Marketing & promotions: Reaching the rejectors
There is no question that come the smoking ban the majority of adults in Britain will be aware of its broadest implications. As a result, some of...
Archives for May 2, 2007
Marketing & promotions: Promotions with prudence
Whether operating happy hours or running two-for-one deals, pubs have plenty of responsibilities to bear in mind when it comes to marketing and...
Newport police in big push for plastic
Newport police is the latest force to push for a blanket glass ban in all city-centre venues. Police have applied to the Community Safe partnership...
Rates may rise after the ban
Temporary smoking structures may bring about an unfair and automatic rise in rateable value (RV). Fleurets head of ratings Michael Yass believes...
AAIM in talks to buy Marston's pubs
Former Ultimate director of development Colin Rowlinson is to head a new sector entrant tipped to win the auction to buy 279 Marston's pubs currently...
NewsDigest
WH Brakspear, the pubco based in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, is to part company with its operations director David Queen as part of a...
Pub chief bitter at Harveys turnabout
A Greene King lessee has criticised the company's decision to re-introduce Harveys to the Lewes Arms, East Sussex, while his pub opposite is not...
THE GUV'NOR
Mike Bell The licensee of Portobello Gold in Notting Hill, west London, bemoans the trade's penchant for a 2pm food curfew Times are tough - if we...
Don't judge a book by its cover
I'm known as someone who is prone to making outlandish statements. For example, I still stand by my belief that Premiership footballer of the year...
Seasonal menus: When the sun shines
BarbecuesTIME TO dust off the barbie - and suppliers are not short of menu ideas and new products to cook in your garden while the sun shines.Prep...
Don't let them take you in
A man walks into a pub - okay it's the same old line - but some of those people are out to get money from the licensee by using a scam. This man or...
Licensee leaves pub over safety fears
A licensee is being forced to leave his pub after locals threatened to burn down the premises.Jason Wicks, manager of the Royal Hart in Ashford,...
Andrew Pring asks 'What price Blair's legacy?'
It will not be Iraq or spin, or squandered public finances that most people in our trade will remember Tony Blair for. The bungling of licensing...
Pimm's gets a massive £3.5m summer push across the nation
Pimm's is to receive its biggest support push yet with its first national advertising campaign as Diageo ploughs £3.5m into the summer favourite....
Change is always tough but we should be confident post ban, says Barry Gillham
Change is always tough but we should be confident of the post-ban future, says Barry Gillham Everywhere I go at present I am asked, "How is the...
THE AGENTS
Louise Hooper Senior sales negotiator, Stonesmith With the smoking ban set to start on 1 July in England, there is considerable speculation within...
Seasonal menus: Summer suppers
The arrival of summer means pubs can boost trade by cross-selling. Matching dishes from the food menu with appropriately chilled seasonal drinks such...
BarTalk
Should Prince Harry go to Basra? Nigel Oxford Three Compasses Hornsey London I think he should, if he wants to - it's what he's been trained for,...
Scamsters besiege pubs
Pubs are being besieged by bogus calls over advertising space as scamsters use increasingly sneaky techniques to catch publicans out. Since launching...
Football's nail-biting continues
Get set for another enthralling weekend of Premiership football. With the league title on the line it's time for Chelsea to show they are capable of...
Farm shop for Geronimo pub
Geronimo Inns, the food-led pub group, is set to have a farm shop in its latest acquisition outside of Greater London. The company has not confirmed...
Lessee told to pay £30k 'debt'
A Hampshire lessee owes his pubco more than £30,000 after being lumped with the debts of licensees who had the lease assigned to them. Roger Young...
MA rescues licensee from high charges
Under-fire electricity sup-plier Opus Energy has allowed a licensee to leave his three-year contract early after the MA intervened. Opus has...
Licensing@aol.com
TEN for bar in council's hall Q I have a colleague who holds a personal licence. He has been asked to run a bar for an event at a hall owned by the...
Rent rise too far
Mr Q is considering surrendering the lease of his Welsh pub because of a proposed rent increase by his pubco I fear I may have to surrender my lease...
Marketing & promotions: Blow your own trumpet
Some publicans are wary about promotional events. This applies to both 'packaged' events, where suppliers provide marketing materials and prizes, and...
Fears over future of new Admiral tenants
Fears have been raised over the future of licensees affected by the sale of 869 pubs from Punch to Admiral Taverns.Punch sold the tenanted and...
Banking on justice
A people's revolt has begun against disproportionate penalty bank charges. The Consumer Action Group explains how to fight your case Nearly three...
Paying for the right to performance
Although the issue of copyright in televised football has dominated the news over the past few months, this is part of a much wider law which...
Beer and bombay mix
Morning Advertiser's PubChef magazine went beer and Indian food-matching with the Beer Academy and Coors at the famous Bombay Brasserie in London's...
NEWS OF THE BREWS
Banks's e-zine Banks's has published an electronic magazine to keep its drinkers up-to-date with the latest news from the music scene. Banks's List...
The only healthy liver in the village?
Channel 4's Dispatches this week set up a liver-testing clinic at Westminster and asked 200 MPs who signed the Early Day Motion about supermarket...
Smoking success for pub hypnotherapist
More than half of customers who have been hypnotised to stop smoking at an Essex pub have given up cigarettes as a result.Now licensee Mike Mitchell...
LETTERs
High cost of freedom As the smoking ban draws nearer, the discussions around my bar go on. I don't think the Government has thought about the...
Curry connection
The typical image of an Indian meal is a dish served up with ice-cold lager, but the classic combination was created purely by chance, says Adam...
Seasonal menus: Sizzling in summer
The barbecue season has come early this year. But to get meat lovers out of their back gardens and into yours, you need to offer something special,...
Unequal games of chance
Long-standing rivalry between pubs and clubs still continues, even though clubs seem to have come off worst in the general licensing reforms....
Win a £1,000 this week with Plan for the Ban
A prize of £1,000 is up for grabs in the latest Plan for the Ban giveaway. With the smoking ban now in place in Wales and just on the horizon in...
Marketing & Promotions: Walk into new trade
IT'S OFFICIAL. Walking is the most popular recreational activity, with over eight million of us taking walks at least once a month, according to a...
Martin Roslyn, chairman, Pub Accounting Company
What you would need to consider is the pubco's situation on the unit. They obviously feel that £45k is the optimum rent for the unit - although this...
MyNewPub
Ship Inn, Noss Mayo, South Devon Agent: Colliers Robert Barry Lisa and Charlie Bullock have just taken over the Ship Inn, Noss Mayo, South Devon....
Seasonal menus: Indulge in desserts
SUMMER IS a peak time for puds, and total sales of chilled desserts, such as cream cakes, cheesecakes and trifle, have increased by 40 per cent since...
Westward go!
The South West remains a popular place to own a pub. With much of the region offering the opportunity of a back-to-basics approach, it is an obvious...
Drinking and smoking in the street: The Next Big Problem?
I experienced my first 'post-BII annual lunch informal drinks gathering' thing the other day outside the renowned Audley pub in London's well-heeled...
Chris Maclean: two thorny issues at the LVA meeting
Yesterday's LVA meeting was dogged by two issues. The first was the smoking ban. We'd sent delegates to a regional seminar on the subject. The...
MasterChef judge John Torode takes on Cornwall pub
MasterChef judge and TV presenter John Torode is to run a pub in Cornwall.
Project update 3: A whole new world
A picturesque pub in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales, deep in the heart of walkers' country, was always bound to find the winter months hard.This was...
ALMR slams police approach to trade
Police condemned for turning away from dialogue, opposing extended hours and seeking to close pubs Trade chief Alex Salussolia has taken a huge swipe...
Beware the alcohol police
Imagine the scene: a family is sitting round the dinner table. A bottle of wine or beer accompanies the evening meal, enjoyed by the parents and...
Blair's red-tape pub trade legacy
As Prime Minister Tony Blair prepares to step down after a decade at the top, Nigel Huddleston talks to the trade about his time in office Tony...
Perfect pairing
At the Windsor Castle in Lye, West Midlands, matching beer and food is a fine art. Susan Nowak reports In Belgium you find breweries with "brew...