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.
So you think you’ll make a good multiple operator? As Scottish & Newcastle Pub Company narrows down the common factors behind what works in its estate, Phil Mellows asks questions about acquiring that difficult second 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.
Fuller’s, the London-based brewer and pub operator, has added an extra site to the package of pubs acquired from Enterprise Inns, bring the total to 16 pubs for £25.4m.
If you had to choose someone to venture into the jungle with, although hopefully it won’t come to that, your first choice would obviously be Ray Mears, Bear Grylls being a bit of a chancer. But if reliable Ray’s not available, how about Mike Tye?
Punch Taverns has reported a 0.8% growth in average net income per pub in the 12 weeks to 3 March due to its on-going disposal programme, although softer trading after Christmas dented like-for-like net income.
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.
JD Wetherspoon (JDW), the managed pub operator, has won a settlement in relation to fraudulent property transactions involving the company’s former property agent Van de Berg.
Simon Townsend is in a good mood. We’re in the Ebury in Pimlico, one of the gems in the Enterprise Inns estate, now back in the hands of gastropub entrepreneur Tom Etridge — and it’s a glittering example of just what pubs can be.
Corney & Barrow, the City of London-based wine bar operator, is to rebrand its entire estate as C&B Bars over the next three years and launch a new concept aimed at transport hubs this June called C&B Cabin.
Spirit Pub Company, the demerged managed house arm of Punch Taverns, has the potential to grow to an estate of at least 1,200 pubs, according to chief executive Mike Tye.
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...
The Campaign for Real Ale’s (CAMRA) Pub of the Year 2009/10 is set to fall victim to the construction of the High Speed 2 (HS2) rail network, which was approved by the Government last month.
Black Dog Ballroom, the Manchester-based bar and nightclub operator, has secured its third site as it looks to expand out of the city and develop a new bowling and pool offer.
Punch has been found in minor breach of its code of practice by using “incorrect” and “misleading” comparables in its rent review of Dave Mountford of the Rising Sun, Middleton, Derbyshire.
QHA Limited, the pub company run by gastropub pioneers Michael Kittos and Tony Wolfe, has secured its third site, a former Samuel Smith pub in central London.
I was rather interested to read about the Cornwall nightclub owner who has installed an ID scanner so she can share information on ‘difficult’ customers with other licensees in the area.This is a subject I have dealt with regularly over many years.
Industry bosses will debate the future of the pub industry as part of a conference and boat party celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR).
Loungers, the privately-owned group bar led by Alex Reilley, has secured a further two sites for its Cosy Club format in Cardiff and Salisbury, in Wiltshire.
Oh dear, it would seem somebody in Government has been speaking cobblers again. Of all the bonkers drivel spouted from our politicians this weekend, it was Ed Balls' pronouncement that really made me laugh.
Complaints about a conman fleecing licensees out of hundreds of pounds have been streaming into the Publican’s Morning Advertiser, following an exclusive story last week.
Rural regeneration champion Pub is the Hub has doubled its workload over the past 12 months as more under-threat licensees seek help to keep their businesses viable.
A major supplier of foreign satellite decoder cards and set-top boxes has suspended operations to “make changes to its service” following a recent High Court ruling on pub football broadcasts.
Licensees must be given a fairer share of tied pub profits if the industry is to attract more people with the right entrepreneurial skills, a trade leader has warned.
