Companies

Fruity summer cocktail menu across Stonegate estate

27-May-2015 By Oli Gross

Stonegate's classic estate is introducing a fruit based summer cocktail menu. The menu is available 1 June-1 September at 73 pubs in the estate.

Ye Olde Fighting Cocks keeps name despite animal rights pressure

27-May-2015 By Oli Gross

Britain's oldest pub Ye Olde Fighting Cocks has no intention of changing its name despite pressure from animal rights group PETA, which wants the pub to be renamed Ye Olde Clever Cocks to reflect compassion for animals.

Punch

Punch places portfolio on the market

26-May-2015 By M&C Report

Punch Taverns has placed a 160-strong portfolio of pubs on the market, valued at £50m according to M&C Report.

Celebrity chefs to launch recipe books

25-May-2015 By Daniel Woolfson

Top chefs Daniel Clifford and Colin McGurran are to release recipe books later this year.

Pub chefs in Graduate Awards semi-final

25-May-2015 By Daniel Woolfson

Two pub chefs have been shortlisted for the semi-final of the Craft Guild of Chefs’ Graduate Awards 2015.

Pub chef wins British BBQ Battle and opens fifth pub

25-May-2015 By Jo Bruce

Gareth Finney chef/director of five site pub company Ultimate Entertainment Services, has been crowned overall champion of competition the British BBQ Battle.

Welsh Enterprise pub gets £660k makeover in joint funding project

22-May-2015 By Noli Dinkovski

An historic north Wales pub has reopened following a £660,000 joint investment from the licensees, a heritage organisation and owner Enterprise Inns.

Pub turnover up 23% thanks to young licensees

22-May-2015 By Mark Wingett

There are encouraging signs of growth for the UK pub industry which has seen a rise in turnover and injection of new owners in the past three years, according to new data from Barclays

Protz: Learning from the Antwerp Arms story

21-May-2015 By Roger Protz

Roger Protz reveals the story of a pub that faced closure but was saved when a community group was formed.

Self Regulation

Focus: PICAS and PIRRS publish annual reports

21-May-2015 By Mike Berry

The annual reports of both the Pubs Independent Conciliation & Arbitration Service (PICA-Service) and the Pubs Independent Rent Review Scheme (PIRRS) have been published. Mike Berry picks out the main points.

Club guide

What is the MA300?

21-May-2015 By PMA

Multi-site operator? Join our MA300 business club - it's free to attend, and costs nothing but your time and attention. And we promise it will be worth it.

Punch

Punch launches workshops to help tenants prepare for summer

20-May-2015 By Emily Sutherland

Punch is offering its tenants a series of free workshops with the aim of increasing trading performance over the summer months.

Follow-up hit is a tough proposition

20-May-2015 By Susie Clarke

The intense pressure to follow up a commercial success is enough to make anyone crack.

Analysis: Enterprise prepares for an MRO future

20-May-2015 By Mike Berry

Enterprise’s new five-year plan was revealed last week. Mike Berry picks out the main points of the pubco’s strategic review.

Pubs code

Enterprise: The system will work...for the pubs that remain

20-May-2015 By Ed Bedington

Enterprise's radical future strategy reveals the consequences of the pubs code.

Anger at Enterprise overhaul

20-May-2015 By Helen Gilbert

Lessees unhappy with pubco's five-year plan.

Pub chefs in National Chef of Year semi-final

19-May-2015 By Jo Bruce

 Three pub chefs are among 40 chefs selected as semi-finalists in the National Chef of the Year 2015 competition, which has previously been won by Gordon Ramsay and Mark Sargeant.

JDW

JDW guilty in 8 of 18 cases of 'direct discrimination' against travellers

18-May-2015 By Emily Sutherland

Central London County Court has ruled on a case after a group of Irish travellers sued JD Wetherspoon for discrimination when they were turned away from a north London pub in 2011.

city news

Private equity firm backs Alchemist MBO

18-May-2015 By MC Report, Mark Wingett

Palatine Private Equity has backed the MBO of The Alchemist, the four-strong cocktail bar and restaurant concept founded by Living Ventures.

In pictures: Tattershall Castle takes to the waves

15-May-2015 By Emily Sutherland

Floating bar the Tattershall Castle fought off the rain to reopen last night after a £1.8 million refurbishment.

Finance news

Marston's and M&B results reveal profit rises

14-May-2015 By Emily Sutherland

Marston’s and Mitchells & Butlers have announced sales results with the overall picture looking bright for both companies.

ACVs

Former Enterprise site succeeds as community-run pub

13-May-2015 By Emily Sutherland

The Antwerp Arms has become north London’s first community-run pub after it opened its doors last month.

Pub food

Star pubs goes big on food

13-May-2015 By Mike Berry

Star Pubs & Bars will invest £250,000 in the next six months as part of a new food development programme called Star Food.

Top gastropub chef appointed Hampshire food tourism ambassador

12-May-2015 By Daniel Woolfson

James Durrant, chef patron of Top 50 Gastropubs acclaimed site the Plough Inn, Longparish, has been appointed as Hampshire’s first food tourism ambassador.

Company News

Enterprise outlines five year plan

12-May-2015 By James Wallin

Enterprise plans radical change across its estate.

Enterprise Inns celebrate VE Day

12-May-2015 By Emily Sutherland

Enterprise Inns’ Golden Lion, in Magor, Monmouthshire, got into the VE Day 70th anniversary spirit, when it was transformed for the duration of the three-day celebration with bunting across the whole of its frontage.

Awards

19-year old pub chef wins award

11-May-2015 By Daniel Woolfson

A young chef from the Punchbowl Inn, Cumbria, has been named North West Young Chef 2015.

Openings

Award-winning pubco opens first London site

11-May-2015 By Daniel Woolfson

New World Trading Company is set to open its first London site next month.

Company News

CMA reveals verdict on Greene King/Spirit deal

11-May-2015 By James Wallin, M&C Allegra Foodservice

The Competition and Markets Authority has found Greene King’s proposed £773m acquisition of Spirit Pub Company raises competition issues in “a small number of areas”.

JDW threatens legal action over meal deal copyright

11-May-2015 By Mark Wingett

JD Wetherspoon has threatened to take legal action against competitors including Stonegate, Greene King, Whitbread and Mitchells & Butlers over meal deals which it says are infringing its copyright.

Awards

Hook Norton crowns pub winners

08-May-2015 By Helen Gilbert

A Warwickshire pub has triumphed in an annual awards ceremony run by Hook Norton Brewery.

Chef who cooked for David Cameron and Jeremy Clarkson takes the helm of Gloucestershire pub's kitchen

08-May-2015 By Daniel Woolfson

Toby Refoy, who cooked for the PM when he was a private chef in Oxfordshire, has been appointed head chef at the Bear Inn, in Bisley.

My Pub

My Pub: Kentish Hare, Bidborough

08-May-2015 By Daniel Woolfson

Celebrity chef brothers Chris and James Tanner opened their first gastropub, the Kentish Hare last year. Chris Tanner tells Daniel Woolfson about the business

Dining out... at the Top 50 Gastropubs dinner in Bristol

07-May-2015 By Daniel Woolfson

Daniel Woolfson travels to Bristol to watch some of the top pub chefs in the country work their magic.

MA300

Whiting & Hammond secures eighth site

07-May-2015 By Michelle Perrett

Whiting and Hammond, the pub and restaurant group, will open its eighth pub site in mid-August at the Blue Ball in Walton on the Hill, Surrey.

Pub Market Report

Pubs more positive about future as events grow in importance

07-May-2015 By Mike Berry

Publican’s Morning Advertiser readers are experiencing a more positive trading environment with more than half reporting a rise in turnover during the past year and almost six in 10 licensees planning to invest in their pub in the coming 12 months.

Marston's rejoins parliamentary Beer Group

05-May-2015 By Mike Berry

Marston's has rejoined the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group - three years after withdrawing its backing.

Company news

Greene King announces positive full-year results

05-May-2015 By Mark Wingett, M&C Report

Greene King has reported like-for-like sales up 0.4% for the 51 weeks to 26 April in its Retail division but said it had seen record Valentine’s Day sales of £4m and a 2.4% like-for-like increase over Easter.

Brighton 'blowjob' shot bar has licence revoked

01-May-2015 By Emily Sutherland

Brighton’s Oxygen bar has had its licence revoked following a police review.

Awards

Licensee of the Year finalists speak of joy

01-May-2015 By Helen Gilbert

A number of contenders vying for the prestigious Licensee of the Year title have spoken of their joy at rubbing shoulders with the best in the business.

New opening

Knight to the rescue at winery pub

01-May-2015 By Daniel Woolfson

Kent winery Hush Heath Estate has re-opened the Goudhurst Inn, Goudhurst after a major refurbishment with plans to turn the site into a ‘traditional’ pub and inn.

Protest outside Faucet Inns' HQ planned for today

01-May-2015 By Emily Sutherland

Protests are planned outside pub company Faucet Inns' head office following the closure of Camden’s the Black Cap and the potential closure of Haverstock Hill’s the Sir Richard Steele.

Michelin pub is the Nuts after refurb

01-May-2015 By Daniel Woolfson

A Michelin-starred country pub has re-opened after undergoing a major refurbishment.

money makers

Cornish pub diversifies with craft and food store

01-May-2015 By Helen Gilbert

A 16th century Cornish pub is now serving up freshly baked bread, home-made jam and handmade crafts alongside its beer and spirits.

Cock and Seaman owner hits back at critics of pub's risque new name

30-Apr-2015 By Michelle Perrett

The owner of a pub which has been criticised on social media for its risque new name has told people not to forget that “pubs are meant to be fun places”.

Awards

ALMR Operations Managers Awards 2015 launched

30-Apr-2015 By Mike Berry

Entries are now being accepted for the 2015 ALMR Operations Managers Awards, the annual search to find the best area and business development managers in licensed hospitality.

Marco Pierre White's Norfolk pubs for sale

29-Apr-2015 By Mark Wingett

Marco Pierre White’s group of four pubs in Norfolk have been placed on the market for sale individually or as a group acquisition.

Young's buys Islington pub

29-Apr-2015 By Daniel Woolfson

Young’s Pub Company has acquired Islington pub the Canonbury with an eye to re-opening it as a food-led venue.

Kerridge to champion pulled pork

29-Apr-2015 By Jo Bruce

Chef and pub owner Tom Kerridge has been announced as the ambassador of a new campaign for pulled pork.

Brighton locals pledge £400k to buy pub

29-Apr-2015 By Emily Sutherland

Brighton locals have pledged to raise nearly £400,000 to buy the Rose Hill Tavern.