A Worcestershire licensee has said he will never stock John Smith’s in his pub again after claiming he was “misled” and “deceived” over a horse-racing promotion.
Licensees risk criminal prosecution and a loss of their alcohol licence if they sell packaged beers that don’t meet new regulations aimed at combating duty fraud.
Young’s-owned pub operator Geronimo Inns plans to add five outlets per year, its co-founder revealed, as the company took back control of its first-ever site.
Harveys, the East Sussex-based brewer and pub operator, has reported a fall in profits in 2011 after experiencing increased pensions contributions and lower income from property sales.
A group of 40 licensees in Bath have teamed up with the local council and police to implement a ‘Nightwatch’ scheme with the aim of creating a safer night-time economy in the city.
Longshot, the business led by entrepreneurs Joel Cadbury and Ollie Vigors, has launched a new round of fundraising as it looks to raise up to £10m to expand its four-strong Bel & The Dragon brand.
The story on the front page of last week's issue of the Publican’s Morning Advertiser (PMA), that after a long battle Michael Kheng has gained damages for his clients for the unlawful ‘instant’ closure notices issue by West Yorkshire Police, was...
Taxation is never a happy subject at the best of times, but it tends to come to the fore at Budget time. In the licensed trade the question often arises as to whether tax is chargeable on the benefits that an employee receives in addition to their wages....
The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) and the Bar Entertainment & Dance Association (BEDA) have announced plans to merge, creating one trade body representing more than 140 retailers operating more than 11,000 outlets.
I know it’s not quite April Fool’s Day but, as I read through the myriad of news stories, Facebook status updates and Twitter feeds I trawl through each morning in an effort to avoid getting out of bed and helping my wife get the children ready for school,...
The former boss of JM Inns, which operated circa 50 pubs across the south coast in the 1980s and 1990s, is eyeing plans to start a new pub group in the UK, M&C Report has learnt.
I have been having another look at some premises licences for out-of-town pubs recently and find it amazing that the raft of conditions contain long, direct quotes from the ‘old’ Licensing Act throughout.
Obviously the budget will take centre stage over the next couple of weeks so apart from a brief mention I thought I’d steer well clear. Yes it’s going to be another kick in the teeth but we have to dust ourselves down and get on with what we do best,...
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has hit back at criticism levied against it by leading beer writer and PMA columnist Pete Brown for delaying its support for a petition against the beer duty escalator.
Wet-led pubs and nightclubs were the biggest losers as the number of on-trade outlets fell 2.5% last year, with only food-led pubs and hotels experiencing moderate growth.
One of the first activities to be affected by the proposed changes in licensing laws due to come into effect next month will be temporary event notices.
Drinks promotions in pubs won’t be affected in the short term by the Government’s new alcohol crackdown, although a fresh round of sting operations targeting sales to drunks could be imminent.
Home Office minister Theresa May has issued support for the pub trade in her statement to the House of Commons this morning concerning the Government’s Alcohol Strategy.
Twice during his Budget speech, George Osborne stated that he wanted a transparent tax system. He also said that it should be fair. But the swift dismissal of the pub industry in his budget was anything but transparent, or fair.
The Association for Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) has disputed statistics that show alcohol consumption has increased deaths from liver-related diseases.
Other controversial changes due to come into force next month, according to the Home Office, concern sales to children. First of all the maximum fine (not the actual fine) has been doubled to £20,000 for underage sales, if they are prosecuted in the magistrates’...
It’s 1974. A working class boy made good from the valleys is keen to make even better. Peter Thomas, Bass’s first graduate trainee in Wales, is working a patch for the brewer containing 21 pubs on a road 12 miles long and is about to negotiate his first...
Sales of soft drinks in the on-trade fell 1% by value last year, while the decline in volumes accelerated to 4%, according to the Britvic Soft Drinks Report.
It came as rather a surprise to hear the Home Office confirm an April start for some of its radical changes to the Licensing Act. Many of us thought it would not be ready for this, and I still have considerable doubts.
A licensee has lost £10,000 in sales because gas maintenance work on a bridge outside his pub forced road closure and customers did not know how to reach the pub.
Prime Minister David Cameron has responded to calls for an independent panel to review the self-regulation deal over the pubco-tenant relationship, claiming it would not “be appropriate”.
Industry leaders have made their last-ditch attempts to persuade the Chancellor to help save the future of the pub trade and jobs ahead of the Budget on 21 March.
British actor Stephen Fry has leapt to the defence of a pub in Southampton called ‘The Hobbit’ which has been threatened with legal action by lawyers in Hollywood.
Colin Pedrick, former managing director of Enterprise Inns and UK and Ireland president of AB InBev, is among a group of pub and drinks industry veterans to launch a new wholesale business.
A former licensee of the now-shut Remix Bar in Woking, Surrey, will have to fork out £9,000 in damages to PRS for Music for failing to have a licence to play music for two years.
Shepherd Neame, the Kent-based brewer and pub operator, has reported a 5% rise in EBITDA in the 26 weeks to 24 December 2011, on turnover up 9.2% to £67.4m.
The summer of 2012 cannot be treated as ‘business as usual’, the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) has warned the Transport Select Committee in its call for evidence on transport and the Olympics.
Controversial licensee Dave Mountford has put himself forward to be vice-chairman of the Pubs Independent Conciliation and Arbitration Service (PICAS) panel.
You would think that the politicians would favour efforts by pubs to boost custom in order to help them through difficult trading times. But even these best intentions can fall foul of what some people might see as town-hall bureaucracy.
Redcomb Pubs, the pub operator led by former Mitchells & Butlers executive Dan Shotton, has secured its fifth site, a Greene King leasehold in Cambridge.
The call for apprentices to receive full Government support in the licensed trade, even over 18, is a valid one, given the opportunities that can be created. But there has often been a problem about employing young people in connection with alcohol that...
