Laurel Pub Company puts 94 sites on the market
26-Feb-2008 By Hamish Champ
In an anticipated move, Laurel Pub Company has put 94 of its struggling leasehold sites on the market.The properties predominantly include wet-led...
Drummond Hall appointed M&B deputy chairman
26-Feb-2008 By Hamish Champ
Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) has appointed Drummond Hall, its senior independent non-executive director, to the position of deputy chairman with...
CBI paints gloomy picture of high street trading
26-Feb-2008 By Hamish Champ
A stronger high street sales performance in February has failed to materialise, according to the Confederation for British Industry (CBI). Sales...
25-Feb-2008 By The PMA Team
Capital Pub Company founder David Bruce is involved in a new Enterprise Investment Scheme company
Burdens and shocks
25-Feb-2008 By Hamish Champ
Despite seeing his 550p a share bid for Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) politely but firmly escorted out of the room a couple of years ago, it...
Nick Yates: Man the cheering stations?
25-Feb-2008
The news that London Pride is to provide three official 'cheering stations' around the Marathon course provides scant consolation for me this week....
25-Feb-2008 By Ewan Turney
Asda's town centre stores will stop selling alcohol from midnight in a bid to cut down on late night disorder. The supermarket giant also said it...
22-Feb-2008 By The PMA Team
A new Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) is seeking to raise £20m to buy pubs
Chris Maclean: Publican, interrupted
22-Feb-2008 By Chris Maclean
After more than 20 years in this trade I still cannot get used to the constant interruptions and intrusions into my time. Intentionally we do not...
Comment: Service with a smile?
22-Feb-2008
A visit to my mum's local never used to be an appealing prospect. It was the kind of place you nipped in for a pint after church on Christmas Day and...
Bucking the trend
22-Feb-2008
The current plight of the lager market has been covered in some depth on these pages over the past few weeks. One of the big issues for the market...
Doctors' report under fire from BBPA
22-Feb-2008
Evidence cited by the British Medical Association (BMA) as it argues for a hike in alcohol tax has been slammed as "flawed and flimsy" by a trade...
21-Feb-2008 By The PMA Team
Robert Tchenguiz's Laurel Pub Company is to close 22 pubs next week
Noctis is the new name for Beda
21-Feb-2008 By The PMA Team
The trade body for the late-night sector, the Bar Entertainment and Dance Association (Beda), has changed its name to Noctis, the Latin word for...
Portrait of heroes
21-Feb-2008
It's a long way from the National Portrait Gallery on London's Trafalgar Square to the Feathers pub in the village of Hedley-on-the Hill, near...
Some independent thinking
21-Feb-2008
Is the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) gaining a bigger voice in the industry?Former chairman Keith Bott raised the profile of the organisation...
Hamish Champ: What do they mean "Down with pubs"???
21-Feb-2008 By Hamish Champ
It's not often I'll implore you, dear reader, to check out the website of a rival publication. However in this instance I'm making an exception. As...
Licensees feeling the pressure
21-Feb-2008 By James Wilmore
Worrying new figures have highlighted the plight licensees are facing under current tough trading conditions. The Licensed Trade Charity (LTC) has...
Acquisitions boost Premium Bars & Restaurants
21-Feb-2008 By Hamish Champ
Living Room operator Premium Bars & Restaurants (PBR) is pinning its hopes on its acquisitions and investment in its existing business to help...
Ramsay buys fourth pub
21-Feb-2008
Top chef Gordon Ramsay has bought his fourth pub - the York and Albany, in Camden, north London. The chef is rumoured to have paid around £4m for...
Strategic review at Churchill
21-Feb-2008 By Mark Stretton mark.stretton@william-reed.co.uk
Churchill Taverns, the Midlands-based pub group, has launched a strategic review and appointed ad- visers after receiving a number of approaches for...
Action on pub scams
21-Feb-2008 By John Harrington john.harrington@william-reed.co.u
New national "Scambuster" teams are to target rogue firms that con pubs. The Government is investing £7.5m in the specialist trading standards...
MyShout
21-Feb-2008
The prospect of an M&B/Punch merger is changing the landscape of the industry, says Neil Morgan Can you name one of the few pub groups to report...
THE GUV'NOR
21-Feb-2008
Peter Gatling The licensee of the Merry Harriers, in Clayhidon, Devon, gives top tips to get your business through the winter Have you had that...
InBrief
21-Feb-2008
Coaker call to keep alcohol off streets Hundreds more alcohol-free zones on British streets should be introduced to reduce drunkenness, Home Office...
Pubs face more sting ops
21-Feb-2008 By John Harrington john.harrington@william-reed.co.u
Around 100 pubs, clubs and shops face legal action for serving drunks and for other offences in the Christmas sting campaign. Further Government...
Enterprise lessee wins arbitration
21-Feb-2008 By John Harrington john.harrington@william-reed.co.u
An award-winning lessee has won in arbitration after her pubco tried to double her rent. Enterprise Inns proposed increasing rent at the Seven Stars,...
BarTalk
21-Feb-2008
Should 16 to 18-year-olds be allowed to drink in pubs? Jessica Luke Brewery Tap Peterborough Cambridgeshire Absolutely not. We should preserve the...
Barracuda defends cheap party deals
21-Feb-2008 By Ewan Turney ewan.turney@william-reed.co.uk
Barracuda has defended a £1 drinks night at a Newquay bar, attended by Prince William, that ended in a violent attack. The Barracuda Bar runs a £1...
NewsDigest
21-Feb-2008
Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) and Carlsberg have restated warnings that beer prices will rise. In its full-year results, Carlsberg said raw...
Greene King absorbs insurance rise
21-Feb-2008
Greene King (GK) is to absorb a 20% hike in insurance premiums and hold back beer price increases until May. The aim is to help its 1,450 tenants and...
Pubs' vandal threat
21-Feb-2008 By Joe Lutrario joe.lutrario@william-reed.co.uk
Yorkshire police and fire services are urging licensees to protect vacant pubs after a spate of fires and vandalism in the area. A disused site in...
MyNewPub
21-Feb-2008
Three Wheat Heads Inn Thropton, Northumberland Agent: Davey & Co The team behind this pub has completely turned business around since taking over...
The Agents
21-Feb-2008
Stephen Taylor Managing Director Guy Simmonds To what extent will current economic woes influence the licensed property market and people's desire to...
Ramos aims for English spurs
21-Feb-2008 By Helen Bendell helen.bendell@william-reed.co.uk
One London manager will secure his first piece of English silverware in Sunday's Carling Cup final. Juande Ramos's Tottenham booked their place in...
First past the post
21-Feb-2008
Giving a community back its post office is the latest project successfully supported by the Pub is the Hub. Adrian Tierney-Jones went to the opening...
Charming the trade
20-Feb-2008
The last time I saw Adrian McKeon he got stung for forty quid. The details are not important but let's just say he'll never offer to buy anyone a...
Spirit 'tipping' is on the increase
20-Feb-2008
Illegally refilling branded spirits with a cheaper product is on the rise, the International Federation of Spirits Producers (IFSPUK) has warned.The...
19-Feb-2008 By Ewan Turney
Marston's has been crowned Champion of Carbon Saving Champions at the first Low Carbon Performance Awards. The awards are run by The Chartered...
Comment: A cheap shot
18-Feb-2008
Last week Home Secretary Jacqui Smith used a major speech on alcohol policy to make some constructive points about the progress the on-trade is...
Hamish Champ: Music in pubs; you can't beat it
18-Feb-2008 By Hamish Champ
I was pleased to see that my last blog effort - on the subject of music pubs threatened with closure thanks to high-minded local residents -...
Andrew Meadowcroft: Are we talking ourselves into a recession?
18-Feb-2008
It has been an eventful start to the year both in the context of this industry and the wider economy. Indeed there may be some parallels between the...
Climbing the economic peaks. Or not.
18-Feb-2008 By Hamish Champ
I'm not a lot of things. One of the things I am not, nor pretend to be, is an economist. Thus it was that last week I read with bemused interest the...
Richard Evans to leave InBev UK & Ireland
18-Feb-2008 By Hamish Champ
Richard Evans, president of InBev's UK and Ireland operation, is to leave the company after barely two years in the job.In an announcement today...
Pubs warned after proof-of-age tests
18-Feb-2008
Pubs have been warned to 'up their game' by a group that tests if staff serve alcohol to young looking drinkers. According to independent...
Father of photography honoured in Wiltshire pub
18-Feb-2008
The corner of a Wiltshire pub has been transformed to celebrate the life of the "forefather of modern photographyJohn Glass, licensee of the George...
No truth in Clarke/Thorley reports, says Mitchells & Butlers
18-Feb-2008 By Hamish Champ
Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) has denied weekend press reports suggesting that chief executive Tim Clarke would play no part in the group should...
'Buyout firms want M&B shareholders to keep half the business'
18-Feb-2008
Blackstone and CVC Capital Partners, the private equity firms, are understood to be planning a bid for the pubs group Mitchells & Butlers that...
15-Feb-2008 By The PMA Team
The Bar Entertainment and Dance Association changes its name to Noctis
15-Feb-2008 By The PMA Team
The two managed operators get on the grill bandwagon
