An action-packed weekend
It's another jam-packed weekend of sport, filled with FA Cup quarter-finals and Six Nations rugby. All four FA cup quarter-finals will be televised,...
Archives for March 8, 2007
Chris Maclean: dealing with drugs
I found evidence of drugs again last night. I thought I'd purged it completely. For the past five months there has been nothing.Then a casual check...
Pubs targeted by money laundering criminals
More than £370m in cash is being laundered through the pub trade every year, says a leading investigator of organised crime. Roger Wilson from the...
TV licensee avoids rent hike of 140%
Punch chooses not to inflict 140% rent hike on a licensee who appeared on Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares
International flavour
Take customers on a magical mystery tour through a world of new beers, says Punch Taverns marketing director Geoff Brown For a long time now, it has...
'DON'T QUOTE ME ON THAT'
Each month a senior buyer from our panel talks anonymously and candidly about the latest brand developments Like so much of life the answer is that...
BrandsBriefs
Bright outlook for moonshine Point-of-sale material including posters, postcards and table cards are available for Poitin 50 - so-called because this...
Licence to grill
Nothing grabs customers quite like a BBQ and this is your chance to become a real champion of the grill This year is set to be a great one for al...
Sale of Wig & Pen
The only building to survive the Great Fire of London has been sold by Fleurets. The famous Wig & Pen on the Strand was built in 1625 and its...
'The industry needs a price adjustment''
OVER THE past few years the pub industry has lost some great, traditional, family-owned regional brewers. Hardys & Hansons, Burtonwood, Jennings,...
NewsDigest
Marston's has become the official beer of England's test match grounds, with a deal to supply its beers. It will have exclusive rights to perimeter...
Brewer calls for urgent PDB review
Another regional brewery boss has called for a review of progressive beer duty (PBD) to create a fair system for all small brewers. Guy Newell, of...
Brewer calls for urgent beer duty review
Another regional brewery boss has called for a review of progressive beer duty (PBD) to create a fair system for all small brewers.
Rising to the challenge
As the beleaguered beer market emerges from another demanding year, Nigel Huddleston looks at the key trends and brand developments Saying that...
THE AGENTS
Paul Davey Managing Director, Davey & Co Sale and leaseback - why on earth would you want to do that? This is a question that seems pertinent to...
Darts doubles delight
This year's first ever Holsten National Pub Darts competition attracted more than 10,000 players, with nearly £10,000 up for grabs.Garth Williams...
Slate 20's future uncertain as Diageo reviews RTDs
Diageo is reviewing the future of a handful of brands, including its RTD portfolio as the sector's performance continues to slide. The company is...
Asda chief responds to The Publican
Another of the most senior supermarket figures in the UK has responded personally to the accusations made by The Publican's Dump the Deals campaign.A...
Time to restore alcohol's status
The latest scare facing the drinks trade, say Whitehall-watchers, is that the Home Office wants to target drunks. Not the anti-social drunks we still...
Caught by the law - pubs giving 'free' lifts
Legal expert Peter Coulson looks at 'pub taxis'.
Rising star
Ale brands are behaving more like lagers and upping the ante on the the marketing front. Nigel Huddleston reports Just when it seemed that ale...
The other side of the story
Theme magazine found what it believes is the Rolls-Royce of smoking areas on a fact-finding trip to Ireland - where smoking has been banned since...
THE GUV'NOR
Ali Carter Selling your pub can be very stressful, says the licensee of the Bay View Inn, Widemouth Bay, Cornwall Someone at a BII seminar asked me...
Bacardi-Martini closes plant
Bacardi-Martini is to close its Southampton bottling plant in response to "continued and significant" ready-to-drink (RTD) sector decline. Announcing...
MyShout
It's time to see the good in the smoking ban and get drinkers to rediscover their local, says Barry Gillham With Community Pubs Week just past, am I...
Our great brewing traditions
When people describe Britain as a "post-industrial society" they imply that we don't make things any more. I appreciate we don't dig coal, fashion...
Keg with a positive spin
Intrepid Suffolk brewer Adnams has bucked a prevailing trend to create Spindrift, a keg beer that's actually worth drinking. Andrew Jefford reckons...
Bolton dismay over licence review veto
Bolton Wanderers is to seek legal advice after its local council refused its applications for licence reviews at foreign satellite football pubs....
Licensing@aol.com
Sign of the times Q Our pub is off the main road and I want to put up a sign at the end of the lane to direct people to the pub. The landowner is a...
The positive spirit of private equity sector
Senior business journalist Will Hutton could be heard on Radio Four the other week complaining about the increasingly visible role of private equity...
No more smoke-ban guidance
Trade left fuming over lack of planning rules for outdoor smoking shelters Government will not release any more guidance to clarify whether pub...
BarTalk
What kind of a licensee do you think Jose Mourhino would make? Peter Gatling Merry Harriers Clayhidon Devon I think he would make a terrific...
Chorley Pubwatch gets tought on violent offenders
PUBLICANS IN Chorley, Lancashire, are getting tough on violent offenders by banning them from their premises for five years.The decision follows...
JDW profits rise by a fifth
JD Wetherspoon has reported a 20% rise in pre-tax profits for its first six months on the back of strong growth in ale sales and breakfasts....
Pubs continue to complain over Opus
Energywatch says almost half of the complaints it has received about Opus Energy this year have come from publicans.The energy watchdog says it has...
In the hands of the pub companies...or the gods?
As I was boarding the Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast ride in Disneyland Paris with my seven-year-old son last week (for the umpteenth time), my colleague...
Pub promises the earth
How many pubs can boast their own solar panel, providing more than half their annual hot water needs? Brighton's Earth & Stars can make that...
Contract dilemma for Tec customers
Customers of Smartbox sister company Tec Rentals could miss out on keeping their equipment free of charge if they sign new hire agreements. Tec was...
Members' clubs fuss: storm in a pint pot
The Scottish licensed trade has been stirred up by the press recently over a story that the Scottish Executive was to allow members' clubs an...
Carlsberg loan deal
Carlsberg has become the first major brewer to outsource its business-loans division to a specialist credit management company, Avance Group, as it...
Beer keg deposit plan to hit by 2008
A plan to charge licensees deposits of around £50 on kegs is now expected to be implemented at the end of the year. The call to have a deposit...
MyNewPub
Anchor Inn, Combwich, Somerset Agent: Bettesworths The Nicklin family has taken over at the Anchor Inn in Combwich, Somerset. David and Mandy...
Smoking ban guidance worry for pubs
Trade left fuming over lack of planning rules for outdoor smoking shelters
Young's restructure nears completion
London pub company Young's is continuing to streamline itself following the sale of its Wandsworth brewery last year.With new offices due to open...
LETTERs
Between a rock and a hard place I agree entirely with John Morrey's letter in 22 February issue of the Morning Advertiser which argued that, while...
The Publican Live..add to taste...
With food becoming more important than ever to pubs, visitors to Publican Live will find a wide range of menu and equipment ideas from exhibitors....
Fruits of the Kiwis
In the first of our new fortnightly Wine Seller series, Fiona Sims gives the lowdown on what's hot in New Zealand New Zealand wines aren't exactly...