A marriage made in heaven
During my first visit to Liverpool for a few years, I found the city not only spruced up in preparation for its Year of Culture in 2008, but also...
Archives for May 16, 2007
Selling strategies
Neil Dunning tells Ewan Turney how a sound marketing strategy helped the Duke on the Green in Parsons Green, London, become Young's Pub of the Year...
Hamish Champ: Smoking ban, schmoking ban
There's been a growing clamour lately about how the UK smoking bans are an assault on our democracy; on the very fabric of this great country of...
Licensee vows to fight against till roll supplier
Cheshire licensee is continuing to stand his ground in a year long dispute with a Canadian-based till roll company. Paper Roll Logistics is one of...
Tasty £2m push for black stuff
Diageo is investing £2m in a new advertising campaign for Guinness to highlight how the black stuff tastes. The push will include the latest TV...
BII chief speaks out over scams
At BII we hear from our members on a regular basis about attempted and, sadly, sometimes successful scams targeted at our trade. What is it about the...
Get behind ALMR awards, says Andrew Pring
It's 10 years since the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) began running its Operations Manager of the Year awards, now one of the key industry standards-raising initiatives.
What the papers say - May 17, 2007
Not content with exporting Dom Pérignon champagne, Hennessy cognac and Glenmorangie whisky to China's elite, France's LVMH has taken a majority...
Opus releases another host
Another licensee has been allowed to leave her contract with electricity supplier Opus early after convincing the firm that she was mis-sold. Last...
Oldham licensees "frustrated" over sniffer dog searches
Licensees in Oldham claim they are "frustrated" with police for failing to help them crack down on drug users in their pubs.They want to target drugs...
Donations in time
The LTC is making a real difference to people's lives through its team of volunteer visitors, who give their time, rather than money, to help those...
Prepare for a brace of cup finals
Coming up over the next seven days there are two football finals to look out for. On Saturday it's time once again for the FA Cup final. For the...
BarTalk
Should the UK ditch the Eurovision Song Contest? Steve Murphy Church House Inn Bollington Cheshire It's not been a vintage year. It's more like a...
JDW's smoking-ban plans hold valuable lessons
Experience has got to be worth something, hasn't it? Some observers scoffed when JD Wetherspoon took a hit to its sales after founder Tim Martin decided the entire estate would go non-smoking early.
NewsDigest
Heineken is testing how its brands are served in pubs in a new initiative. "Auditors" will assess how outlets perform across a range of areas...
Three-day trial for smoke ban
A three-day smoking ban in a small village produced a mix of winners and losers. Villagers in Walkington, in East Yorkshire, conducted a trial in...
Al fresco advice from Calor
Pubs can see the latest al fresco products and get exclusive discounts on a range of appliances at Calor's one-day al fresco event on June 7.The LPG...
Bud Silver bites the bullet
Anheuser-Busch has been forced to axe Bud Silver - its first foray into the standard lager market - after sales failed to reach the company's...
Brulines buys 66% Coin Metrics stake
Brulines, the beer-dispense monitoring company, has acquired a 66% stake in Coin Metrics for £685,000. Coin Metrics, founded by Richard Adams and...
LETTERs
Working out cash profits for lessees In a Morning Advertiser report on Punch results (3 May 2007), it is stated that "Punch lessees saw average...
Plenty of room at the Exeter Inn
The Exeter Inn near Bampton, in Devon, is on the market at £125,000. The Punch lease has 19 years remaining and new owners will be tied on beers,...
Grouse flies in a new direction
The Famous Grouse has signed a new deal to continue its sponsorship of Scottish Rugby until May 2009. The renewal follows a 16-year partnership but...
Treasure in the heart of Cornwall
The Cross House Inn at Metherell, near the Cornwall/Devon border, is on the market with Colliers Robert Barry. The former farmhouse, built in 1880,...
Raising a glass to St George
Thousands of pubs across the country painted the town red last month with the St George's cross flying high in honour of England's patron saint A...
Two pubs 'tick boxes for ban'
Two well-established pubs have come on to the market in Derby. The Exeter Arms and the Traveller's Rest are both on the market for the first time in...
MPs: sign up to our anti-glass ban EDM
Campaign against blanket bans gains momentum as more than 1,500 sign petition against police moves to promote polycarbonate
Win a free smoking ban site survey
Calor is giving Morning Advertiser readers the chance to win a free site survey to help them make the most of their outside areas ahead of the...
MPs: sign up to our anti-glass ban EDM
Campaign against blanket bans gains momentum as more than 1,500 sign petition against police moves to promote polycarbonate The Morning Advertiser's...
Cains Brewery takes over Honeycombe
Five years after buying Cains, the ambitious Asian brothers Sudarghara and Ajmail Dusanj have agreed a reverse takeover of pub operator Honeycombe...
Foreign satellite pubs face Summer crackdown
Pubs that show Premiership football using foreign satellite TV systems and equipment suppliers have been warned there will be targeted "on-going...
ASBO beer mats set alarm bells ringing, says Peter Coulson
There's a great vogue at present for "naming and shaming" in many different areas - food hygiene, polluters, rogue traders and so forth. All this is...
Taste test
THIS WEEK: Aspall Perronelle's Blush Suffolk Cyder with a dash of blackberry liqueur Lucy Enever 27, Essex I'm a real fan of cider, and normally...
Room for growth at Inn for All Seasons
A highly-desirable Cotswolds freehold has come on to the market for just less than £2m. The Inn for All Seasons, in Burford, Oxfordshire, is on the...
Collyer: 'Punch must sort out Mill House'
Punch Taverns' acquisition of Mill House Inns has seen "management's eyes completely off the ball" according to analyst Geof Collyer at Deutsche...
Government accused of "headline-grabbing" over new closure powers
The government has been accused of "headline-grabbing" over an announcement on new powers to clampdown on problem venues, including pubs. Home...
Three's the magic number
Before announcing the winner of the 2007 CaskForce competition, we meet the final three MA readers hoping to win a year's free rent in the Marston's...
THE GUV'NOR
Peter Gatling Be professional in your promotion, says the licensee of the Merry Harriers in Clayhidon, Devon Text-book marketing wisdom talks about...
£4,000 kegs theft highlights problem
Thieves stole £4,000 worth of kegs from a Warwickshire pub just as work was set to start on a secure storage area. The incident highlights how pubs...
Licensing@aol.com
Underage sales penalties QWhat penalties and/or imprisonment can follow from underage sales? AImprisonment does not follow from any of the underage...
Smoke ban bus shelter twist
I was intrigued to read the letter from Stephen Bale of Pembroke in last week's MA about bus shelters. Believe it or not, I think he's right! A...
InBrief
Host's staple gun is 'noise nuisance' A licensee is in trouble with his local authority after being told a staple gun he used to attach St George's...