Opinion & Interviews

Covid and the code: a top concern expressed by tenants since lockdown began has been their rent levels.

Opinion

Rents, Covid and the code

By Fiona Dickie – pubs code adjudicator

A top concern expressed by tenants since lockdown began has been their rent levels. They want to know what the Pubs Code and the PCA can do. I am pleased to have this opportunity to set out the position.

The verdict 'nothing is decided until it is decided, in this case possibly by the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court, with appeals by everyone on the cards'

Opinion

Regulators v insurers: the verdict

By Philip Kolvin QC, Cornerstone Barristers

Sometimes white smoke appears from a chimney and the result is clear. Sometimes, smoke rises from the battlefield, casualties are counted and it takes a century or two to work out who won and lost.

Comment by Nicholas Robinson, Managing Editor

Opinion

Could new coronavirus laws be helpful?

By Nicholas Robinson

New laws announced by the Government to help protect the public from the coronavirus may sound like another layer of damaging bureaucracy for pubs, but they could be helpful.

Attention: Ryan Fritsch outlines his plans for BBG's future

Big Interview

From bombs to beer – AB InBev’s new UK head of on-trade talks pubs

By Nicholas Robinson

Yes that’s right, from bombs to beer. As it turns out, Budweiser Brewing Group’s (BBG) recently appointed on-trade sales director for the UK and Ireland Ryan Fritsch has an extensive background in bomb defusal, a skill he’s hopefully unlikely to need...

Change the narrative: 'the entire sector should be holding its head high for pulling off a reasonable and responsible restart'

Opinion

The reality of reopening

By Ed Bedington

Well the predictions of carnage and mayhem failed to materialise, despite the best efforts of some media outlets and newspapers attempts to suggest otherwise.

Cost cutting: a recent study by Beer Piper found the average pub wastes 20 pints a week with inefficient line cleaning

Opinion

What cellar management tips can help reopened pubs save money?

By Jeff Singer, Beer Piper

With Britain’s pub and bar industry still riding out the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s natural that operators and bar managers will be looking at ways to operate as efficiently as possible when they open again.

Data collection: what can UK pub operators learn about customer data collection from approaches implemented in other countries?

Opinion

How are the world's reopened pubs and bars collecting customer data?

By Patrick Clover, Stampede founder

The Government's document outlining how UK pubs, bars and restaurants will reopen from July was notable for how many times it used the word 'should' rather than 'must' – especially on the subject of customer data collection.

Two-week countdown: 'with so much still unknown, all we can do is sit tight and get ready for the day we've been waiting for,' Sacha Lord says

Opinion

The final countdown

By Sacha Lord, night-time economy adviser for Greater Manchester

We are now just over two weeks away from the 4 July - a date etched in our minds as when we might finally be able to reopen our doors to the public.

Cost worry: ‘I am concerned operators could be spending hundreds of pounds on new layouts and capacity measures, that may, come 4 July, be wrong’, says Sacha Lord (centre)

Opinion

The longer we wait, the less ready we will be

By Sacha Lord, night-time economy adviser for Greater Manchester

It's just over three weeks until the sector is meant to reopen - but little is known on how we’re meant to be reopening.

International focus: monitoring events abroad may give us insight as to what our venues may look like, says Sacha Lord

Opinion

Hospitality must look abroad for a glimpse of the future

By Sacha Lord, night-time economy adviser for Greater Manchester

This week marks a positive step in our road to recovery as the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) looks set to advise how bars and pubs can reopen.

No prizes for rushed reopening: ’there is no gold medal for coming out first. We will do this properly, we will do this effectively, and we will do this only once,’ Liberation Group’s Jayson Perfect says

Big Interview

There’s no gold medal for reopening pubs first

By Stuart Stone

Jayson Perfect says the tide is turning when it comes to reopening locked down sites at Channel Islands-based pub group Liberation – if only there was a word to describe the action of setting them free?

In depth: pubs must do all they can to claim on insurance policies they have taken out

#Opinion

The real ‘wide area effect’

By Tim Murphy, director of Luddite Brewing Company

We’re the Luddite Brewing Company, our brewpub has been closed due to coronavirus and there seems to be a problem with our business interruption insurance.

Post-crisis warning: people will remember those who helped and those who put themselves first

Opinion

Pandemic could mean a reboot for humanity not just hospitality

By Andy Slee, chairman of Black Sheep brewery

The fact you’re reading this means pubs and beer play an important part in your life. And, as such, during the past few weeks, we have all had to reassess the meaning of ‘important’, so my thoughts go out to any of you directly affected by Covid-19.

Grants plea: trade adviser Phil Dixon believes all pubs should be treated on an individual basis

Opinion

Pubs with rateable value above £51k are being penalised

By Phil Dixon, trade adviser

When you have advised and represented publicans for four decades, you think you have experienced difficult times: recessions, floods, foot and mouth, Chernobyl fallout, draymen’s strikes... but a worldwide pandemic that closes all UK pubs is, sadly, just...

Duty bound: former Bake Off winner Candice Brown explains why she’s trapped in an upside-down pint glass and gives her take on the trade

Big Interview – in association with Long Live the Local

'Boris Johnson seems to enjoy a pint. It’s time to help us'

By Nikkie Thatcher

Since winning TV show The Great British Bake Off, Candice Brown has not rested on her laurels and one of her latest objectives is to take the fight to save pubs to the Government.

Green shoots: Chris Drummond wants Good Things Brewing Co to take a lead on sustainability

Little Interview

Brewers can lead British industry on sustainability

By Stuart Stone

Good Things Brewing Co’s Chris Drummond explains how a new closed-loop brewery can more than treble its pub presence and that beer makers can lead other industries on green issues.

Proper Job: 'I absolutely have been conscious of the fact I’ve been born with a silver spoon in my mouth – but that has made me work twice as hard throughout my career because I’ve been so chippy about it'

Exit interview

St Austell to pass 200-pub mark in 'next few years'

By Stuart Stone

Having joined the company as an apprentice, St Austell Brewery’s CEO James Staughton officially bows out on 31 January after an impressive four decades at its helm. Here he shares a slice of his Cornish past.

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