Operations

Pub Awards: Best Beer Pub – Purecraft Bar, Birmingham

10-Sep-2015 By PMA

A modern beer-focused pub with warmth and less edge was how the judges described the Purecraft Bar in Birmingham City Centre.

Best Cider Pub – The Crown Inn, Woolhope

10-Sep-2015 By PMA

The Crown Inn is one of those pubs that gives you a warm feeling the moment you arrive.

Pub Awards: Best Bar Team – The Old Mill, Baginton

10-Sep-2015 By PMA

The bar team are the well-tuned engine that drives this phenomenally successful pub to success.

Pub Awards: Best Newcomer – The Old Volunteer, Nottingham

10-Sep-2015 By PMA

Licensees, Maggie and Andrew Dunkin, are new to the pub sector and after running a brewery for five years have successfully launched a brewery tap in their hometown.

Pub Awards: Best Managed Pub – The Wheatsheaf, Borough

10-Sep-2015 By PMA

Standing proudly on the side of one of London’s busiest food markets, Borough, this Young’s run pub does not lack for competition.

Pub Awards: Best Freehouse – the Shibden Mill Inn, Halifax

10-Sep-2015 By PMA

Coming up against a tough field of contenders in the Freehouse category, Shibden Mill Inn has to be something special to take the crown, and special it is.

TV Rights

Sky Sports bags cricket rights for Bangladesh series

10-Sep-2015 By Oli Gross

Sky Sports has secured the rights to England’s tour to Bangladesh in 2016, meaning the broadcaster will air all of England’s matches for the next two years.

Pub Awards

Tonight's the night: The Great British Pub Awards guide

10-Sep-2015 By PMA

It’s the FINAL COUNTDOWN to our special 80’s themed Great British Pub Awards.

Chef Shortage

Emily Watkins: standard of training for chefs "no good"

10-Sep-2015 By Daniel Woolfson

The standard of professional training for chefs has dropped, contributing to the industry-wide skills gap, according to Emily Watkins, chef patron of award-winning Oxfordshire pub the Kingham Plough.

Tip the balance in favour of our sector

10-Sep-2015 By Ed Bedington

The issue of tipping has hit the headlines this week, and it’s good to see that the likes of the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers has made a move to announce it is revising its code.

Customers "seem to like" half-naked Queen painting on London pub

10-Sep-2015 By Oli Gross

Customers “seem to like” a half-naked painting of the Queen at a London pub – which was drawn to mark her landmark of becoming the longest serving monarch.

ALMR to revise tips code

10-Sep-2015 By Emily Sutherland

The Association of Multiple Retailers (ALMR) is to re-vise its code of practice to help pub operators navi-gate the tipping minefield that has dominated recent headlines.

SkySports

Licensees face "unlimited fine" for illegal broadcasting

09-Sep-2015 By Oli Gross

Licensees have been warned about the potentially “unlimited fine” they may face for airing sport illegally after two publicans were fined a combined £11,152.

Fuller's hosts Chef's Guild graduation for rising kitchen stars

09-Sep-2015 By Daniel Woolfson

Fuller’s has marked the achievements of chefs across its 189-site managed estate with the first graduation ceremony for Chef’s Guild scholars.

Pub of the Year

CAMRA: Top 16 in pubs in Britain

09-Sep-2015 By Oli Gross

The Campaign for Real Ale has released its top 16 pubs and regional finalists for its best pub in Britain award.

Mitchells & Butlers

On-trade breakfast sales soar

09-Sep-2015 By M&C Allegra

New figures from Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) show sales of breakfasts eaten out in the UK have grown significantly in the last 12 months alone.

Technology

The future is social media - and you have to be on it

08-Sep-2015 By James Evison

Would you let someone stand outside your pub with a loudspeaker, telling the world how awful it is? Many pubs have an online presence, but just having a pretty website won't cut the mustard in 2015.

Woman drinks at more than 600 Red Lion pubs

07-Sep-2015 By Emily Sutherland

A Lancashire woman has completed her quest to drink in every pub named the Red Lion in the UK.

Chef Shortage

Great British Menu star Dom Chapman: "I want a civilised bunch of chefs in the kitchen"

07-Sep-2015 By Daniel Woolfson

Training from the grass roots up and nurturing talent is fundamental to combatting the chef shortage, according to BBC2 Great British Menu star Dominic Chapman, chef patron of the Beehive, White Waltham.

Charity

Pubs do their bit to tackle European migration crisis

07-Sep-2015 By Emily Sutherland

Pubs across the UK are doing their bit to help tackle the European migrant crisis by collecting aid and donations.

Sky Sports

Are you making the most of international football this month?

07-Sep-2015 By Sky Sports

International football takes over this month, and with all the home nations plus Republic of Ireland in with a good chance of making Euro 2016, make sure you fire your pub into profit.

PMA Sport

Full-time Fletch - 3 September

04-Sep-2015 By Darren Fletcher

BT Sport commentator and host of football show Fletch & Sav, Darren Fletcher speaks exclusively to the PMA to reflect on the start of the Premier League season.

Leisure

All work and no play for 80% of licensees who are concerned at shortage of free time

04-Sep-2015 By Emily Sutherland

 Publicans are increasingly worried about the pressures of the job, with almost 80% reporting that they are ‘concerned’ at the shortage of free time they have.

Pub that banned children says business is as good as ever

01-Sep-2015 By Emily Sutherland

An East Staffordshire pub says trade is as good as ever despite taking the controversial decision to ban children under the age of five.

Copyright

Licensee hit with £6,000 fine for Sky copyright breaches

01-Sep-2015 By Mike Berry

An Aylesbury pub licensee has been ordered to pay more than £6,000 for illegal Sky use.

Enterprise publican raises a glass after racking up 35 years at his pub

01-Sep-2015 By Emily Sutherland

An Enterprise publican is celebrating with regulars after notching up 35 years at his Surrey pub.

Sports bra scandal

Women wearing sports bras and leggings to get free drink at Oakman Inns

28-Aug-2015 By Emily Sutherland

Pub group Oakman Inns has taken on coffee chain Costa Coffee by offering any woman who visits its pubs wearing just leggings and a sports bra a free coffee.

Advertising board

"German porn" A-board removed following complaints and visit from police

28-Aug-2015 By Oli Gross

A licensee has removed a sign advertising “German porn” at a Shrewsbury pub after complaints led to a visit from police and environmental health.

Abandoned south London pub wins £3.8 million lottery windfall

28-Aug-2015 By Emily Sutherland

A semi-derelict south London pub will go from abandoned shell to thriving community hub after landing a multi-million pound grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Technology

Contactless payment sounds death knell for pub minimum charges

28-Aug-2015 By Emily Sutherland

The boom in contactless card payments could force pubs to drop the common £5 minimum card spend as tap and go payments become compulsory.

Consumer trends

London diners want more healthy options when eating out, claims new survey

26-Aug-2015 By M&C Allegra Foodservice

Customers in London are twice as likely to be motivated to eat out by the desire for a light or healthy meal than those in the rest of the UK.

Rugby World Cup

Controversial plans to close pubs early during Rugby World Cup scrapped

26-Aug-2015 By Emily Sutherland

Pubs in Twickenham are celebrating after the council, police and tournament organisers agreed to a more flexible licensing approach during this year’s Rugby World Cup.

Chef recruitment crisis

Could training prison inmates help solve the chef shortage?

26-Aug-2015 By Daniel Woolfson

Training convicts in chef skills could help solve combat the critical shortage of skilled chefs affecting the hospitality industry.

London Art House hosts Boutique Bar Show

25-Aug-2015 By Laurie Macdonald

The London Art House in Islington will host the Boutique Bar Show 2015 in late September.

Shepherd Neame blamed for sewage-like stench upsetting Faversham locals

24-Aug-2015 By Emily Sutherland

Brewery Shepherd Neame is trying to get to the bottom of a persistent smell that is getting up the noses of Faversham locals.

Millennial trends: play the generation game

24-Aug-2015 By Nigel Huddleston

The millennial generation is socialising differently, but how can your venue tap into its needs? Nigel Huddleston finds out.

Training

Understanding the 'how and why' of learning

24-Aug-2015 By Paul Chase

Understanding the science of learning is vital if the hospitality sector is to raise its game and move beyond a minimum level of training.

Cricket TV rights

BT Sport bags rights for The Ashes down under

24-Aug-2015 By Oli Gross

BT Sport will air England’s defence of the Ashes in Australia in 2017/18 after winning a five-year rights deal.

We Want Plates founder: bad presentation in pubs is "epidemic"

21-Aug-2015 By Daniel Woolfson

Pubs are by far the worst culprits when it comes to bad presentation of food, according to We Want Plates founder Ross McGinnes.

Live football

Illegal suppliers of Premier League football jailed

21-Aug-2015 By Oli Gross

The owners of a company which supplied illegal Premier League football to pubs have been jailed for three and a half years.

Chef recruitment crisis

“Fancy chefs don’t want to drop down to our level” - top London pub chef talks chef shortage

21-Aug-2015 By Daniel Woolfson

The current shortage of skilled chefs and the problems caused by it are “never ending”, according to Jesse Dunford-Wood, chef patron of Parlour, in Kensal Green, London.

Training

'You've got to live it, it's not just a job, it's a way of life' - Fuller's head of ops on working in the industry

20-Aug-2015 By Oli Gross

The head of operations at 100 Fuller’s pubs offers advice to ambitious workers in the industry and explains how she rose through the ranks.

Paranoid? You really ought to be in this trade

20-Aug-2015 By Ed Bedington

You’re not paranoid if they actually are out to get you, and if you’re in the pub trade at the moment, you could be forgiven for being a little paranoid.

One in five British drinkers expect to drinks less next year

20-Aug-2015 By M&C Allegra

While alcoholic drinks remain a core part of many adults’ food and drink repertoires, new research from Mintel reveals almost one in five (17%) British drinkers expect to reduce their consumption over the next year, with saving money being the number...

Training is the first line of defence

20-Aug-2015 By Paul Chase, CPL Training

The licensed trade, particularly in town and city centres, continues to suffer from too much regulation and over-zealous enforcement activities.

Beer

Pub aims to be the 'home of brewing in Brighton'

19-Aug-2015 By Oli Gross

A pub and microbrewery offers beer tours, tasters and training in an aim to be the “home of brewing in Brighton”.

Online reviews

Top TripAdvisor responses: "You clearly wanted it cooked to old shoe leather"

18-Aug-2015 By Oli Gross

Following TripAdvisor's advice for managers to respond to reviews they feel are unfair, the PMA looks at the different tactics licensees use to argue their case.

Twickenham

Exclusive: Fuller's defies early Rugby World Cup pub closure

18-Aug-2015 By Oli Gross

Fuller’s is set to defy police and council requests to close pubs to fans at 10pm during the Rugby World Cup next month.

London

London licensee forced out of pub by sky high London rents

17-Aug-2015 By Emily Sutherland

A Shoreditch licensee has spoken of her sadness after spiralling London rents forced her to sell the lease on ‘beloved’ pub the George and Dragon.

Charity

Prostate Cancer UK hails pub trade support - and the PMA

17-Aug-2015 By Mike Berry

The PMA has been praised for its role in getting the trade to support Prostate Cancer UK’s new campaign which sees pubs converted into ‘Men United Arms’.