News

Company & City News

The latest news from the industry's top companies, as well as deals, results and appointments from the City - all backed up with incisive, first rate analysis.

Crackdown on illegal tobacco

15-Nov-1999 - Licensees who allow the sale of contraband tobacco face having their pubs closed down. The government announced last week that a series of graduated penalties would...

JW Lees - breaking with tradition

15-Nov-1999 - Tucked away 50,000 feet up in the French Alps, close to the snowy ski slopes of Mont Blanc, are two real ale pubs, the White...

Quality above quantity for White Rose Inns

08-Nov-1999 - By the front door of 43 pubs across Yorkshire is a small sign saying: "A warm welcome from White Rose Inns". It's the only sign of...

Pay probe for bosses as Bass chief is dubbed 'most overpaid'

08-Nov-1999 - Bass chief Sir Ian Prosser has been dubbed the pub sector's "most overpaid boss" in a new survey. Researchers claim many of the 100 biggest companies...

Pembertons to relaunch as Mezzanine Group

08-Nov-1999 - Bar operator Pembertons was due to be reborn this week as the Mezzanine Group, focusing on developing its two brands. It is converting an outlet in...

Hugh Doherty - Capital Bars - finance director

08-Nov-1999 - Capital Bars has appointed Hugh Doherty, a senior manager from accountant Ernst & Young, as finance director. The former Break for the Border group is diversifying...

Guy Hands - banking on change

25-Oct-1999 - The Beer Orders gave Guy Hands his big chance — and he says it is now time for another sort of shake-up. As a father of...

The meteoric rise of Punch

27-Sep-1999 - Since entering the pub trade in 1997 Punch has had a meteoric rise. When Ken Oginsky starts talking about what "we" have achieved, you may be...

Proposed takeover of Highland Distillers would create giant drinks company

20-Sep-1999 - Consolidation continues to hit the drinks industry with plans to create a powerful new group out of the proposed takeover of Highland Distillers. The deal, worth...

Break for the Border reverses sales decline

13-Sep-1999 - Bar group Break for the Border has reversed a sales decline after being hit by "a poor trading environment". It said new units in Leeds and...

Regents Inns forges ahead with Walkabout

06-Sep-1999 - Regent Inns is pushing its Australasian bars when other companies are holding back. Another crocodile stares down from above the bar as Regent Inns opens the...

Fuller's thrives almost two hundred on

23-Aug-1999 - As Fuller's prepares to enter a third century, the brewer continues to thrive. Mark Ludmon reports. "The brewery business is going flourishingly but we must not...

Voodoo Lounge sold to bar entrpreneur Jim Mackay

09-Aug-1999 - Bar entrepreneur Jim Mackay has taken over a landmark London venue as part of plans to expand his empire. His company, Mackay Holdings, has acquired the...

Bass opens English theme pub in the USSR

09-Aug-1999 - Bass is chasing the rouble by giving the Russians an English theme pub and higher volumes of alcopops. It is opening a William Bass pub in...

Davy & Co expands wine bar chain

09-Aug-1999 - Bar operator Davy & Co is rolling out its new spin-off chain of modern wine bars. It has opened the third of its Heeltap & Bumpers...

Old Monk Company - changing habits

26-Jul-1999 - Despite ups and down in the markets, the Old Monk Company reported record results this month. Mark Ludmon talked to boss Gerry Martin. When Gerry Martin...

City briefs

26-Jul-1999 - Future of Rank The future of leisure giant Rank, which owns national pub chain Tom Cobleigh, is set to be unveiled next month. New chief executive Mike...

HP Bulmer - not just a cidermaker

12-Jul-1999 - One thing needs to be made clear. HP Bulmer is no longer just a cidermaker — it is a supplier of "long alcoholic drinks". The small...

Investement in pubs and TV ads to see boost for Hardys and Hansons

12-Jul-1999 - Investment in pubs and TV advertising is set to provide a profits boost for Nottingham brewer Hardys & Hansons. It is spending cash on improving existing...

W&DB prepare to take on the nationals

07-Jun-1999 - Mark Ludmon looks at how Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries has spent the two months since taking over Marstons - and what it has planned for...

Tup Inns looks at Tom Hoskins deal

07-Jun-1999 - Bar chain Tup Inns is considering expansion out of its London homeland through a merger or takeover — and Leicestershire brewer Tom Hoskins has come...

How Tradeteam puts technology to work

17-May-1999 - Once upon a time horses trotted along the road from pub to pub, pulling a dray loaded with barrels. Now the horses have been put...

European Leisure attacks Waterfall's hostile bid

17-May-1999 - Bar operator European Leisure has attacked a hostile takeover bid from rival Waterfall Holdings. In a defence document, it claimed the £41m offer was "born out...

City briefs

26-Apr-1999 - A league table of the 500 fastest growing companies in Europe has named Oxfordshire's Hobgoblinns as the number one brewer and pub operator. The European Commission-backed...

City briefs

26-Apr-1999 - Japanese bank Nomura, which owns Unique Pub Company, Inntrepreneur Pub Company and Inn Partnership, has issued a profits warning. Although its UK pub arm Nomura Principal...