Companies

ECJ Judgment: The case, and the implications

ECJ Judgment: The case, and the implications

The European Court of Justice’s (ECJ’s) judgement rocked football last week, when it ruled in favour of Karen Murphy in a long-running case against the Premier League for screening football matches via a Greek decoder system.

New Inn lands H&W’s top accolade

New Inn lands H&W’s top accolade

The New Inn in Salisbury, Wiltshire, has been named Public House of the Year and won a prize of £1,000 at brewer Hall & Woodhouse’s 2011 Business Partnership Awards.

Hook Norton names new joint MD

Hook Norton names new joint MD

By John Harrington, M&C Report

Adrian Staley, national sales director at Cornish brewer St Austell, is to join Oxfordshire brewer Hook Norton as joint managing director.

Couples sought for pub partnerships

Couples sought for pub partnerships

An experienced pub and club operator is looking for couples to enter a joint-ownership venture to run sites in the Bristol, Cardiff and South Wales valleys area.

CD Pub Co plans to add one site per year

CD Pub Co plans to add one site per year

By John Harrington

CD Pub Co, the Warwickshire-based pub company founded by two senior figures from the property industry, has announced plans to add one site per year over the next five years.

The limits of responsibility

The limits of responsibility

By Peter Coulson

There is really nothing new in licensing. I see that a great fuss is being made in certain circles about a recent case concerning noise from departing customers.

Stonegate hails TDR for M&B pubs deal

Stonegate hails TDR for M&B pubs deal

By Adam Pescod

Stonegate Pub Company chairman Ian Payne revealed his private-equity backer TDR Capital funded the £370m acquisition of 333 Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) wet-led pubs entirely from its own resources after major banks had proved unforthcoming.

Barclays: banks still willing to invest in pubs

Barclays: banks still willing to invest in pubs

By Adam Pescod

Banks are still willing to invest in pub companies if there are “sensible structures” in place, according to Mike Delay, relationship director at Barclays’ corporate banking arm.

Greene King seals deal with council

Greene King seals deal with council

By Gurjit Degun

Greene King has appointed Reading Borough Council as its single point of contact for consultation with all councils on health and safety issues for its pubs.

Admiral Taverns signs Carlsberg distribution deal

Admiral Taverns signs Carlsberg distribution deal

By Mark Wingett, M&C Report

Admiral Taverns, the tenanted pub company, has signed a long-term distribution deal with the UK arm of Carlsberg, which will see the global brewer service its 1,300-strong estate.

Spirit slashes staff turnover in half

Spirit slashes staff turnover in half

By Adam Pescod

Spirit, the managed operator of 800 pubs, has cut staff turnover by 50% as workers take increasing pride in working for a company with a strong brands portfolio, deputy chief executive Mike Tye told the UK Pub Retail Summit.

Barracuda sites seek to become food-led

Barracuda sites seek to become food-led

By Gurjit Degun

Food, wine, coffee, breakfasts, accommodation, real ale, world beers and pre-booked events were listed as the products for growth in the trade by Barracuda Pub Company chief executive Mark McQuater.

First pub gets two Michelin stars

First pub gets two Michelin stars

By Michelle Perrett

The first British pub — the Hand and Flowers in Marlow, Buckinghamshire — has been awarded two Michelin stars in the latest Michelin Guide Great Britain & Ireland 2012.

Consistent excellence is the route to success

Consistent excellence is the route to success

By The PMA Team

It was one of those really meaty discussions at the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers’ autumn debate last week. Should pubs brand themselves or not? It can be argued either way, of course, depending on what your definitions are.

Calls for a split in the BBPA

Calls for a split in the BBPA

By Michelle Perrett

The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) is facing fresh calls for a split between its brewing and retailing arms in the wake of damning criticism from the Business, Innovation & Skills Committee (BISC) report into the pubco-tenant relationship.

Marston's growth fuelled by food

Marston's growth fuelled by food

By Mark Wingett, M&C Report

Marston’s has this morning reported a 2.9% increase like-for-like sales in its managed pubs division for the year 1 October, driven by the popularity of its food offer.

Speaking with a forked tongue

Speaking with a forked tongue

If health secretary Andrew Lansley really believes what he said at the Wine & Spirit Trade Association’s annual conference recently, then why has he not had a word with Teresa May?

Brains snaps up coffee chain

Brains snaps up coffee chain

By Mark Wingett, M&C Report

SA Brain, the Cardiff-based brewer and pub operator, has bought the 15-strong high street coffee chain Coffee#1 for an undisclosed sum.

M&B: The case for Joe Lewis

M&B: The case for Joe Lewis

By The PMA Team

Everybody has a view on Bahaman billionaire Joe Lewis and his tenure on the share register of M&B. Last Thursday, at an Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers debate in Cambridge, former Novus chairman John Barnes was to be found among those not...

Five key changes for pubs now in force

Five key changes for pubs now in force

By Ewan Turney

Licensees are reminded that five important changes to the way pubs operate, serve drinks and pay their staff came into force on Saturday.

Novus aiming to double its estate

Novus aiming to double its estate

By John Harrington, M&C Report

Novus, the privately-owned bar and club group, plans to double its 53-strong estate in the next four years and may roll out its newly-acquired Balls Brothers brand further, according to chief executive Steve Richards.

Black Sheep control goes to son Rob

Black Sheep control goes to son Rob

The founder of Masham-based Black Sheep Brewery, Paul Theakston, has handed over the reins of day-to-day control to his son Rob Theakston.

Pubcos fail to act decisively on reforms

Pubcos fail to act decisively on reforms

By Ewan Turney & The PMA Team

Anyone who witnessed the last Business, Innovation & Skills Committee hearing in July could see that the report was only ever heading one way.

Lembit Opik backs British Pub Week

Lembit Opik backs British Pub Week

By Adam Pescod

Former Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik has thrown his support behind British Pub Week, describing it as “the beginning of the fightback” for a struggling industry.

Spirit leaves the BBPA for the ALMR

Spirit leaves the BBPA for the ALMR

By The PMA Team

Sources indicate that Spirit Pub Company has decided to join the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) trade body in preference to the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA).

Lewis defends his position on M&B

Lewis defends his position on M&B

By The PMA Team

Billionaire Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) shareholder Joe Lewis has rebutted claims made in the Publican’s Morning Advertiser (PMA) leader last week, written by group editor The PMA Team, that claimed he is exerting a negative influence on the company.

Gov’t needs to relieve tyranny of rising costs

Gov’t needs to relieve tyranny of rising costs

The past week has been dominated by the latest round in the on-going tenant and pubco debate. But there’s one issue that we can all agree on. Businesses have been hit by wave after wave of cost increases in the past decade. The increase in regulatory...

No mention of licensing issues

No mention of licensing issues

By Peter Coulson

As I predicted, the final stages of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill were taken up with a last-ditch attempt to derail the Government’s proposals for elected commissioners of police and the licensing aspects were not touched upon at all.

Momo secures second Jongleurs

Momo secures second Jongleurs

Momo Leisure, the firm run by former Nexum Leisure executive David Elphick and business partner Jez King to run Jongleurs comedy clubs under franchise, has secured its second site, in Bristol.

M&B reports 34th consecutive quarter of growth

M&B reports 34th consecutive quarter of growth

By Ewan Turney

Managed pub operator Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) — a takeover target for Bermudan billionaire Joe Lewis — has reported its 34th consecutive quarter of like-for-like growth.

Peter Coulson: dogged lobbying by the music industry and Lord Clement-Jones’s efforts have paid dividends

Singing consultation’s praises

By Peter Coulson

It seems that the very persistent lobbying by the music industry, coupled with the sterling efforts of Lord Clement-Jones and his advisors, has at last borne fruit.

Downey sells London Match Bar

Downey sells London Match Bar

Jonathan Downey, the bar entrepreneur, has taken a further step away from the high-street bar sector with the sale of his remaining Match Bar site in London’s West End.

Lost Society set to unveil new Clapham outlet

Lost Society set to unveil new Clapham outlet

The team behind London-based bar and restaurant sites Lost Society and Blind Tiger are set to launch a fifth outlet in the capital, after buying the leasehold interest on a site in Clapham.

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