Private equity firm buys Jamies wine bar sites
13-Aug-2008
Private Equity financier NBGI has backed former Chorion chairman Nick Tamblyn in a buyout of selected Jamies wine bar and Henry J Bean assets from...
12-Aug-2008 By Ewan Turney
Charles Wells has acquired the Black Horse in Swaffham Bulbeck, Cambridgeshire from a private seller. The destination food outlet, which will now...
'Health campaigners condemn Luminar's 80p-a-drink plan'
03-Aug-2008
A nightclub chain which has slashed the price of its drinks to 80p has been condemned as "irresponsible" by health campaigners. Pub and club giant...
31-Jul-2008 By The PMA Team
TCG Acquisitions, the managed company owned by Alchemy Partners, is preparing to split itself into as many as five different legal entities. The...
28-Jul-2008 By The PMA Team
The award-winning Bar Sport chain, which runs four sites, has gone into administration with Butcher Woods after over-investment. Bar Sport, which...
24-Jul-2008 By The PMA Team
Luminar boss Stephen Thomas has defended offering all drinks on selected nights for 80p or 90p. The company is trialling a number of discount...
Luminar denies making informal bid for Regent Inns
21-Jul-2008 By Hamish Champ
Luminar, the nightclub operator, has denied press speculation it has tabled an informal offer for troubled Regent Inns, which runs the Walkabout...
09-Jul-2008 By Ewan Turney
LGV Capital has successfully completed its acquisition of 65 Channel Island pubs and two drinks distribution firms from Sandpiper CI after the deal...
Moleface lines up next site
26-Jun-2008
Moleface Pub Company, the Midlands-based gastro-pub operator, has snapped up its second pub, the Lord Nelson, an Enterprise leasehold in Burton...
Orchid Group's backer slams whispering campaign
20-Jun-2008 By Hamish Champ
The backer of the Orchid pub group has slammed a 'whispering campaign' which has suggested the business is in financial trouble.Having acquired the...
McManus Pub Co sails off with Estuary Pub Company
06-Jun-2008
McManus Pub Company, the Northampton-based operator has acquired full control of the six-site Estuary Pub Company after buying the outstanding 50 per...
05-Jun-2008 By Graham Ridout
Punch operations director Kevin Georgel and head of recruitment Adam Smith tell Graham Ridout about their attitude to multiple managed operators A...
30-May-2008 By Mark Stretton, M&C Report
Cavendish Bars, the company formed out of various Luminar nightclub assets, has put 14 sites up for sale. Most of the clubs and bars included in the...
MA100 line-up revealed
29-May-2008 By MA Reporter ma.editorial@william-reed.co.uk
Next event will be on 23 and 24 June The list of speakers for the next seminar for members of MA100, the club for multiple independent retailers, has...
JW Lees: "We're serious about growth
28-May-2008
JW Lees claims a series of management changes show it is "serious about growth when most companies are cutting costs". Simon Cross is taking over as...
Suburban Bar Co creates new group to run wet-led pubs
12-May-2008 By Hamish Champ
Suburban Style Bar has created a subsidiary company to manage the 10 freehold wet-led pubs it bought earlier this year. Beacon Pub Company will run...
Luminar sells 26 sites to new company
17-Apr-2008
Luminar has agreed the transfer of 26 units to a new operator, Cavendish Bars.The disposal, which will see Luminar make a net loss on disposal of...
17-Apr-2008 By Ewan Turney
Luminar Leisure has sold 26 nightclubs for 19p each to Cavendish Bars. Cavendish has agreed to buy the leaseholds via the sale of five disposal...
Bank/Zinc acquisition boosts Individual Restaurant Group
31-Mar-2008 By Hamish Champ
Steve Walker, chief executive of the Individual Restaurant Company (IRC), acknowledged the eating out market was getting more "challenging" but said...
Novus Leisure snaps up Soho Clubs & Bars
18-Mar-2008 By Hamish Champ
Novus Leisure, the private equity-backed Tiger Tiger operator, has completed a deal to buy most of Soho Clubs & Bars (SC&B) from its...
ALMR launches annual operations managers' awards
11-Mar-2008
The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) is inviting entries to its annual Operations Managers Awards.This year's event is being...
Suburban Style Bar Company goes down wet-led route for £4.5m
11-Mar-2008 By Hamish Champ
West Yorkshire-based Suburban Style Bar Company has shelled out £4.5m on 10 wet-led pubs, effectively trebling the size of its North of England...
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...
