Operations

National Living Wage

Living the higher life: how has the National Living Wage affected the pub trade?

17-Oct-2016 By Greg Pitcher

When the new national living wage was introduced by then Chancellor George Osborne back in April, there was a lot about the impact in the trade. So, six months on, what is the reality of the situation?

Best Bar None 2017

Best Bar None Scheme seeks ‘next round of champions’ for 2017

17-Oct-2016 By Sara Hussein

The Home Office-supported national award scheme Best Bar None (BBN) is seeking entries for three different categories in its annual competition after its ‘successful’ launch last year.

Bar staff insider

Bar staff insider: proof of ID and how to deal with those who haven't got it

17-Oct-2016 By Bar staff insider

With Freshers’ Week still in the minds of bar staff up and down the country, asking customers for ID can drop you into a sticky situation.

In association with Diageo

NWTC's Nick Whitby reveals secrets to success

16-Oct-2016 By Nicholas Robinson

New World Trading Company's head of bars Nick Whitby reveals his secrets to rising to the top in one of the UK's most successful pub and bar companies.

TV Sport

Christmas TV football fixtures announced

14-Oct-2016 By Liam Coleman

The final match of 2016 will see the early favourites for the Premier League title, Manchester City and Liverpool, meet at Anfield live on BT Sport on New Year's Eve.

Halloween

Are these the spookiest pubs in Britain?

14-Oct-2016 By James Evison

Trying to cash-in on Halloween by claiming your venue has ghosts? Check out the Morning Advertiser's collection of top spooky UK pubs.

Great British Pub Awards 2016

Great British Pub of the Year anticipates boost in trade

14-Oct-2016 By Nikkie Sutton

The winner of the Great British Pub of the Year is anticipating a 20% boost in trade since taking the crown at the Great British Pub Awards last week.

TV Sport

The weekend sport: Red Monday approaches

13-Oct-2016 By Liam Coleman

Liverpool v Manchester United takes place on a Monday night for the first time ever after a weekend of intriguing sporting action.

Business rates

Q&A on the 2017 business rates revaluation

13-Oct-2016 By Liam Coleman

With the dust settling on the announcement of provisional business rates for 2017 onwards, we take a look at the essential questions ahead of the new rates being introduced in April 2017 with some help from Christie & Co's property valuer Adam...

Publican Awards

Publican Awards winner's story - NWTC - Best Employer and Best Managed

13-Oct-2016 By Helen Gilbert

When New World Trading Company (NWTC) left the 2014 Publican Awards empty handed, chief executive Chris Hill vowed the business would return to triumph in future years.

Help

Pub’s plea for help to find missing RAF serviceman

13-Oct-2016 By Nikkie Sutton

A Suffolk pub has issued a plea for help to find a young RAF serviceman who disappeared after a night out on 24 September in Bury St Edmunds.

Whisky

David Beckham chats pubs, whisky and football

13-Oct-2016 By Nicholas Robinson

International footballing superstar, underwear model and now whisky connoisseur David Beckham loves nothing more than a quiet visit to his local pub for a traditional Sunday roast, he says over a glass of his recently launched Haig Club Clubman. Nicholas...

Publican Awards

Publican Awards winner's story - Cheshire Cat - Best Drinks Offer

12-Oct-2016 By Helen Gilbert

"Winning is a bug," according to Tim Bird. And he should know. Cheshire Cat Pubs & Bars, the seven-strong operation he runs with his wife and business partner, Mary McLaughlin, triumphed in the Best Drinks Offer in the 2016 Publican Awards sponsored...

Star Pubs & Bars

Star licensees optimistic about 2017 trade

12-Oct-2016 By Sara Hussein

Pub operator Star Pubs & Bars received 100% positive feedback from its licensees about their prospects for the year ahead despite staffing concerns.

MA Sport

MatchPint and Carlsberg to offer free pints to customers at 100 freehouses

12-Oct-2016 By Liam Coleman

Pub-finder app MatchPint is reinvigorating its previously successful partnership with Carlsberg by launching a collaborative promotion with 100 freetrade pubs in Liverpool and Manchester.

Publican Awards

Publican Awards winner's story - Admiral Taverns - Best Large Tenanted

12-Oct-2016 By Helen Gilbert

Since Admiral Taverns won Large Tenanted Pub Company of the Year category at the Publican Awards back in March for the second time in three years, it has seen a surge in the number of potential licensees looking to join the business.

Training

Yummy Pub Co launches Chef Academy

12-Oct-2016 By James Evison

Multiple operator Yummy Pub Co has launched a mentoring scheme for seven chefs.

Awards

ALMR Late Night Awards winners announced

12-Oct-2016 By Nikkie Sutton

The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) has announced the winners of its Late Night Awards at a gala ceremony in London’s West End.

Hot Shots

Hot Shots: young, ambitious leaders

11-Oct-2016 By Sara Hussein

Hot Shots is The Morning Advertiser’s initiative to recognise young and upcoming individuals working in the trade, from those running pubs to business ops specialists. Here we profile two more people nominated as rising stars, a lessee who's turned...

Charity

Licensed Trade Charity's annual golf tournament raises £16,000 for charity

11-Oct-2016 By Liam Coleman

The Licensed Trade Charity (LTC) annual golf tournament last week completed another successful year of fundraising with a total of £16,000 raised for the charity.

Awards

GBPA finalist wins Britain’s Best Beer Garden 2016

10-Oct-2016 By Nikkie Sutton

This year’s finalist and last year’s Great British Pub Award winner, Chaplin’s & the Cellar Bar has taken the crown for Britain’s Best Beer Garden.

Halloween

Brakspear launches haunted pub tour

10-Oct-2016 By Nikkie Sutton

Henley-on-Thames-based pubco and brewer Brakspear is marking this year’s Halloween with a ‘Ghost Hunt’ around three of its pubs.

Hospitality Awards

Brakspear’s ‘top tenants’ rewarded for their ‘excellence’ at Hospitality Awards

10-Oct-2016 By Sara Hussein

Henley-based pub operator and brewer Brakspear rewarded its ‘top tenants’ at the company’s annual Hospitality Awards last week.

BT Sport

Mulholland responds to BT Sport's 'The Quiet Pub Guide' letter

07-Oct-2016 By Nikkie Sutton

The British Pub Confederation (BPC) and Save the Pub group chairman Greg Mulholland has written to Delia Bushell, managing director of BT TV and Sport, to complain about the ‘Quiet Pub Guide’ letter that has gone out to pubs nationwide.

Design

Making your beer garden a winter wonderland

07-Oct-2016 By Liam Coleman

Since the smoking ban almost a decade ago, beer gardens often seem like an afterthought. The result is they are well populated in summer but, can be a depressing loss in trade in the winter months. Here are three pubs that have converted their outside...

TV Sport

The weekend sport: another new era dawns for England

06-Oct-2016 By Liam Coleman

England will hope to put off-field issues behind them as Gareth Southgate takes charge of his first match as caretaker manager in a weekend dominated by international football.

Great British Pub Awards 2016

Pub Awards: Video interviews with this year's winners

06-Oct-2016 By Liam Coleman

We spoke to a selection of the winners at the Great British Pub Awards just after their moment of glory.

Comment

Pub Awards: We will always enjoy a special place in the hearts of consumers

06-Oct-2016 By Ed Bedington

Once again, it’s my pleasure to be revealing the winners of this year’s Great British Pub Awards, our annual celebration of excellence throughout the sector.

Great British Pub Awards 2016

Pub Awards: Best of Twitter

06-Oct-2016 By Nicholas Robinson

Whether you were at the Great British Pub Awards or not, you need to see this social media rundown of the pub industry Oscars, which took place at the Hilton hotel on Park Lane, London, last night (5 October).

GBPA

Winners of Great British Pub Awards 2016 revealed

05-Oct-2016 By Oli Gross

The Bull at Ditchling, East Sussex, has claimed the title of Great British Pub of the Year in the Great British Pub Awards 2016.

Bar and Pub Show 2016

Up-to-date online bookings systems 'can boost pub profits'

05-Oct-2016 By Sara Hussein

DesignMyNight co-founder, Nick Telson, urged pubs to brush up their online booking systems to gain more revenue and customer loyalty.

Events

Dog-friendly pub competition heats up

05-Oct-2016 By James Evison

Entries to the 'most dog-friendly pub' in the UK have been coming in fast – as the competition has less than a month until applications close.

Premier League

Suppliers of illegal football jailed and fined £1m

04-Oct-2016 By Oli Gross

Two fraudsters who supplied illegal broadcasts of Premier League football to pubs have been jailed and ordered to pay close to £1m.

Bar staff insider

Bar staff insider: the drinks you never want a customer to ask for

04-Oct-2016 By Bar staff insider

A Guinness and a bitter shandy – the two drinks that are the bane of a bartender’s life.

Interview

The Big Interview: BII's Mike Clist & Anthony Pender

03-Oct-2016 By Mike Berry

When British Institute of Innkeeping chairman Anthony Pender called in the help of Mike Clist, the wheels were set in motion to refocus the membership body’s offer and reach new heights. Mike Berry finds out more.

My Pub

My Pub: Sandford Park Alehouse, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

30-Sep-2016 By Phil Mellows

Grant Cook, licensee of the Sandford Park Alehouse, talks about the transformation from nightclub to reigning CAMRA National Pub of the Year.

TV Sport

The weekend sport: it's Ryder Cup time

30-Sep-2016 By Liam Coleman

Golf's most famous tournament is the centrepiece of an eclectic weekend of sport.

Great British Pub Awards

Pub Awards: Best Live Entertainment finalist - Two Brewers, Clapham, London

30-Sep-2016 By MA

The Two Brewers is a well-established gay bar that has been operating for 35 years, with 80% of customers regulars.

Great British Pub Awards

Pub Awards: Best Live Entertainment finalist - Salsa!, Charing Cross, London

30-Sep-2016 By MA

Well-known South American-inspired bar, restaurant and late-night venue Salsa! is located a stone’s throw from Leicester Square.

Great British Pub Awards, Best Live Entertainment Pub

Pub Awards: Best Live Entertainment finalist - The Oast House, Manchester

30-Sep-2016 By MA

Originally opened as a quirky pop-up bar in 2012, the Oast House has morphed into a successful permanent drinking, dining and entertainment venue in vibrant Crown Square.

Great British Pub Awards

Pub Awards: Best Live Entertainment WInner - The Hare & Hounds, Birmingham

30-Sep-2016 By MA

The Hare & Hounds is a thriving entertainment venue and very much the community hub for Kings Heath.

Great British Pub Awards

Pub Awards: Best Live Entertainment finalist - Blues Bar, Harrogate

30-Sep-2016 By MA

In a great location, two doors down from the famous Bettys tea rooms and overlooking a spacious green, the Blues Bar is part of a terrace.

Halloween and Bonfire Night

Making the most of Halloween and Bonfire Night

29-Sep-2016 By Sara Hussein

It can be hard for operators to maintain their creative flair with new ideas every year for Halloween, and many tend to play it safe with similar themes from previous years. However, there’s more to Halloween than the classic pumpkin carving or costume...

Great British Pub Awards

Pub Awards: Best Partnership Winner - The Hastings, Seaton Delaval, Northumberland

29-Sep-2016 By MA

Peter Evans and Paul Thompson relocated 100 miles to the outskirts of Newcastle to run the Hastings, their first pub.

Great British Pub Awards

Pub Awards: Best Partnership finalist - CC Blooms, Edinburgh

29-Sep-2016 By MA

Having enjoyed many years as Edinburgh’s most famous gay nightspot, CC Blooms was, understandably, feeling a little jaded when experienced licensees Mitch Stark and Tim Douglas took on the leasehold of the Punch Taverns site in 2008.

Great British Pub Awards

Pub Awards: Best Partnership finalist - The Victoria Tavern, Ruddington, Nottingham

29-Sep-2016 By MA

Despite the challenges of the past decade, the village of Ruddington has achieved local fame in managing to retain all seven of its pubs.

Great British Pub Awards

Pub Awards: Best Partnership finalist - The Kings Head, Wye, Kent

29-Sep-2016 By MA

Kent-based family brewer Shepherd Neame was on the point of giving up on the Kings Head when Scott Richardson and Mark Lightford turned up with a comprehensive business plan and a clear idea of how they could turn around a struggling pub.