'Buyout firms want M&B shareholders to keep half the business'
Blackstone and CVC Capital Partners, the private equity firms, are understood to be planning a bid for the pubs group Mitchells & Butlers that...
Archives for February 18, 2008
Richard Evans to leave InBev UK & Ireland
Richard Evans, president of InBev's UK and Ireland operation, is to leave the company after barely two years in the job.In an announcement today...
Laurel considers administration for dud leaseholds
Laurel considers controlled administration
Pubs warned after proof-of-age tests
Pubs have been warned to 'up their game' by a group that tests if staff serve alcohol to young looking drinkers. According to independent...
Vodka focus: Premium players
Paul Walsh, chief executive of Diageo, was quoted in The Times newspaper earlier this month suggesting that premium spirits brands would be unlikely...
Vodka focus: Vodkas for all
What was the strategy behind Revolution?Roy and Neil saw a lot of independent bars opening up in the Manchester area which all had great staff, great...
Comment: A cheap shot
Last week Home Secretary Jacqui Smith used a major speech on alcohol policy to make some constructive points about the progress the on-trade is...
No truth in Clarke/Thorley reports, says Mitchells & Butlers
Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) has denied weekend press reports suggesting that chief executive Tim Clarke would play no part in the group should...
Vodka focus: A different league
What with the news of the Scottish & Newcastle sale and the potential merger of Punch Taverns and Mitchells & Butlers you could have been...
Chris Maclean: A sitting duck for disaster
The other day I bumped into a licensee I hadn't seen for ages. She moved into their pub around the same time as we had and trading had been tough...
Vodka focus: Spirit of spuds
Standing here in the shadow of a state-of-the-art copper still with wintry sunlight pouring through the windows of a former agricultural building,...
Andrew Meadowcroft: Are we talking ourselves into a recession?
It has been an eventful start to the year both in the context of this industry and the wider economy. Indeed there may be some parallels between the...
Father of photography honoured in Wiltshire pub
The corner of a Wiltshire pub has been transformed to celebrate the life of the "forefather of modern photographyJohn Glass, licensee of the George...
WIN SKY FOR A YEAR
Greene King IPA is launching its biggest ever competition, which gives you the opportunity to win a Sky Sports subscription for a year for your pub
Hamish Champ: Music in pubs; you can't beat it
I was pleased to see that my last blog effort - on the subject of music pubs threatened with closure thanks to high-minded local residents -...
Climbing the economic peaks. Or not.
I'm not a lot of things. One of the things I am not, nor pretend to be, is an economist. Thus it was that last week I read with bemused interest the...
Raw and ready
Britvic has officially announced the launch of a new premium Pepsi brand, exclusively to the UK licensed sector. Pepsi Raw has been created using a...
Vodka focus: Fear of the unknown
Vodka, vodka, vodka, yawn, yawn, yawn!! Ask many licensees what vodka they sell and the reply will often be two: one house band and one named brand....