28-Feb-2008 By The PMA Team
MA deputy editor The PMA Team previews the MA100 club meeting
Charles Wells profits hit as costs take their toll
24-Jan-2008 By Hamish Champ
Reorganisation costs and rising raw material prices combined to dent Charles Wells' profitability in 2007.But despite a 17 per cent drop in pre-tax...
10-Jan-2008
Things are looking up at the Wadworth brewery, says Roger Protz
Wadworth gets behind anti-drink drive campaign
20-Dec-2007 By Hamish Champ
Devizes-based brewer Wadworth is supporting the government's anti-drink drive campaign over Christmas with a pair of fake hand pumps installed in its...
JW Lees launches Grip Glass
08-Nov-2007
Brewer and retailer JW Lees has launched a unique pint glass. The Grip Glass has grooves to fit the hand, allowing a proper grip on the glass....
Scottish & Newcastle 'star chamber' to fend off Carlsberg approach
05-Nov-2007 By Hamish Champ
Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) has created a 'star chamber' of senior board members to see off Carlsberg/Heineken's £6.8bn approach.Officially...
Like-for-like sales up 1.8% at Luminar
01-Nov-2007 By Mark Wingett mark.wingett@william-reed.co.uk
Luminar, the quoted nightclub group, which operates the Liquid, Oceana, and Lava & Ignite chains, has reported a 1.8% increase in like-for-like...
30-Oct-2007 By Mark Wingett, M&C Report
Nightclub operator Luminar Leisure reports a 1.8% increase in like-for-like sales
Luminar unfazed by smoking ban
30-Oct-2007 By Hamish Champ
Dance venue operator Luminar has reported that the smoking ban has had a "marginal impact" on first half trading performance.Announcing its figures...
26-Oct-2007 By The PMA Team
Orchid Group is stepping up its plans to open new carveries after "phenomenal success"
Cognetas writes down Novus Leisure investment by £60m
04-Oct-2007 By Hamish Champ
The private equity group which owns Tiger Tiger operator Novus Leisure has revalued its investment in the company from the equivalent of nearly £80m...
Debating hot industry topics at the ALMR's Ops Academy
01-Oct-2007 By Hamish Champ
I was recently asked to co-chair a debate featuring high-flying members of the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers' (ALMR) 'Ops Academy'. The...
Ultimate Leisure takes premium to heart
24-Sep-2007 By Hamish Champ
In changing its name to Premium Bars and Restaurants Ultimate Leisure new moniker will reflect "the positive strides the group has taken over the...
Giles Thorley backs calls to reduce drinking age
20-Sep-2007 By Hamish Champ
Punch Taverns chief executive Giles Thorley has added his weight to calls for the drinking age in the UK to be lowered to 16.The boss of the biggest...
Wellstead's successors announced at Christies
19-Sep-2007
Following Colin Wellstead's decision earlier this year to retire Neil Morgan has been appointed as Christie & Co's director & head of public...
04-Sep-2007 By Mark Wingett
Tattershall Castle Group (TCG), the managed pub operator owned by Alchemy Partners, the private equity firm, has launched a new concept called Oasis under the banner "classic pubs with a twist".
31-Aug-2007
Nightclub operator Luminar plans to treble the amount of seating space at its venues to around 20% of the total area. Luminar chief executive Steve...
Heartstone Inns banks £3m in new financing
17-Aug-2007 By Hamish Champ
Heartstone Inns, the Reading-based pubco founded earlier this year by industry veterans Stuart Hawthorn and James Birch, has raised £3m in a second...
Camerons Brewery sells free on-trade business
06-Jul-2007 By Hamish Champ
Tough market conditions have forced North East brewery Camerons to sell its free on-trade business to Coors for an undisclosed sum.The business...
26 Alex Salussolia
31-May-2007
managing director, Glendola Leisure (new entry)
The ALMR conference - a lesson in how to have fun in the licensed trade
27-Apr-2007 By Hamish Champ
I wandered over the Millennium Bridge from our offices on the South Bank this week to pay a visit to the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers'...
ALMR calls for common sense over rent rises
26-Apr-2007 By Hamish Champ
The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) has called on landlords to cut its members some slack when it comes to rent reviews. Addressing...
McMullen's hits out at Home Office response
12-Apr-2007
McMullen's HAS hit out at the Home Office, claiming its approach to pubs is both "counter-productive" and "misguided". Peter Furness-Smith, the...
13-Mar-2007 By Lucy Britner
Ember Inns is urging customers to drink pink this month to help raise money for a breast cancer charity. Pub goers will raise a glass of rosé wine...
17-Jan-2007
Wells & Young's buys rights for Courage from Scottish & Newcastle UK.
Whitbread sells TGI Friday's for £70.4m
17-Jan-2007 By Hamish Champ
Whitbread has sold its interest in the TGI Friday's restaurant chain to ABN AMRO Capital and US group Carlson Restaurants Worldwide for £70.4m.The...
Law lets pubs down says McMullens
11-Jan-2007 By John Harrington john.harrington@william-reed.co.u
McMullens boss Peter Furness-Smith has written to Home Secretary John Reid slamming British law enforcement for not doing enough to support pubs. The...
New partner and site for Peach pubco
30-Nov-2006 By The PMA Team
Peach Pub Company, the innovative food-led multiple retailer, has signed up for its seventh property - the Old Mill, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, a...
Geronimo Inns set to double in size
30-Nov-2006 By The PMA Team
Private-equity firm Penta Capital has taken a controlling stake in Geronimo Inns, the multiple lessee founded by Rupert and Joanna Clevely that is...
Porters saved from demolition
30-Nov-2006
A MACCLESFIELD licensee who was turned into a virtual computer game hero to save her pub from demolition has been given an extra life after the...
Laurel and hearty
17-Nov-2006 By Hamish Champ
Talking to Paul Symonds about the portfolio of brands under his control - Ha! Ha! Bar & Canteen, Slug & Lettuce, Yates's and Hog's Head -...
Luminar close to selling Entertainment Division
15-Nov-2006 By Hamish Champ
Nightclub operator Luminar says talks to secure the sale of its struggling Entertainment Division are "at an advanced stage".The group, which today...
Camerons snaps up eleven more venues
19-Oct-2006 By Tony Halstead
North east brewer Camerons is set to notch up a half century of pubs after agreeing terms to buy 11 new venues. Completion of the deal later this...
23-May-2006 By Iain O'Neil
Young's and Charles Wells are to merge brewing operations to form a new company called Wells and Young's. The move clears the way for Young's to sell...
Family ties seal Wells and Young's merger deal
01-May-2006 By Hamish Champ
While for Young's the not-insignificant matter of realising between £80m and £100m from the sale of the brewery site played its part, the close...
ALMR set to up its game
27-Apr-2006
Industry body will clarify its role as members seek more focused organisation to represent their views.The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers...
23-Mar-2006 By Mark Stretton
Luminar, Britain's biggest nightclub business, has reported, as part of a trading update, a 0.6% like-for-like sales decrease in its core business....
09-Feb-2006 By The PMA Team
Bedford-based brewer Charles Wells has set a target of increasing its pub estate by 20% by September 2008.
JW Lees investigates tenants
09-Feb-2006
Manchester brewer JW Lees has launched an investigation across its 130-strong tenanted estate after finding a band of licensees buying outside the...
Doorstaff warning after Luminar loses case
02-Feb-2006
Pubs which use doorstaff are being warned that they are liable for their actions after late-night operator Luminar Leisure lost a case in the Court...
Luminar optimistic despite tough trading
15-Nov-2005
Despite continued tough trading late night operator Luminar said it remained "cautiously optimistic" it can end its financial year in good...
McMullen's looks to
20-Oct-2005
its people The traumas of a threatened break-up of the business are now behind McMullen's, and MD Peter Furness-Smith is focusing on people and...
JW Lees revamps troubled pub
11-Apr-2005
J W Lees,the Manchester brewer, has reopened the Greengate on the Limeside Estate, Middleton, Greater Manchester after working with the police to rid...
Restaurant Group takes stake in Living Ventures
31-Mar-2005
The Restaurant Group has tied up its deal with Living Ventures, initially acquiring a 40 per cent stake in the upmarket bar business.In a complex...
The heart of it
23-Mar-2005
The brewery contains the very soul of St Austell - as Lorna Harrison reports.In today's climate, the heart-wrenching decision to quit brewing and...
Luminar considers future of Chicago Rock Cafe
18-Mar-2005
Luminar is considering the future of Chicago Rock Café and Jumpin' Jaks after what it has described as unsatisfactory performance by these...
Yates and Tchenguiz chase SFI
16-Mar-2005
Both the Yates wine bar group and property magnate Robert Tchenguiz are being widely tipped as potential bidders for SFI.Despite reports splashed...
ALMR announces finalists in Operations Manager Awards
13-Jan-2005
Entrants for the 2005 ALMR Operations Managers Awards have been whittled down to the final 16 as the last stage of judging approaches.Seven area...
GI shakes up Yates Group boardroom
25-Nov-2004
Yates Group has made three major appointments as part of a boardroom re-organisation. Colin Rawlinson, who acted as a consultant to GI Partners when...
Geronimo eyes Heathrow
23-Sep-2004
by John Harrington Gastro pub operator Geronimo Inns hopes to take premium pub dining into uncharted territory with plans to open a new outlet at...