Companies

Finance: Chipping in

04-Mar-2005

Do you have Chip & PIN in your pub yet? Whether you do or not, it's worth knowing what your options are. Phil Mellows reports.You might think...

Finance: Safety PIN

04-Mar-2005

Portable Chip & PIN machines taken to a customer's table do much to enhance the eating experience.Customer service is an increasingly important...

Welsh licensees unite under Butt Out! campaign

03-Mar-2005

Licensees from across South Wales came together at a meeting last night (Wednesday) against the proposed blanket smoking ban in the country.Publicans...

Tim Martin gets it right on customers' gripes

03-Mar-2005

A new survey suggests that Wetherspoon's boss Tim Martin is firmly in touch with the views that matter - those of his customers.Pub customers put...

Finance: Tough choices

03-Mar-2005

Smoking or food? If it comes down to it, you will need the right tools to make the decision, writes profitability expert Colin Marsters.Licensees...

Time to ACT!: Get the most out of the Act

03-Mar-2005

The Publican has teamed up with the BBPA and the BII to bring you Time To ACT!, offering guidance on the new licensing regime. This first article...

What companies told the pubco inquiry:

03-Mar-2005

The pubcos have married monopoly of supply and its attendant price iniquities to a system of leases and rent reviews which are disadvantageous to the...

Tide now favours McQuater MBO at Barracuda

03-Mar-2005

Barracuda chief executive Mark McQuater is hoping to lead a management buyout at the company after its owner, PPM Ventures, prepares to exit the...

The good toff's guide

03-Mar-2005

Michael Turner and Anthony Fuller were at Eton, Mark Woodhouse at Marlborough, and Jonathan Neame at Harrow. But a book just out shows many public...

Licensees have grown dizzy over the years trying to keep tra

03-Mar-2005

But if anyone's given up on trying to make sense of it all, now's the time to take note again. For the news this week that SFI is up for sale, as...

Licensees to be hit bySky double whammy

03-Mar-2005

by Tony Halstead Pubs are to be hit with a double whammy price increase by Sky from August. The broadcaster has revealed it will combine new...

From public school to public house via the army

03-Mar-2005

"I think running a pub is a natural progression for many ex-public schoolboys," says Andrew Freeland or Fruity to his friends and regulars at the...

All eyes are on the sale of beleaguered SFI

03-Mar-2005

Slug & Lettuce operator SFI Group has been put up for sale, the Morning Advertiser has learnt. The company has set a deadline of mid-March for...

A marriage made

03-Mar-2005

Stag and hen parties can bring a real boost to trade, but how do pubs handle the potential binge-drinking problems and is the extra business worth...

Hours is not to reason why

03-Mar-2005

Phil Dixon marvels at the capacity of the chief constables of Great Britain to back track Now I do love my telly. The Midlands LVAs gave it to me...

BII gives full backing to Pub is the Hub campaign'

03-Mar-2005

The British Institute of Innkeeping the professional body for the licensed retail sector has been in full support of the Pub is the Hub...

A round with The Publican

02-Mar-2005

What made the news in The Publican this week 10 years ago, five years ago and last year.1995Licensees in Greater Manchester claim they are being...

Scottish licensees form political party to fight smoke ban

02-Mar-2005

Licensees in Scotland are so angry at government plans to ban smoking in pubs that they have decided to form their own political party.Two licensees...

Brains hits the £100m mark

02-Mar-2005

A heady mix of rugby, beer and fervently patriotic Welsh pub goers have driven SA Brain's turnover past £100m for the first time.The Cardiff-based...

Book review 'Coming Home' - celebrity chef John Burton Race

01-Mar-2005 By Mark Taylor

Celebrity Chef book review

Great Pub Chefs - Cabinet Reshuffle - Paul Bloxham

01-Mar-2005 By Max Gosney

Paul Bloxham turned his back on the city in favour of country life.. and it's not just the now-stunning Cabinet gastro that's changed.

Regulars fight plans to turn local into housing

01-Mar-2005

The regulars of a Yorkshire pub are fighting plans to turn their local into residential housing and intend to battle it out with the local...

From Prussia with Love: Acclaimed chef and TV star Phil Vickery is ready to launch his venue

01-Mar-2005 By Max Gosney

From Prussia with love After going undercover to pioneer a new pub, acclaimed chef and TV star Phil Vickery is ready to launch his venue. Max Gosney...

Hitting the Clark Mark - Pub Chef of the Year 2005 - Neil Clark

01-Mar-2005 By Max Gosney

Pub Chef of the Year Neil Clark still can't quite believe he's won the award. But his growing army of fans certainly do. Max Gosney reports The first...

Frederic Robinson to cover pubs' costs for new regime

28-Feb-2005

Family brewer Frederic Robinson is paying the legal and licensing costs for all its 408 pubs to switch over to the new licensing regime.The...

City down on Wetherspoon results

28-Feb-2005

The City is predicting a slump in JD Wetherspoon's half year profits when they are announced this Friday.A slow down in expansion, shadowed by a...

What the Sunday papers said…

28-Feb-2005

Barracuda Group, owner of the Varsity and Smith & Jones bar chains, may be the latest leisure industry firm to change hands after its owner...

Minimum wage to break £5 barrier

25-Feb-2005

Pubs will be forced to pay workers a minimum of more than £5 an hour for the first time from this October.Trade and industry secretary Patricia...

Receivers take helm at 46-strong letting' firm

24-Feb-2005

by The PMA Team Barber Letting, a multiple lessee that held 46 pubs with two major pub companies, has gone into receivership. The Barnsley-based...

Seizing the Laurel crown

24-Feb-2005

Laurel Pub Company is now owned byproperty tycoon Robert Tchenguiz. The PMA Team meets new chief executive Julian Sargeson, who will imminently...

Ringing the changes

24-Feb-2005

Although it is Britain's oldest brewery, Shepherd Neame retains a modern image. Andrew Catchpole reports.Jonathan Neame is not short of an opinion or...

Licensees set up new pressure groups

24-Feb-2005

Frustrated licensees are so fed up with the raw deal they are being handed by the government and pub companies that they have decided to fight...

Licensee to go to court to save noisy pet cockerel

24-Feb-2005

The licensee of a Kent pub could be fined £20,000 by his local council if he fails to stop his pet cockerel from crowing.Peter Palmer, who runs the...

40 firefighters tackle pub blaze

24-Feb-2005

More than 40 firefighters were called to tackle a fire at a 16th-century pub in Tonbridge, Kent, on Monday. Fire teams suspect the blaze at the...

Entire GK estate to joinPubwatch by year-end

24-Feb-2005

by John Harrington Greene King has vowed to get every one of its entire 600-strong estate into a Pubwatch scheme by the end of the year. The...

Host on trail to use Slug & Lettuce name

24-Feb-2005

A landlord who has recently taken on a Berkshire pub has hit a dilemma over plans to revive its original name the Slug & Lettuce. John...

Pub is the Hub is set to grow

24-Feb-2005

Everybody knows it's not easy running a rural pub. In many cases, pubs in hamlets and small villages teeter on the edge of viability with marginal...

Rogue pubs should be social outcasts

24-Feb-2005

If you watched the BBC TV programme on binge drinking last week I imagine that most of you would have been as horrified as I was by the picture it...

Trade's finally fighting amid transition turmoil

24-Feb-2005

It is hardly surprising, after the almost farcical start to the transition process this month, that heated words were exchangedat the Department for...

Urbium rolls out mini-Tiger Tigers

23-Feb-2005

Boosted by its move into the City of London, night-time operator Urbium is to roll-out smaller format Tiger Tiger venues over the next three...

Punch accused over Comic Relief kit

23-Feb-2005

Licensees have accused Punch of turning its nose up at the spirit of Comic Relief by charging its pubs £35 to buy a Red Nose Day kit.The pub company...

Punch Taverns is official partner for Red Nose Day

22-Feb-2005

Punch Taverns has teamed up with Comic Relief as its official partner for its Red Nose Day 2005 celebrations.All of the company's 7,800 outlets have...

CAMRA launches viability test to save pubs from closure

22-Feb-2005

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has launched a new viability test to help save Britain's pubs from closure.The test provides guidelines to local...

What the Sunday papers said…

21-Feb-2005

UK plc drained its glass and bid cheerio to the last quoted cidermaker as Merrydown was bought by SHS, the private Irish group that owns WKD alcopops...

Trade Talk: Graeme Cushion

18-Feb-2005

Graeme Cushion, solicitor and head of Poppleston Allen's regulatory crime department on enforcement issues.Many licensees will have noticed a higher...

Loud and clear...

17-Feb-2005

Publicans and drinkers refute accusations by Alcohol Concern that music is played at full volume to encourage drinking. Jackie Annett gets the...

DTI shuts down companies after publicans' complaints

17-Feb-2005

The department of Trade & Industry (DTI) has started its clampdown on the first raft of rogue recruitment companies. Three companies based in...

Licensee excluded from pubco discount scheme

17-Feb-2005

A former Enterprise licensee who lost his pub because of financial difficulties has accused the company of failing to treat all licensees...

Spirit Group in pensioner cap row

17-Feb-2005

Spirit Group has defended itself against accusations that it banned a pensioner from his local for wearing a flat cap.John Lalor, 71, who lives near...