JDW axes jobs in cost-cutting move
24-Mar-2005
Managed operator JD Wether-spoon has axed Egon Ronay's inspections team as part of cost cutting that will also see several jobs disappear at head...
Lady of laughter
24-Mar-2005
Meet the colourful landlady of a Norfolk village pub, who's into zany ceramics, loves people and still runs a successful business. Nigel Huddleston...
Nightmare of form-filling
24-Mar-2005
Licensed victuallers associations across the country say the sheer weight of form-filling and copying is a nightmare. Mike Stevens, of...
The sum of all fearsAre you sitting down? Chances are you'll
24-Mar-2005
Many licensees are about to receive a financial heart attack. If they haven't received one yet, then over the next few days they'll get a letter...
The challenges ahead
24-Mar-2005
If Jonathan Adnams faces big new challenges next year, so too does his personable anointed successor Andy Wood. Currently sales and marketing...
The heart of it
23-Mar-2005
The brewery contains the very soul of St Austell - as Lorna Harrison reports.In today's climate, the heart-wrenching decision to quit brewing and...
Smiles moves brewing out of Bristol
23-Mar-2005
The venture capital owner of Bristol brewer Smiles has outsourced beer production in a drive to keep the business profitable.Close Venture...
Time to ACT! Objections
23-Mar-2005
Objections to licences and hearings are the subject of the fourth and final part of Time to ACT!, our series on getting to grips with the new...
Industry's finest honoured at Publican Awards
23-Mar-2005
Licensee Lucy Craig of the Ha! Ha! Bar and Canteen in Brighton has become the youngest ever winner of the BII Licensee of the Year award.The...
Inventive Leisure back on the expansion trail
22-Mar-2005
Inventive Leisure, operator of the Revolution vodka bar chain, is looking at expansion after restoring sales growth in the business.Inventive says it...
Licensee invites bands to play 'unplugged'
21-Mar-2005
A licensee has avoided the threat of a noise abatement order from his council by inviting local bands to play "unplugged".John Dryhurst of the Star...
What the Sunday papers said
20-Mar-2005
The paid for policing issue has split the industry, says stalwart pub trade supporter the Mail. Under chief executive Mark Jones, Yates is to begin...
Luminar considers future of Chicago Rock Cafe
18-Mar-2005
Luminar is considering the future of Chicago Rock Café and Jumpin' Jaks after what it has described as unsatisfactory performance by these...
JDW stubs out 5 smoking pubs
17-Mar-2005
by The PMA Team The first five "smoking" JD Wetherspoon pubs have been converted to non-smoking on the same day national non-smoking day (9...
Pubco 'not guilty' verdict confirmed
17-Mar-2005
Pub companies have been given a virtually clean bill of health by the government following the MPs' inquiry into the industry.Neither the Department...
No cash for court case, says Enterprise licensee
17-Mar-2005
A former Enterprise licensee who claims he lost thousands of pounds trying to resurrect a struggling pub says he hasn't got the money to take the...
With summer on the horizon, and pubs moving towards indoor s
17-Mar-2005
It's rare for a licensee to have 16-acres of land to play with. But for Paul Brady, who found himself in exactly that position at the Cheshire Cat in...
New Act's quite simply a ticking time-bomb
17-Mar-2005
There has, quite understandably, been some consternation in the licensed trade over the suggestion that licences which were transferred after the...
MBO is not an option says Martin
17-Mar-2005
JD Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin has insisted that there is no chance of the company being taken private in a management buyout. Martin said the...
Punch accused of reneging on pledge
17-Mar-2005
A multiple Punch lessee has accused the company of reneging on its promise to pay for all premises plans and of using the plans to "blackmail" him...
Barwatch takes name off ban list
17-Mar-2005
A Barrow man fears his business and reputation will suffer as a result of a man with the same name being published on a list of banned drinkers by...
After 36 years behind the bar of the Alma in Uckfield, Joy H
17-Mar-2005
Joy Hughes is 18 times your average tenant. At least according to the recent pubco inquiry report, that claims the average tenant only stays in the...
Bill King has downsized with a vengeance. From managing dire
17-Mar-2005
But at least he's still making beer. That seemed unlikely back in 2000 when King & Barnes went out of business. King was badly damaged by the...
Come on SIA: explain your jail threats
17-Mar-2005
I am concerned to note that the Security Industry Authority (SIA) spokesmen, in spite of the well-reported problems over the licensing rollout, are...
Dreams dashed
16-Mar-2005
Michelle Perrett warns against rogue recruiters exploiting potential licensees.To a person wanting to get into the pub trade their ideal may be to...
Time to ACT!: Making changes
16-Mar-2005
This week in Time to ACT!, our guide to applying for the new licences in association with the British Beer & Pub Association and the BII, we look...
Yates and Tchenguiz chase SFI
16-Mar-2005
Both the Yates wine bar group and property magnate Robert Tchenguiz are being widely tipped as potential bidders for SFI.Despite reports splashed...
New challenge to pub industry following inquiry
16-Mar-2005
The pub industry has been charged with drawing up a new code of conduct governing the relationship between pubcos and tenants, following last year's...
East London pubs take to the airwaves
14-Mar-2005
Licensees in Stratford are hoping that a new radio communications network will help them tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder.Pubs and clubs in...
Industry proposes new protection for Scotch categories
14-Mar-2005
The Scottish whisky industry has come up with a series of proposals for legislation that would protect Scotch by enshrining the definition and...
Trade Talk: Andrea Horsfield
11-Mar-2005
Andrea Horsfield, director of the Training School gives her views on branded training.As I set up the Training School three years ago, which prides...
Brewers' takeover plans blocked
11-Mar-2005
The UK's Competition Commission has claimed it is "good news" for pub companies and customers after blocking a deal by two brewers to buy a rival's...
JD Wetherspoon profits drop 20%
10-Mar-2005
by The PMA Team Managed operator JD Wetherspoon saw profits drop by 20% to £22.3m in its first half-year, after increased costs and a cut-price...
Martin: visionary or gambler?
10-Mar-2005
JD Wetherspoon profits have dropped by 20% in its first six months. But the company is determined to push ahead with its smoking ban widely...
Spirit merges divisions as Richards is poached
10-Mar-2005
by The PMA Team Managed operator Spirit Group is to reduce its operating divisions after Steve Richards, managing director of City Spirit, was...
Coming out fighting
10-Mar-2005
Daniel Pearce hears both sides of the arguments over SIA licensing.There were high hopes a month ago that the licensed trade could broker a peace...
A nagging dilemma
10-Mar-2005
Young's has a dilemma. Should it abandon its outgrown site to expand? Andrew Catchpole meets the brewery's chairman and chief executive.There is an...
Supervisors' ball and chain can be cut free
10-Mar-2005
One of the major problems that already seems to be emerging from local authority interpretation of the new Licensing Act concerns the presence of the...
Last-minute call for postponement of SIA scheme
10-Mar-2005
There are new calls this week for an eleventh-hour postponement of the doorstaff registration scheme, with the body in charge facing legal action...
Licensees furious at council's 'bias' on applications
10-Mar-2005
Licensees hoping to extend their opening hours in one London borough are furious that their local council appears to be urging residents to...
Time to ACT!: Get on site
10-Mar-2005
The new premises licences are the focus of the second part of Time to ACT!, The Publican's initiative with the British Beer & Pub Association and...
Bidding invited for SFI
10-Mar-2005
SFI, the troubled owner of Slug and Lettuce, has signalled its potential sale with the issue of an information pack aimed at prospective...
Churchill hits acquisition trail
10-Mar-2005
Wellingborough-based Churchill Taverns Group has formed a new company, Churchill Taverns VCT, to buy and develop freehold pubs. The new company will...
Club alternative to PELs
10-Mar-2005
QWe are continuing to have difficulty obtaining a public entertainment licence because of objections. A colleague of mine in the jazz world has told...
Best Bar None award fires up
10-Mar-2005
The second Weston-Super-Mare Best Bar None award scheme was launched on 8 March. Awards will be dished out for best bar, best club, best pub and best...
Pubwatch ban on JDW outlet is wholly unfair'
10-Mar-2005
by John Harrington JD Wetherspoon has accused licensees in Buxton, Derbyshire, of using the pubco as a "scapegoat" after the town's JDW outlet was...
Rural pubs suffer rise in disorder'
10-Mar-2005
by John Harrington The Government has been criticised for taking its eye off crime and disorder in and around rural pubs after new figures reveal...
Take a giant leap for LTC with walk
10-Mar-2005
One of the biggest charity fundraising events of the year is taking place between April and September and presents a great opportunity to raise...
Spirit to grow Two For One and Chef & Brewer brands
10-Mar-2005
Spirit is to open 50 Two For One and 10 Chef& Brewer pubs this year. The outlets will mainly be converted from sites bought in the Scottish &...
What the Sunday papers said…
07-Mar-2005
JD Wetherspoon disappointed the market yesterday with a sharp drop in first-half trading profits and news that trading had deteriorated further last...
