Opinion & Interviews

Opinion piece: when working well, the pubs code can be part of a smooth relationship between tenants and the pub company, says pubs code adjudicator Fiona Dickie

opinion

What tenants need from the pubs code

By Fiona Dickie, pubs code adjudicator

With the current trading and economic challenges facing tied tenants, they want to be able to focus on running their businesses.

Important part of a ‘proper’ pub: the appreciation of cask ale remains

The cask project

Licensees must realise the trouble cask is in

By Pete Brown

It’s 15 years now since I wrote the first edition of the Cask Report – an initiative organised by cask brewers and industry bodies to reinvigorate attitudes around cask ale. Now, The Cask Project is a new initiative with the same goals.

You bet: Jean-David Thumelaire has seen BBG’s ‘bets’ on the on-trade begin to pay off already

Big Interview

BBG vows to support the on-trade

By Gary Lloyd

Budweiser Brewing Group UK & Ireland’s Jean-David Thumelaire talks about the pandemic, the business’s Stella Please campaign and its latest innovations, among other things, with The Morning Advertiser associate features editor Gary Lloyd.

Opinion piece: Tory Peer and chief executive of the Association of Conservative Clubs Philip Smith looks back on Government support amid the pandemic (image: Getty/Luis Davilla)

Opinion

'Give the Government credit, where credit is due'

By Philip Smith, the Lord Smith of Hindhead CBE and chief executive of the Association of Conservative Clubs

As we emerge from the Covid pandemic I think we can all agree that this has been the most extraordinary time in most of our lives, and in the life of the nation. There will be many lessons to be learned.

Advice given: Molson Coors on-trade category controller Mark Bentley outlines the need for a good and varied drinks offer (image: Getty/GoodLifeStudio)

Opinion

Whatever changes, the perfect range will always be a balancing act

By Mark Bentley, on-trade controller at Molson Coors

Mark Bentley, on-trade category controller at Molson Coors, reflected on how the hospitality sector is bouncing back after the challenges of the pandemic, and what outlets can do to anticipate behavioural change from customers.

How pubs can improve their wine offer

Opinion

How to improve your wine offer

By Heath Ball, MD of Frisco Group

Pubs and wine are not always a match made in heaven, as The MA recently explored in the last episode of the Lock In podcast.

Build your own team: flexing the apprenticeship model can benefit both the employer and employee says Jill Whittaker

Opinion

How flexible apprenticeships could benefit your pub

By Jill Whittaker, managing director at HIT Training

As National Careers Week draws to a close, here is how using apprenticeships to attract and then retain talent in the pub sector is well worth the effort.

What is the latest government position on pubs?

opinion

Death by a thousand cuts?

By Ed Bedington

And so we find ourselves, once again, standing at a potential cliff edge, waiting for the casual and careless shove of our political leaders to send us into the abyss.

What beers are going to be driving growth in pubs?

Opinion

Premium vs standard beer - more balance needed on the bar

By Mark Bentley, on-trade category controller, Molson Coors

Anyone reading the trade press or listening to various data & insight experts would be forgiven for thinking that everyone is now drinking premium drinks and that familiar favourites such as core standard lager brands have had their day.

Inquisition needed: trade adviser Phil Dixon says setting rents way above pre-pandemic levels is ‘bonkers’

Opinion

Pub companies must do something about unviable rent offers

By Phil Dixon, trade adviser

As Monty Python famously recorded: “Though there was trouble at the mill they didn’t expect ‘The Spanish Inquisition’.” There is trouble in the pub sector mill and there needs to be an inquisition into the behaviour and transparency of pub-owning companies.

Operator reaction: 'a 5% reduction in duty is not even a drop in the ocean but it is good news,' says licensee of the Plough and Barleycorn in the Isle of Wight, Gav Young

opinion

'Pubs are now the sickly child of the high street'

By Gav Young, the Plough and Barleycorn, Isle of Wight

So the red tops are awash with pictures of Boris and Rishi holding pints aloft as they declare not only a duty freeze but a 3p reduction, of course there is much small print including the cut not coming into force until 2023 or, indeed, on kegs under...

What has Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company achieved in its first year?

Big Interview

Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company celebrates first year of merger

By Gary Lloyd

A year ago, brewing giants Carlsberg UK and Marston’s joined forces to become Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company (CMBC). Here, CMBC chief executive Paul Davies tells The Morning Advertiser what’s been achieved in the year and what’s yet to come.

Operator comment: 'We have a new Government slogan of ‘levelling up’ and this should be the on-trade's rallying cry', says Gav Young (image: Getty/stocknshares)

Opinion

'A duty cut would do nothing to help pubs'

By Gav Young, the Plough and Barleycorn, Isle of Wight

It is no coincidence the biggest voices in the ‘cut the duty’ campaign are the big brewers. With duty at around 52p per pint it is a massive proportion of the value of a pint at the brewery gate, far more so than it is of a pint on the bar in the pub....

How should operators respond to increased prices?

Opinion

Tsunami of increases on the way

By Ed Bedington

Our fearless leader, when he’s not on his hols in the middle of a major crisis, recently announced the wonderful news that his ambition for the UK was for it to become a high wage economy.

Unbeatable atmosphere: Dianne Irving of Drouth Ltd (centre) says pubs have the edge by being a centre for social contact

Opinion

Socialisation on a grand scale

By Dianne Irving, managing director, Drouth Ltd

Last week, I attended the MA Leaders Club event in Leeds. This event, formerly known as the MA 500, can only be described as first rate.

Threats on rise: British Institute of Innkeeping's Steve Alton

Opinion

Pubs’ recovery under threat as supply chain issues escalate

By Steve Alton, chief executive, British Institute of Innkeeping

Our sector relies upon an effective integrated supply chain linking raw materials, manufacturing and logistics to ensure our pubs can deliver a fantastic experience for their customers.

Facing the staffing challenge: the Unruly Pig head chef Dave Wall

Opinion

Dealing with the staffing shortage

By Dave Wall, head chef the Unruly Pig, Bromeswell, Suffolk

While working with a hangover isn’t a new concept for many from the world of hospitality, dealing with the aftermath of Covid and Brexit is the ‘day after’ on steroids, presenting a whole new torrent of tangles, issues and problems to battle with on a...

Pandemic impact: I say this with no expectation or not as a jibe; at the end of the day, Covid has put an exceptional strain on the hospitality sector and no one could blame someone for squeezing out more profit where possible during what has been an incredibly testing time'

Opinion

The great restaurant pricing debate

By Sarah John, director, Boss Brewing

It was popcorn at the ready for me recently as I saw the argument unfold between Wine Expert Guy Woodward and Celebrity Chef Tom Kerridge on Twitter.

Future issues: Lynx Purchasing has been warning of potential problems

opinion

'Plan for the supply chain challenge'

By Michelle Perrett

Rachel Dobson, managing director of buying specialist Lynx Purchasing, offers practical advice to licensees on how to deal with the food supply challenges.

Recruitment issues: 'The solution is not as important here as getting across the point that we need to stop blaming the hospitality sector itself for this staff shortage crisis'

Opinion

Stop blaming the industry for the hospitality staff crisis

By Sarah John, director, Boss Brewing

Those of us within the hospitality industry are well aware that we face a staff crisis; there is no disputing that we are experiencing rising worker shortages, with job vacancies at higher-than-ever levels.

Greater impact: ‘Just as I was starting to make a few quid for the first time in 15 months it has been completely wiped out and more’

Opinion

Isolation notices: The shark in the shallows

By Tim Tomlinson, operator of the White Cross, Merchants 1688, the Stonewall Tap, Lancaster, Lancashire

I am sure everyone in the sector is extremely happy about the news we will be allowed to open more or less as normal from 19 July.

Procedure in place: Brendan Padfield, owner of multi award-winning and Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropub, the Unruly Pig, in Woodbridge, Suffolk explains why he wholeheartedly recommends workplace lateral flow testing

Opinion

Caring for customers, caring for your team

By Brendan Padfield, the Unruly Pig, Woodbridge, Suffolk

This pandemic has hit the whole country so hard. Hospitality, as a sector, has perhaps been hardest hit, having been closed for a total of nine and a half months via three lockdowns since March 2020.

Covid impact: ‘As the effects of pandemic restrictions have seen all venues hit pause on operating as usual, these are felt in a unique way for LGBTQ+ venues and communities’ (Image: Getty/nrqemi)

Opinion – Pride 2021

‘Nights out should be about fun and freedom, not fear’

By Aliyah Rawat, associate trainer, Good Night Out Campaign

As a London-based trainer for Good Night Out Campaign (GNO), an event producer and DJ, I have seen first-hand the precarious position Covid-19 restrictions has placed the industry in.

Better times ahead: ‘As ever, there will be winners and losers in the sector depending on location, demographic, segment, management, ownership amongst other factors’

Opinion

Post-lockdown pub sector presents ‘once in a decade opportunity’

By Nigel Parson director, research, Finncap

The hospitality sector is on tenterhooks over the Government’s proposed roadmap out of lockdown on 21 June – dubbed ‘Freedom Day’ – according to Nigel Parson director, research, at strategic advisory and capital raising service provider Finncap.

Improvement required: 'We need to stop talking about it and make serious strides to making this an industry to be proud of, not just a part time job before people move onto bigger and better things'

Opinion

Is the hospitality sector suffering from its reluctance to invest in staff?

By Heath Ball, managing director, Frisco Group

It’s no secret that that most hospitality businesses are suffering from a staff shortage – yes, even you Mr Martin – but while we look at Brexit and Covid-19 as the perpetrators of the problem, should we be looking closer to home for answers?

What is my brief? ‘I have to deliver and enforce the pubs code as it is, and not as some may argue it should be’

Opinion

Looking ahead: the post-Covid pubs code

By Fiona Dickie – pubs code adjudicator

The announcement that I would be the next pubs code adjudicator (PCA) was made on 24 February 2020. The first lockdown came just three weeks later.

Social wellbeing: ‘We as an industry, and our bars and restaurants and pubs, play such an important role in society,’ Bacardi’s Leila Stansfield says

Big Interview

‘Brands are built in bars, not in boardrooms’

By Stuart Stone

After making a long-awaited return to reopened pubs and bars throughout April, Bacardi’s on-trade director Leila Stansfield’s glass is most certainly half full for the weeks and months of on-trade recovery ahead.

North Bar and North Brewing Co Fiona Potts Big Interview

Big interview

Secrets behind the success of North Bar/North Brewing Co

By Nikkie Thatcher

Off the back of North Bar/North Brewing Co’s recent win at the 2021 Publican Awards, The Morning Advertiser caught up (virtually of course) with head of retail Fiona Potts just before the company opened its latest venue for outdoor trading.

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