Snacks focus: It's all down to presentation
"WE HAD all the products, but pubs didn't know what to do with them. As soon as we put it on a plate, they suddenly got it - a 'bingo' moment." So...
Archives for August 29, 2007
MyShout
As an Afghan beer is found in Barnsley, should we worry more about parallel trading, asks Tony Jennings A recent Snifter piece about how a bottle of...
Oktoberfest: German food suppliers
Bahlsen 01753 889822 www.bahlsen.co.uk Bahlsen biscuitsContinental Fine Foods 0161 8646600 www.finefoods.co.uk Bavarian ham, pepper salami, German...
LETTERs
Don't be a whipping boy Re your article: Licensee's fury after thug is cautioned, (MA, 23 August 2007). Why do we let ourselves be this industry's...
Last chance to enter Hardys Chef of the Year competition
Don't miss your last chance to enter a competition for a licensee and chef to win £5,000 each in Hardys food and wine matching competition
Debtor landlord's tale on Channel 4
Channel 4 is to screen a programme about a man who ran up debts of £250,000 buying four pubs on credit cards. Andy Banwell, 44, used 10 cards from...
Diageo announces strong results
Diageo announced strong results in the year to June 2007, with a 13 per cent underlying rise in annual earnings and operating profit growth of 8.7...
Bulmers Original over ice - what's the verdict?
It's funny how things happen. The rumours have been circulating for months: Magners going on draught. "I've seen it on trial," claimed one...
The keys to success
The Cross Keys in Corsley, Wiltshire, serves great food and boasts an award-winning garden. Licensee Fraser Carruth talks to Humayun Hussain Why my...
Michael Heseltine, IT manager, Orchid Group
What has been the most important technological advance to your business in the last few years, and why? We are in the unique position of starting...
Punch slashes rent to £5 to save pub
Punch Taverns has slashed the rent at one of its Leicester pubs to just £5 a week in a bid to help it continue trading. John Griffin, who suffered a...
Guinness Red to roll-out
Diageo GB has announced it is to roll out Guinness Red across central England during September.The launch of the Guinness variant was announced last...
The thick and thin of EPoS
EPoS systems have evolved to deal with ever more complex levels of service. Noli Dinkovski looks at what new developments are in the pipeline No...
Changing outlook for Cornish pubs
A property agent based in the South West has revealed that up to 90% of pubs in Cornwall are bought by outsiders, the majority of whom are from the...
Waiting for a satellite ruling
Not such a good week for the satellite suppliers, it seems, in spite of their new policy of launching attacks on elements of the Sky operation. It...
Low-level gambling is the way forward
This weekend the new gambling laws take over, which will affect both pubs and clubs. Of more immediate impact for the pub landlord than the AWP...
Watershed ban is not the answer
Even at the height of my teddy collecting days, I can honestly say that following George, the Hofmeister bear, held all the appeal of being pinned...
A tale of two cities: Pilsen and Budweis
Here is a history lesson, offered free to giant supermarket chain, Tesco. Pilsen and Budweis are cities in the modern Czech Republic that both have a...
BIDs: a ray of hope?
Some sectors of the trade are trumpeting Business Improvement Districts as the positive solution to reducing disorder. But how do they work? Nigel Huddleston reports
Wake up and smell the potpourri
Bring back tobacco, says Adam Edwards. At least it doesn't reek as much as some customers In the mid-'60s it was said of soap opera Coronation Street...
Punch's Phil Pegler to join former boss
Phil Pegler, the Punch executive who oversaw conversion of 750 Spirit managed pubs to lease, is to join the company now run by his former boss,...
New Guinness Red is ready for UK launch
Diageo is to begin rolling out Guinness Red, a smoother, sweeter Guinness which uses lighter roasted barley for a rich ruby red colour.
Here comes the sun: fine bank holiday weather brings a welcome boost for business
Long overdue bank holiday weekend sunshine gave Britain's pubs a welcome business boost. But licensees have warned that only a sustained spell of...
Business Opinion
Support can cost little but save a lot When you own thousands of tenanted pubs, the degree of support you offer tenants must be a matter of perpetual...
BarTalk
How was trade over the bank holiday weekend? Alan Dreja Royal Oak Southampton Hampshire It was quiet, as we expected. This is a city-centre pub but...
THE AGENTS
Paul Tallentyre Head of pub agency Davis Coffer Lyons The high-street licensed property market is suffering from stagnation. Lack of innovation in...
Snacks focus: Cereal snackers
It's time to start thinking about breakfast. Of course, any publican reading this over their boiled egg and soldiers may be thinking that it's...
Bank holiday brings boost in trade
The scorching bank holiday weekend weather came as a welcome boost for pubs across the country.Pubs have recently been hit by a series of trading...
Win a poker cruise in the caribbean
A poker cruise in the Caribbean will be the prize for the pub that puts forward the winner of a new online pub poker tournament launched in...
New trade body 'to rival BII and FLVA'
A new trade body run by licensees for licensees hopes to get off the ground in the next six months. The group, provisionally called the National...
Demand for supply
Online ordering specialist Makella is hoping to carve out a niche in the pub sector. Noli Dinkovski reports Any licensee worth their salt knows that...
Call for more protection from violent customers
A trade chief has reignited calls for the government to look at the protection the law offers licensees in dealing with underage sales and violent...
The IT crowd
There is no escaping the ever-increasing presence of technology in the pub trade and the many wide-ranging advantages it provides. Noli Dinkovski...
On your doorstep - win Phil Vickery's Britain The Cookbook
THOSE OF us who like a moan about our morning commute should spare a thought for some of Phil Vickery's more unusual days at work. Next time I'm...
Hosts set up poker league
A group of West Midlands licensees has set up a not-for-profit poker league to coincide with introduction of new laws allowing small-stake poker at...
NewsDigest
Five hosts are being taken to the High Court by the Premier League (PL) for allegedly screening foreign satellite football. In a writ, the five are...
Snacks focus: A better class of crisp
In the summer of 2002, William Chase made a dramatic decision - a decision that would change the very nature of his business and send shockwaves...
Licensing@aol.com
A different type of licence Q When we took over this pub we were given a copy of the existing premises licence, which covers "the provision of live...
Switch on your business brain
Bringing together a wide variety of information in one place can give pubcos a greater understanding of their outlets, says Noli Dinkovski Imagine...
Calling time on pub violence
Much has been rightly made in recent weeks of the worrying rise in gun crime. Reports of teenage shootings are bound to catch the national media's...
Scottish licensees face paying for police
Trade angered at SNP's u-turn on paying to police anti-social behaviour
Stella sales down in UK as supermarket price cuts bite
InBev, the world's largest brewer, has reported a fall in UK sales of its flagship premium lager Stella Artois.In a fiercely competitive UK beer...
Herald departure shocks employees
Employees of Herald Inns & Bars were shocked to find out about the departure of their chief executive Kevin Allcock last week after reading about...
'One in five teenagers admit to drink-driving'
One in five 17 to 18-year-old drivers admits to drink driving, a survey has revealed. One in 14 admitted driving while under the influence of drugs....
Phil Vickery recipe: Cumberland Sausagemeat and Leek Pie
My dear Mum used to make a version of this wonderful pie, so I sort of stole the idea from her. We used to eat it with warm new potatoes cooked in a...
Punch defends 'fat cat' chief
Punch Taverns has defended its chief executive Giles Thorley, disputing claims he earns 1,147 times the average salary of his employees. A report in...
Mike McMinn, director of IT, Marston's
What has been the most important technological advance to your business in the last few years, and why? I would say that it was probably the...
Oktoberfest: Here's to beer
October is generally one of the quieter months in the pub calendar so take a leaf out of the Germans' book by celebrating beer - and food. Albeit on...
Bar Group turnover up by 10% to £10m
Bar Group, the 30-strong Kent-based managed multiple lessee headed by Paul Wigham and Stephen Brook, saw turnover rise by 10% to £10.02m in its most...
Hart of the community
Darren Hales tells Ewan Turney how an exciting array of events has made Marston's Red Hart in Kington, Worcestershire, a vital venue for locals How I...
Phil Vickery recipe: Beef Simmered in Beer with Flat Mushrooms
This is a good autumn dish and it's so easy to cook. Just simmer and thicken, and there's no need to worry about oven temperatures or sealing the...
Marston's post-ban food sales increase
Substantial numbers of Marston's pub tenants have recorded increased food sales since the introduction of the smoking ban on 1 July, according to a...
Peggy Mitchell past sell by date
Richard Branson, Alan Sugar and Easyjet's Stelios Haji-Ioannou are rated as pub-goers' favourite potential publicans. TV licensees such as Peggy...
Snacks focus: Naughty or nice?
HAVING CUT back on the fags, should pubs really be encouraging customers to tuck into a bag of crisps?Even with the health lobby taking a...
Oktoberfest recipe: Hot and Crusty Frankfurter Rolls
These light and crusty rolls appeal to all ages, from children and teenagers to adults, and they're a perfect dish for your summer barbecue.Simply...
THE GUV'NOR Alison Carter
The former BII licensee of the year advises paying attention to detail when carrying out a refurbishment project Refurbishing your pub? We all know a...