A pub has won its battle to put up patio heaters for customers forced outside by the smoking ban. Council chiefs banned the Heart in Hand pub from installing lamps on environmental grounds. But landlady Lara Read appealed and said: "We'd have lost a lot of customers and gone out of business." Inspectors agreed and ordered Brighton and Hove council to reverse the ban, the first in Britain - The Mirror
The company behind Speedball, the beer banned because of alleged links with the cocktail of drugs that killed actors John Belushi and River Phoenix, is suing alcohol industry watchdog the Portman Group over the ruling - The Guardian
The UK division of Molson Coors, the North American brewer, reported flat fourth-quarter pretax profits as strong pricing, reduced marketing spend and new contract brewing business mitigated the impact of a 9.4 per cent volume decline, input cost inflation and higher pension costs - The Times
Peter Linacre, whose Massive Pub Company went bankrupt last year, has suffered another failure with the appointment of administrators at his GlassHouse pub business. He has retained control of about half the 12 sites through a prepack process.- The Times
A small Welsh brewery has struck a deal to sell one of its beers in Australia. Rhymney Brewery has signed a licensing agreement with a Melbourne-based company to brew and distribute its Hobby Horse ale for the Pacific region - BBC
Pub landlords in Edinburgh are being urged to make sure they have a TV licence if they are showing matches during this year's Six Nations rugby tournament.TV Licensing enforcers have said they will be visiting pubs and bars which do not have a licence throughout the tournament. If an unlicensed TV set is found to be in use during a visit, the landlord or manager risks prosecution and a fine of up to £1000 - The Scotsman