City Diary - 14 August

Luminar's about face on price​

In 2004, Luminar nightclub company boss Stephen Thomas was part of a deputation of drinks industry executives who went to meet David Blunkett and Tessa Jowell. Thomas proposed the minimum-pricing idea and told the ministers it could be justified in the "public interest" of reducing antisocial behaviour. The politicians warned the industry that unless self-regulation worked, they would be forced to enforce controls on drink outlets by law. The company's chief executive Stephen Thomas, bemoaning discounting among competitors, said in the Daily Telegraph at the time: "We've got some places selling alcohol for 60p or 80p a drink." Four years on and City Diary notes Luminar's Liquid & Diva in Sunderland is now selling all drinks for 80p on a Thursday night, joining a host of other Luminar nightclubs doing the same thing. Sometimes you wonder whether we're making much progress.

JDW's revenge on Wadworth? ​

A new JD Wetherspoon pub has opened in Devizes after a six-year wait. The company's conversion of the former Beale's of Bath ladies' fashion shop has cost it £1.6m (it's a listed building and needed all manner of consents). The local newspaper observes that Wadworth beer is not being served. "Wadworth opposed Wetherspoon opening a pub in Devizes when it submitted a planning application, fearing it could lead to some pubs closing down," it adds. Is this sweet revenge or common sense when there's plenty of Wadworth beer elsewhere in Devizes?

Premier listens to its customers​

A million people have now completed Premier Inn's "Guest Recommend" customer-satisfaction survey since it was launched in March 2006. The 35,000 individual bits of feedback have reshaped the customer offer at the Whitbread chain. Among the major changes are:

the introduction of the all-you-can-eat Premier breakfast for £7.50; the introduction of digital Freeview, at an investment of over £5m, which is currently in 196 hotels and will be rolled-out across the entire estate by the end of the year; hairdriers in every room; an increase in towel sizes; a trial offering guests a choice of pillows in every room; and the introduction of air-cooling systems across more than 7,000 rooms by this summer. Anyone suggest canning the annoying Lenny Henry advert?

Tchenguiz says buy, buy, buy​

Are you cash rich and investment-hungry? Mitchells & Butlers' (M&B) biggest shareholder Robert Tchenguiz has issued a metaphorical buy note on shares. He says: "The lack of liquidity in the market and the presence of short-sellers has created an ideal opportunity for investors with cash to buy at prices they couldn't have dreamed of before. In five years' time we will look back and describe these times as the bargain era." He's pretty unspecific as to which shares are particularly good value, but City Diary suspects he may think M&B stock is still a bit of a bargain.

It's official: pubs make you happy​

There was a generally gloomy prognosis on the state of the British pub on The Economist's website last week . Of the local JD Wetherspoon, the anonymous author writes: "Sadly, the tables are as sticky as ever and, while the cigarette smoke has gone, that has only allowed the toilets' odour to pervade the entire place." But there's a rather heartening conclusion: "To me, pubs seem the most significant contribution that the British have made to the cause of human happiness." Discuss.

It's grim for pubs in Grimsby​

It's looking like a wipe-out at Grimsby's Riverhead retail complex. A Chicago Rock Cafe closed 18 months ago, while a Yates's closed at the start of the year. Now Regent Inns' Walkabout has closed its doors, leaving just a JD Wetherspoon Lloyds No1 and an independent bar called Musika. A staff member at Walkabout, who did not wish to be named, said: "This was expected, the pub is just not busy any more. It isn't worth staying open. It is just rubbish in Grimsby at the minute. Everyone is going out in Cleethorpes, and when we have closed people aren't going to come out in Grimsby for just two pubs." A Regent spokesperson tells City Diary: "The area has been suffering quite a bit. For the moment, it's the only one closing — there are no wider conclusions to be drawn."

Former Indie ed's pub prattle​

Sometimes you could scream. Former Independent editor Pete Wilby, writing in the New Statesman, offers this assessment of what ails the pub sector. "The pubcos are particularly single-minded, and if the returns from selling booze aren't sky high they maintain shareholder value by selling off the premises. The main obstacle to their doing so is planning law, which may prevent a change of use. That is why the companies sometimes run down a pub deliberately, putting in a hopeless manager or charging extortionate rent, so that it becomes unviable. Then the council has no alternative, but to approve the land being used for luxury homes or flats." Seriously stupid, Pete.

B&P website is just the job ​

Gastropub operator Brunning & Price has a section on its website highlighting unusual jobs staff have done over the years. They include being a glazier in Montreal, an electricity pylon painter, a jewellery saleswomen in the Bahamas, a mobile toilet deliverer — and a bull semen salesman.

Carvery action at Barracuda​

The rise of the humble pub carvery seems truly unstoppable. Now even managed company Barracuda is planning to open its first carvery site. The Griffin Hotel in March, Cambridgeshire, is undergoing a £1.85m refurbishment into a Smith & Jones and will open on 4 September. Licensee John Mannix confirms: "We'll be the first pub in Barracuda's estate to offer our customers a carvery." A Barracuda spokesman said: "It's just a trial using a mobile carvery unit on a Sunday."

Jones to focus on PBR in future​

It's a bit puzzling how pub company senior executives can do several jobs at the same time, while the rest us struggle to hold down the single day job. Credit, then, to Mark Jones who has decided to step down as non-executive chairman of Las Iguanas, the Latin-American bar-restaurant concept backed by Bowmark Capital, to focus on his other job running Premium Bars & Restaurants (PBR). "With the challenges we are all currently facing I feel that my prime consideration at this time has to be PBR," he says.

H&W's appetite for pub food​

Brewer and retailer Hall & Woodhouse may be trimming a few sites, but there's still an appetite to back its food retailing skills. City Diary notes a planning application has gone in from the Dorset brewer to open a restaurant in Bath city centre. The company has submitted a planning application to convert the former Bonhams Auctioneers & Valuers building in Old King Street into a restaurant on two floors. A statement from Hall & Woodhouse's agent, Cliff Walsingham & Company, said: "It is the applicant's view that a restaurant can only enhance the area and the street when compared to the business that has occupied the building for more than 40 years."

English Heritage credibility at risk​

The wheels turn exceeding slow on some quangos. English Heritage's At Risk register, which lists architecturally-significant buildings, has failed to notice that Brunning & Price has spent £1.8m renovating Sutton Hall near Macclesfield. The pub group, now owned by The Restaurant Group, was astonished to learn that two buildings on the site are on this year's English Heritage At Risk register. The company bought the freehold of Sutton Hall, on Bullocks Lane, in the spring of 2007 and has been working on the pub's restoration ever since. Wake up, English Heritage.

JW Lees' Dicken Green reprieved​

With so many news reports of pubs closing at a record rate, a pub not closing is now news. JW Lees has change its mind about the Dicken Green, in Rochdale's Queensway. An application to knock it down and replace it with a blo