What the Sunday papers say - July 15

Sunday Business ​

Sunday Business​ claims that Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries (W&DB) is to launch legal action against Pubmaster over sensitive commercial information which W&DB alleges has been passed to rivals. On July 16, it will announce it is starting court proceedings to prevent Pubmaster from disseminating information given to it during the preparation of its £453m takeover bid.

Germans are flocking to other beverages so German brewers are being forced to look outside the country to remain in business. Beck's has hired Goldman Sachs to find a way to expand its business or sell it completely. Scottish & Newcastle is the frontrunner in the race to buy the brewer. Brau & Brunnen last week said it would be in the red until at least next year and was dropping at least one brand. Heineken has formed a joint venture with Bayerische BrauHolding to tap into the success of the latter's Paulaner brand and make it the number one wheat beer in the world.

The next two months are the most crucial facing the British hotel industry for a decade and have already prompted sector analysts to downgrade profits forecasts.

Independent on Sunday​​

Pub companies are deliberately designing bars with limited seating and loud music to encourage binge drinking by teenagers, according to research funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation into young people's drinking habits. The report by experts at London University's public policy research unit, to be published next week, claims that, increasingly, pubs are designed as "factories for drunkenness" to exploit a trend to excessive drinking among young people. It also says that owners of theme bars deliberately make conversation impossible and offer free salty snacks such as crisps and peanuts. It is likely to increase pressure on the Government to produce a comprehensive alcohol strategy. Labour has yet to fulfill a 1997 manifesto promise to devise an alcohol strategy. The report proposes by-laws to force bars and clubs to provide adequate seating. It also says owners should pay a tax to cover the cost of policing young drunks. Professor Tim Newburn, a criminologist and adviser to the Home Office, who helped to produce the report, said: "There are a number of features which will encourage maximum consumption in a short amount of time. Central to this is building very large bars with a club-like atmosphere, loud music, keeping seating to a minimum, and not providing much in the way of food or giving salty snacks which encourage thirst." Many young drinkers were increasingly a threat to law and order and retailers should be responsible for policing them, he added. The spread of "happy hours", with promotions including free drinks or doubles for the price of singles, was another cause for concern.

The Sunday Telegraph​​

Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries (W&DB) will launch a High Court action against Pubmaster on July 16 to prevent it leaking top secret commercial data to its rivals. According to the Sunday Telegraph​, W&DB has discovered that Pubmaster has allegedly passed key commercial details of its brewery business to Bass Brewers and Carlsberg-Tetley. Pubmaster obtained the data while it was carrying out due diligence on the group before launching its £453m takeover bid. The information contains full details of all W&DB's beer customers, the value of its free trade loans, its costs, the prices it charges and the discounts it gives. Pubmaster is thought to have handed out the information in an effort to find a buyer for W&DB's breweries if its bid succeeds. Also, the Sunday Telegraph​ publishes a profile of Pubmaster chief executive John Sands.

Ministry of Sound is in talks to sell a stake in the business to venture capital firm 3i in a deal that could value the club operator at about £100m. It is believed that other investors are also being considered.

Sunday Express​​

Health experts are calling for an urgent change in food laws after it was revealed that half of all restaurants fail basic hygiene inspections. The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health Officers, which represents the country's 9,000 food inspectors, is demanding that eateries be licensed. At the moment, anyone can begin selling food to the public without a licence or any qualifications. The institute wants all outlets, from pubs to five-star restaurants, to have an inspection and meet an approved standard of hygiene before being allowed to trade.

Doctors have issued a fresh warning over Red Bull, advising consumers to cut their intake and reduce the risk of severe dehydration. The warning from the British Dietetic Association comes after Swedish health authorities launched an investigation into a possible link between Red Bull and three recent deaths.

Mail on Sunday​​

Britain's most audacious alcohol smuggler is behind bars after the Mail on Sunday​ found his hideaway and tipped off the authorities. For more than two months, Customs & Excise has been hunting for Samuel Lord, who was convicted in April of a £7m cross-Channel bootlegging racket. He disappeared after Southampton court allowed him out to consult lawyers before sentencing.

The Observer​​

The most radical shake-up of the planning system for 50 years is on its way from the Government. Prompted by Treasury concerns that the present system puts Britain at a disadvantage to competition from other countries, ministers want to create a fast-track for projects of "national interest", such as major transport infrastructure improvements, to prevent them being mired in long legal wrangles. The Government is concerned that it risks losing international businesses because there are too many layers of consultation before major buildings can be built. Government sources have told The Observer​ there will be a planning Green Paper from the Treasury at the turn of this year that will attempt to streamline the system, cutting the number of bodies that must be consulted by law while promoting greater public involvement. A report by the Gaming Review Body, commissioned by the Home Office two years ago, will on Tuesday recommend the most wide-ranging liberalisation of gambling this country has ever seen. But it is expected to rule out betting in pubs, which the horse-racing industry has lobbied for. Gambling is now the responsibility of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, which is currently bogged down in a change in the licensing laws. Realistically, gaming deregulation won't happen for three years, The Government is mindful that in Australia, which allows betting in pubs, more than 2million people are said to have become gambling addicts.

Within the next few years, a rule stopping the majority of people from working more than 48 hours a week is set to be enforced. In accordance with the 1999 Working Time Directive, many employers ask workers to sign contracts in which they agree to waive the 48-hours limitation, but this rule is up for review by the European Commission in 2003. There is a "reasonably good" chance that such opt-outs will be banned as a result of the review, according to solicitors Michael Burd of Lewis Silkin and Chris Mordue of Pinsent Curtis Biddle.

The Sunday Times​​

The cap on fruit machine jackpots is expected to be lifted under new gambling rules to be unveiled by the government this week. The change raises the prospect of £1m jackpots for the first time. It will be part of a shake-up of gambling legislation after a report headed by Sir Alan Budd, the former chief economic adviser to the Treasury. Under the new rules, the top limit for fruit machine jackpots, currently £100, is expected to be scrapped. In return, fruit machines will have to be removed from cafes and other venues where children might use them and where gambling is not the main point of business. While jackpots o