survival.The move comes...
What the Sunday papers said…
24-Jan-2005
Passions are running high over proposals to relax the UK's archaic drinking laws, with the drinks industry on one side, consumer groups, the medical...
Finance: Be calculating
21-Jan-2005
Make this the year when you take back control of your pub accounts by calculating the actual costs and running expenses says Phil Mellows.Publicans...
On the attack
20-Jan-2005
The licensed trade is under siege again. But the industry has been working hard to correct the misconceptions. Michelle Perrett reports.It looks like...
Pubfolio plans expansion of estate
20-Jan-2005
Pubfolio has whetted the market's appetite with talk of further rapid expansion of its 800-strong portfolio.Pubfolio boss Richard Hatter confirmed he...
