Finance: Happy loss?
20-Jan-2005
Colin Marsters warns that far from boosting profits, licensees are heavily subsidising happy hours.Happy hours have long been a traditional carrot...
Pop Idol makers stop Pub Idol trademark
20-Jan-2005
by MA Reporter The makers of ITV's Pop Idol have stepped in to stop a karaoke entrepreneur from trademarking the name "Pub Idols" for use in his...
Host sacked in light-bulb row
20-Jan-2005
by John Harrington A pub manager has been sacked and given one week to leave his pub for ordering light bulbs without consent. John Traynor,...
Hosts must be made to join Pubwatch'
20-Jan-2005
A licensee and former Pubwatch chairman has called for the Scottish Executive to look at making participation in a Pubwatch scheme compulsory....
Blears pledges no Ofbooze'
20-Jan-2005
Home Office minister Hazel Blears has told the Morning Advertiser that plans for a new regulatory body to monitor social responsibility in the trade...
Beware pitfalls and
20-Jan-2005
plethora of paperwork If The Mail on Sunday thinks Andrew Cunningham is a friend of the licensed trade, it should look at the Licensing Regulations...
Best Family Pub of the year
20-Jan-2005
Britvic sponsors this award, which recognises the pub that has bestcapitalised on thefamily market in thepast 12 months North: Garsdale Country Inn...
Climbing the ladder
19-Jan-2005
With so many drinks brands vying for space on the bar, it's hard to know which way to turn. Adam Withrington asks Myles Doran how Barracuda makes...
Delay in reopening Boscastle flood pub
19-Jan-2005
Staff at a pub that was completely wrecked by floods in the summer are putting the business back together.When severe floods hit the Cornish town of...
Music pub saved from demolition
19-Jan-2005
A pub that became the centre of the community thanks to its outstanding music events has been saved from demolition.The Witchwood in...
What the Sunday papers say...
17-Jan-2005
Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, has insisted the Government will not be "blown off course" by a press campaign to derail its plans to legalise...
BBPA hits back after Daily Mail campaign
17-Jan-2005
The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) has spoken out after the Daily Mail launched its campaign to stall licensing reform.The newspaper has...
Herald shows its acquisitive Mood
13-Jan-2005
by Tony Halstead and The PMA Team Lancashire-based Herald Inns & Bars, a company linked to leisure entrepreneur Trevor Hemmings, has acquired...
Redundancies loom as Regent gears up for possible sale
13-Jan-2005
City rumours of a forthcoming sale of the 71-strong Regent Inns have intensified as the streamlining of the company's HQ operation gathers pace.A...
BII to extend membership to licensees in off-trade
13-Jan-2005
The BII is opening up its membership to all alcohol retailers for the first time to reflect the changing face of the licensed sector.The trade's...
A round with The Publican
13-Jan-2005
What made the news in The Publican this week 10 years ago, five years ago and last year.1995Independent brewers, unhappy with spiralling beer duty...
Coussins calls for new pub regulatory body
13-Jan-2005
by John Harrington Portman Group chief executive Jean Coussins has called for a Portman-style regulatory body for pubs. Her comments follow the...
EU expansion tipped to ease bar staff shortage
13-Jan-2005
by Ewan Turney Recruitment problems could be a thing of the past thanks to the expansion of the European Union (EU) to several Eastern European...
Fancy storing a Vulcan bomber in your yard for a wee while?
13-Jan-2005
A landlord in Stockport has given Snifter an unusual task finding a temporary home for his ex-RAF bomber while he does battle with the Blackpool...
Home Counties: Red Lion
13-Jan-2005
Coleshill, Buckinghamshire John Ullman doesn't mince his words. "I feel very privileged to live in the village and run this pub." It seems the...
Leicester clean-up stops drunks mid-flow
13-Jan-2005
Drunks caught urinating in the street in Leicester were handed a mop and bucket and told to clean up their mess. Police have warned that patrols...
The knock-on effect
13-Jan-2005
Rugby fans will be out in force from 5 February when the Six Nations kicks off. Ewan Turney gets some tips from licensees on how to turn the...
Keep upholding the old virtues and standards'
13-Jan-2005
As retired licensees we may be enjoying life to the full, but that does not mean that we are out of touch with what goes on in the UK. We only see...
New era' paves way for off-trade to join BII
13-Jan-2005
by John Harrington The British Institute of Innkeep-ing to be known in future as simply the BII is now offering membership to the off-trade as...
The way forward
12-Jan-2005
Now that the Trade & Industry Select Committee has finished its investigation into the pub companies, what steps can the industry take to build a...
Shouting for pubs
12-Jan-2005
National Pubs Week is coming up fast - and organiser CAMRA is urging YOU to get involved. Chief executive Mike Benner tells Daniel Pearce how.No one...
High street wins battle for Christmas pound
12-Jan-2005
News of modest but significant increases in like-for-like sales over the festive trading period delivered a note of optimism to the high street...
Casualties expected as W&DB integrates Burtonwood
12-Jan-2005
The new owners of Burtonwood's 460 pubs are moving full steam ahead with the integration expected to be completed by May.Wolverhampton & Dudley...
Licensee continues to back quizmaster after court battle
12-Jan-2005
A publican has re-affirmed his faith in his quizmaster after he was cleared of cheat allegations when a two and a half year court battle ended...
What the Sunday papers said…
10-Jan-2005
Troubled pub company Regent Inns, owner of the Walkabout and Jongleurs bars, is understood to have issued redundancy notices to 27 of the 87...
High Street fortunes pick up after Christmas sales surge
06-Jan-2005
New Year delivered a much-needed dose of optimism to the high street retailers as strong Christmas trading marked a turnabout in the sector.As...
It was like being breathalysed after a night out when you'd
06-Jan-2005
Wolverhampton & Dudley was another pubco that could confidently blow into Martin O'Neill's bag. Its business practices are progressive and...
Martin O'Neill has simply represented the pubcos'
06-Jan-2005
I predicted after the first stage of the verbal evidence that the Trade & Industry Select Committee inquiry into pubco power would come to...
Tadcaster hits growth target
06-Jan-2005
Tadcaster Pub Company has reached its target of building an estate of 50 pubs by the end of 2004, achieving an objective set at the company's launch...
The boy done not too bad
06-Jan-2005
The Trade & Industry Select Committee's pubco report is a curious mixture of naivety and crassness but also spot-on accuracy of judgement....
Big rise in directors' earnings at W&DB
06-Jan-2005
Total remuneration to the board of executive and non-executive directors at Wolves & Dudley Breweries (W&DB) increased by just over 30% to...
Pub tip ruling to increase National Insurance bill
04-Jan-2005
New guidelines from the taxman are set to increase the National Insurance bill for pubs which use tips to bring staff up to minimum wage levels.After...
Help & Advice Urgently Required
21-Dec-2004
We found a building with a freehold option to buy (This being a main piont of our negotiations) with a company called provence plc for our new...
Trade and Industry Committee criticises CAMRA
21-Dec-2004
Martin O' Neill, chairman of the Trade and Industry Select Committee, has refuted claims by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) that its report on the...
Mixed reaction to pubco investigation
21-Dec-2004
The findings of the Trade and Industry Select Committee investigation into pubcos have been received with a mixed reaction from those who gave...
Devon pub put on trial
17-Dec-2004
Residents of a North Devon village are being given an early Christmas present - the reopening of their local pub.Pub company Mentor Inns has...
I'm a celebrity, take my pic in your pub
16-Dec-2004
The Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) is urging the public to get out to pubs and hunt down celebrities in order to win its Celebrity in a Pub photographic competition
Blunkett's pub blitz
16-Dec-2004
"We had the summer campaign," said the lady at the Home Office press office, "and now we're going to have the Christmas blitz." This was in response...
Hunt for gang after licensee is stabbed
16-Dec-2004
A Manchester licensee had a knife plunged six inches into his back after going to the aid of one of his customers who thought he was going to be...
Piano proves key addition
16-Dec-2004
Piano evenings have fast become a big hit at the Coach & Horses in Edenfield, Lancashire and diners in the new extension, which is currently...
Pub closures won't stop teen boozers
16-Dec-2004
Trade warns PM that 24-hour closure orders for problem pubs are irrelevant by Ewan Turney Trade leaders have warned Tony Blair that tough new...
Mirror image
16-Dec-2004
Binge drinking has been a major topic this year, but a look at the Daily Mirror reveals that we've been here before.PHIL DIXON explains I have...
On the right track
16-Dec-2004
Bill Dax left his high-powered job at Eurotunnel to run a Buckinghamshire gastro pub. One year on, turnover has more than trebled. John Harrington...
That was the fear that was
16-Dec-2004
As licensees and suppliers gear up for the busiest time of year, there's little chance to reflect on the past 12 months. But from the slightly less...
Straight from the horse's mouth...
16-Dec-2004
"At last I can ask people to come upstairs and see my etchings and really mean it!" Steve Ronchetti, licensee of the Bisley in Blaydon-upon-Tyne, who...
