S&N, pubco's and food
Things can move fast in the pub and brewing game. By the time you read this Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) could have sent Carlsberg and Heineken and their talk of bidding for the UK brewer packing, fleas wedged firmly in ears.
Or it might have launched an audacious counter-bid for the half of the Baltic Beverage Holdings (BBH) it doesn't own. Or maybe it'll bide its time for a few days, waiting, watching...
As S&N executives in Edinburgh gird their loins - so to speak - for what the next few days/ weeks will bring, many in the City seem to think that irrespective of whether a bid happens or not, the brewer will probably never be the same again.
Perhaps those who in the past have called for the number of national brewers in the UK to be reduced will get their wish granted sooner than they thought.
Pubcos and prices
Comments in the Good Pub Guide that pubs owned by the likes of Enterprise Inns and Punch Taverns charge customers five per cent more for their pints than rival outlets caused a mighty kerfuffle this week.
There are many who disagree with the tied model, but are we really surprised that pubs owned by such companies - with their complex debt structures and buying power - charge consumers more for a pint, when they themselves are charged more for the beer itself?
Debate has long raged over what the Big Boys buy a barrel of beer for and what they sell it on for, and like as not debate will rage until either the tied pubco model alters (possible) or goes away altogether (unlikely).
Good pub companies, whether traditional, family-run affairs, or City-friendly behemoths with shareholders to think about, invest in their pubs in order to make them better places to visit, so their licensees can make a better living and they in turn can reap the benefits, reinvest and continue the cycle.
Operating pubs, whether as landlord or tenant, is about managing a wide range of relationships. Financial restructuring, etc, for these pubcos creates a variety of issues - good and bad - that inevitably filter down to the 'troops'.
One suspects the way the impact of such issues is handled and - crucially - communicated could be vastly improved. Food, glorious food
Ultimate Leisure buys Bel & The Dragon, Loch Fyne sells to Greene King and now, Brunning & Price gets gobbled up by the Restaurant Group.
The blurring of the line between pubs and restaurants continues apace.
Food, as many have pointed out, won't be the salvation of every pub in the land. But there appears to be a growing number who believe they can make a difference by buying into what they are convinced are high quality, earnings-enhancing concepts.
Expect more activity in this area.
