Companies

Loungers to join stock market

01-Apr-2019 By Nikkie Sutton

Multiple operator Loungers has announced its plan to float on the London Stock Exchange’s market for smaller, growing companies – Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

Aprirose acquires British Land pub portfolio for £130m

01-Apr-2019 By Stuart Stone

Real estate investment company Aprirose has acquired Spirit Pub Company’s branded pub portfolio from British Land for approximately £130m.

Spoons' split from Martin

01-Apr-2019 By Ed Bedington

JD Wetherspoon (JDW) has announced its independence from Tim Martin following a closely fought staff referendum.

JW Lees continues its north-west expansion

01-Apr-2019 By Emily Hawkins

Manchester-based brewery JW Lees has continued its expansion in the north-west with the acquisition of a Cheshire coaching inn to its portfolio.

Cotswold pub operators scoop Soil Association prize

26-Mar-2019 By Stuart Stone

The owners of two Cotswold pubs have been recognised for digging deep in their commitment to sourcing organic ingredients.

Backlash over Star’s plans to modernise historic Yorkshire pubs

25-Mar-2019 By Emily Hawkins

Star Pubs & Bars’ plans to refurbish two Grade II-listed pubs have been described as ‘corporate vandalism’ by pub campaigners.

Craft Union awards £100k to community champions

25-Mar-2019 By Nikkie Sutton

Ei Group managed arm Craft Union Pub Company has celebrated the work of its operators across the nation at its annual awards.

JDW to showcase vegan beers at festival to meet ‘public demand’

25-Mar-2019 By Robert Mann

With veganism a growing lifestyle trend in the UK, JD Wetherspoon (JDW) is set to serve vegan beer to meet ‘public demand’ at its upcoming Real Ale and Cider Festival.

Analysis: what does the future look like for JDW?

22-Mar-2019 By Nikkie Sutton

Heavyweight pub company JD Wetherspoon has announced a drop in profits and put 16 sites on the market, but is it business as usual for the high street stalwart?

Star Pubs & Bars to invest £240k in multiple operator’s third site

21-Mar-2019 By Stuart Stone

Multiple operator Mark Condliffe has taken on the Red Lion in Moore, near Warrington, Cheshire - his third pub with Star Pubs & Bars

Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropub chef on Great British Menu

21-Mar-2019 By Nikkie Sutton

Chef-patron of the Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropub the St Tudy Inn, Emily Scott, will be competing on the new series of Great British Menu.

Greene King saves over 1,000 carveries in food waste initiative

20-Mar-2019 By Robert Mann

Greene King has become the first pub company to join forces with Too Good To Go – an app designed to help businesses reduce food waste.

Doctors revive Punch operation after £600k cash injection

20-Mar-2019 By Stuart Stone

Punch has teamed up with the owners of Westmorland Homecare to invest £600,000 and reopen the oldest pub in Kendal, Cumbria.

Scottish pubco looks to expand with £20m plan

19-Mar-2019 By Emily Hawkins

The Bruce Group wants to raise £20m to fund a site expansion across the country.

Regional focus on... Greater Manchester

19-Mar-2019 By Stuart Stone

What pub properties are on the market in Greater Manchester?

Average late-night spend per head increases by £9.19

18-Mar-2019 By Stuart Stone

According to the latest Deltic Night Index, average consumer spend, frequency and duration of late nights out increased over the first quarter of 2019.

Stonegate chief listed among UK’s top 100 entrepreneurs

18-Mar-2019 By Stuart Stone

Stonegate Pub Company’s chief executive Simon Longbottom has been elected to the annual Maserati 100 list of the UK’s top entrepreneurs.

Profits at JD Wetherspoon slump by 19%

15-Mar-2019 By Emily Hawkins

Profits at JD Wetherspoon have fallen by 18.9% in the six months to the end of January despite a boost in sales.

Star’s £500k investment will create 15 jobs

14-Mar-2019 By Nicholas Robinson

Pubco Star Pubs & Bars is investing half-a-million pounds with a Bristol operator into the refurbishment of the Langton Court Hotel in St Anne’s this month, with a view to opening in May.

JDW to put 16 pubs on the market

13-Mar-2019 By Nikkie Sutton

Pub giant JD Wetherspoon (JDW) has confirmed it is putting 16 pubs on the market through CBRE and Savills.

Customers must sign disclaimer before ‘extreme’ F&B experience

12-Mar-2019 By Stuart Stone

A mysterious new concept from the founder and head chef of the Wilderness requires guests to sign a disclaimer before they begin eating or drinking.

Former Champs founder unveils new sports concept

11-Mar-2019 By Nikkie Sutton

Former founder of sports-focused brand Champs has launched a new concept with plans to roll out more venues.

Stay Original pumps £5m into historic pub

11-Mar-2019 By Nikkie Sutton

Multiple operator Stay Original has invested £5m into the refurbishment of a pub that is famed for its literary links to novelist Thomas Hardy.

Victoria Hunt: my life in the trade

11-Mar-2019 By Victoria Hunt

Multiple operator Victoria Hunt runs two busy pubs in Norfolk – the Lodge Griddle & Grill in North Tuddenham and the Fox at Lyng. She reveals how she got to where she is today.

Manchester MA500: a city united

11-Mar-2019 By Nikkie Sutton

The next MA500 business club meeting will be taking place in Manchester this spring (Thursday 16 May).

JDW pushes prices up for the fifth time in two years

11-Mar-2019 By Nikkie Sutton

Pub giant JD Wetherspoon (JDW) has increased its prices on its food and drink for the fifth time in two years.

World’s youngest master brewer to run Greene King brewery

08-Mar-2019 By Stuart Stone

Greene King has appointed Ross O’Hara as the head brewer of its 220-year-old brewing business.

International Women's Day

Women who lead in pub kitchens

08-Mar-2019 By Nicholas Robinson

As a society, we are working harder than ever to ensure equality and diversity in every aspect of business. Unfortunately, though, there is still a way to go before true equality is achieved.

International Women's Day

How the Harwood Arms' head chef Sally Abé got there

08-Mar-2019 By Emily Hawkins

London's only Michelin-starred gastropub is headed by Sally Abé. In this feature, supported by Knorr, she gives advice on how to get to the top and argues that we need to challenge the "macho image" of kitchens.

International Women's Day

How Donna Berry became the chef she is today

08-Mar-2019 By Emily Hawkins

Donna Berry is a straight talker and will not let anyone disrespect her or her staff. In this feature, supported by Knorr, Donna outlines her career and accolades so far.

International Women's Day

Karen Errington of the Rat Inn tells the story of her career

08-Mar-2019 By Emily Hawkins

Karen Errington, along with her husband Phil, has turned the Rat Inn into a stunning food-led gastropub worthy of its many accolades.

International Women's Day

Stosie Madi on her career so far

08-Mar-2019 By Emily Hawkins

Lancashire-based gastropub chef and owner Stosie Madi is whirlwind, who uses her travels to inform her menu creation. In this piece supported by Knorr, Madi reveals the secrets to her success.

International Women's Day

How did Emily Watkins reach the top?

08-Mar-2019 By Emily Hawkins

Nationally-acclaimed chef Emily Watkins tells her story, gives advice to others who want to reach the top and reveals her plans for the future in this piece for International Women's Day, supported by Knorr.

International Women's Day

The women at the top of on-trade PR and marketing

07-Mar-2019 By Stuart Stone

Those in PR and marketing know everything about the businesses they support. The people who head a company's PR departments or own their own businesses are in enviable positions. Here six women at the top of the on-trade PR game tell their stories.

International Women’s Day

The women who lead in the on-trade

07-Mar-2019 By Nicholas Robinson

There are too few women at the top level in business across the world and the UK. While pubs and bars can't escape that fact either, here we tell the stories of nine women at the top in the on-trade.

Admiral spends £320,000 to reopen community pub

06-Mar-2019 By Nicholas Robinson

Pub operator Admiral Taverns has pumped more than a quarter of a million pounds into the 18th century pub the Borough Arms, allowing the newly refurbished pub to reopen.

‘Vital hub of the community’ pub tastes success at Star Awards

06-Mar-2019 By Nikkie Sutton

A Hampshire pub took home to top title at Star Pubs & Bars annual Star Awards ceremony last night (5 March) in the West Midlands.

Loss of brew contracts offset by managed growth at Shepherd Neame

06-Mar-2019 By Stuart Stone

Shepherd Neame's latest interim results have revealed that while its managed pub division accounts for almost half of group revenue, the cancellation of contracts with Lidl and Asahi have seen its brewed beer volume shrink by almost a third.

Revolution Bars Group to halt new site openings

01-Mar-2019 By Emily Hawkins

Cocktail bar group Revolution Bars Group has blamed a slump in profits for a lack of investment into its Revolution sites, in its interim trading report.

Pub bosses cautiously optimistic about future

01-Mar-2019 By Nikkie Sutton

Confidence levels in hospitality are varied in early 2019, with business leaders in the pub sector showing cautious optimism about what the next 12 months will bring, research has found.

Kingham Plough sold by Emily Watkins

28-Feb-2019 By Nicholas Robinson

Gastropub the Kingham Plough has been sold by Emily Watkins and her husband and business partner Miles Lampson, having spent 12 years building the iconic award-winning business.

The Alchemist targets extra £30m in sales by 2021

28-Feb-2019 By Stuart Stone

The Alchemist's managing director, Simon Potts, revealed that the Palatine Private Equity-backed cocktail bar and restaurant concept was working towards a sales target of £70m in 2021.

Multiple operators spill the beans on tenancies

28-Feb-2019 By Nicholas Robinson

His first experience of a pub tenancy left Mark Robson, co-founder of Red Mist Leisure, “feeling scarred”, having been advised to remain guarded and to keep any sniff of financial success from reaching the site's landlord.

Potential for 500 Loungers’ sites

27-Feb-2019 By Stuart Stone

Loungers boss Alex Reilley has claimed the café bar group can easily compete with the likes of JD Wetherspoon, Pret and Greggs for scale, with plans to launch sites at a rate of 25 a year.

Ei Group sets 500 managed pubs by 2020 goal

27-Feb-2019 By Nicholas Robinson

Ei Group will continue to invest in its managed house operation and plans to increase the number to more than 400 this year before reaching 500 in 2020, said chief executive Simon Townsend.

Punch signals £80m investment in its ‘agile’ estate

27-Feb-2019 By Nicholas Robinson

Nimble pubco Punch has set aside £80m to pump into its estate over three years to improve various aspects of its venues, chief executive Clive Chesser has said.

Star Pubs & Bars to pump millions into T&L estate

27-Feb-2019 By Nicholas Robinson

Heineken-owned Star Pubs & Bars is prepared to pump millions of pounds into its tenanted and leased estate this year, managing director Lawson Mountstevens has indicated.

Crowdfunding campaign to save Camden pub

25-Feb-2019 By Emily Hawkins

The reaction to a crowdfunding campaign to buy the Hawley Arms, in Camden, from Greene King, has delighted the team behind it.

Ei Group 'penalising me for being a good operator', says licensee

25-Feb-2019 By Emily Hawkins

One tenant has spoken out about a “draining” two-year experience negotiating a free-of-tie rent figure with Ei Group and describes feeling penalised by the process.

11-strong pubco appoints former Stonegate boss

25-Feb-2019 By Nicholas Robinson

Investors behind three small pub groups has appointed a new chairman and managing director to head its 11 sites.