Post-flood property market under threat
Agents warn of a "dramatic negative effect" on the property market in flood-hit areas of the country. "Insurance claims are going to be a real...
Archives for July 31, 2007
Microbreweries hit by flooded pub closures
Pub closures from flooding are hitting sales at microbreweries across the country.Flooding in Central and South East England has caused over 500 pubs...
Chinawhite club defends brand
Fashionable London club Chinawhite is taking legal action to defend its trademark after a supplier launched an RTD using its name. In the latest...
Chris Maclean: a day to remember
Today is Lammas Day.Not a lot of people know that.August 1 is also my son's birthday but we also always remember Lammas Day.Traditionally Lammas Day...
Buying a pub abroad
With floods sweeping the country and pub cellars getting submerged under a deluge of rainwater, you might be tempted into considering a move to...
No positive reforms in heart of darkness
It is little wonder that the licensed trade finds itself in a state of confusion over its future in the current political and legal climate. The new...
Taste test
THIS WEEK: Sovio A new 8% abv wine from DB Wines, with an RRP of £4 to £4.50 for a single-serve 200ml bottle Robina Ellis, 25, medical researcher,...
Plan to protect pubs from energy penalties
Ofgem proposals could mean pubs avoid charges when switching energy supplier.
City stands by for flood costs
Uncertainty surrounds the precise cost of the floods to the major pub companies as they struggle to assess the level of damage. One City analyst,...
MyShout
The Dunkirk spirit helped pubs in the wake of floods - and poker is good news says David Elliott The recent widespread flooding in many areas of...
MyNewPub
The George & Dragon Gosport, Hampshire Agent: Christie+Co Kerri-An Suffield and her partner, Brice Munday, have just taken on the George &...
Smirnoff ad takes to the waves
Diageo is pumping £5m into its largest-ever integrated marketing campaign for Smirnoff. Breaking initially online this week, before hitting cinema...
Licensing@aol.com
Displaying a premises licence Q At long last I have got my premises licence. Is it this that has to be displayed in the bar, and where exactly must...
Esta backs arrested foreign satellite supplier
A group representing suppliers of foreign satellite equipment says that it is standing by a supplier who has been arrested for allegedly selling...
Merseyside pubs shut after one sting
Police closed two Merseyside pubs for more than 24 hours on a busy Friday evening for failing a single test-purchase operation. The closures came...
Comfort factor
Paul and Jo Stretton-Downes won the Good Pub Guide's Licensees of the Year Award 2007. Humayun Hussain reports Why my food business is a success It's...
On the right tracks
Ewan Turney finds out how a £147,000 investment transformed the Brighton Belle Inn, Winsford, Cheshire, from a dark and tired boozer to a stylish,...
Sky's new deal questioned
Pubs that take Sky's extra football package, but not the basic subscription next season, will pay about one-third more for it and have to fork out...
Graeme Bunn, Director, Fleurets
Your situation is complex and clearly unfortunate. Given the circumstances you have highlighted, I anticipate that the principal matter of the...
Pete Robinson: Has Hamish had it?
This concerns smoking-ban rebel Hamish Howitt who runs the Happy Scots bar in Blackpool. The authorities are out to get Hamish one way or another....
David Morgan, Managing Director, Cookseys DMP
Third-party liability is fertile ground for solicitors - and it's expensive. The pubco was a third party to the contract, its solicitors did not...
THE AGENTS
Floods, increased insurance premiums, the worst summer for years, rising interest rates, the smoking restrictions, increased utility bills, ever-more...
Triple sting failure may cost host £10k
A Northampton licensee could be the first to face a £10,000 fine and a three-month suspension of his licence for serving under-18s three times...
Chris Platts, Partner, Brownhill Vickers and Platts
I find it hard to believe that your pubco has suddenly "found" a lease amendment and is looking to enforce it. Your first port of call must be the...
Pub trade defiant despite disaster
Ewan Turney and Joe Lutrario visited the flood-stricken crisis zone to witness first hand the carnage left in the wake of the worst natural disaster...
Brewer sponsors campaign against proxy purchasing of alcohol
Dorset brewer Hall & Woodhouse is spending £6,000 sponsoring a campaign to stop adults buying alcohol for children in shops. The Blitz Wize...
Rent increase is a bolt from the blue
Mrs K's pubco claims to have found a lease amendment signed by a previous lessee, agreeing to a rent increase When I bought a pubco tied lease on...
Let's hear it for the watchdogs
It's unlikely that many tears of solidarity were shed by drinks suppliers as cosmetic giant L'Oreal took a very public lashing from advertising...
Tobacco: smoke-free alternatives
There are more ways of enjoying tobacco than setting fire to it and breathing in the smoke - a peculiar practice in itself, when you come to think...
Getting straight to the pint
When is a pint not a pint? Phil Dixon reckons the Campaign for Real Ale is in danger of losing its head over its full-measure campaign
Mighty marketing?
Advertising is key to ale's growth - but are brewers getting it right? The dwindling marketing budgets afforded by some of the national brewers to...
When will they realise? Pubs are not the problem
Perhaps, like Shambo the bullock, the kindest thing would be for the Government to put a bullet in the head of the entire pub trade. When both the...
NewsDigest
The Clear Pub Company (CPC), a fledgling business set up by Duncan Ward and Andy Wilkinson, has launched with the acquisition of 25 leasehold sites...
Ofgem plan to protect pubs
Pubs would get more protection against being charged penalties when switching energy supplier under new plans being considered. A new consultation...
BarTalk
Who do you prefer: Gordon Brown or David Cameron? Suzie Dreja Royal Oak Southampton Hampshire I'm a Conservative at heart but after the Hug a Hoody...
Not an even-handed struggle
So regional brewer Greene King has ducked out of a potentially damaging High Court clash over costs. This is not at all surprising, but I am sorry,...