City Diary: 19 March

More Spirits due for despatch

British Land has been trying to off-load pubs tenanted by Punch Taverns managed division Spirit at public auction. There's another bunch due to go to auction at the end of this month. This time British Land is also trying to sell the freehold of an Old Orleans site in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The venue has a rent of £274,191 per annum and the guide price is £2.3m to £2.4m. Old Orleans is, of course, owned by Regent Inns, but should it fail the venue bounces back to Punch Taverns.

Bramley wins lifetime award​

City Diary was delighted to witness Mike Bramley, head of Mitchells & Butlers pubs and bars division, pick up a Lifetime Achievement award at the PubChef Awards last week. Mike's division, made up of lots of heavily wet-led brands like O'Neill's and It's a Scream, is now selling a mighty 35 million meals a year. Not bad, is it?

Once a mullet, always a mullet​

Arguably the biggest news of the week. JD Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin, City Diary is reliably informed, has been shorn of his distinctive mullet. It's actually not the first time he's been deprived of his pomp. A good four or so years ago a smooth-talking Exeter barber persuaded Martin that the ageing rock-star look didn't suit him. Martin wasn't convinced and grew it back. Martin's trademark look has even featured in his long-running spat with Hugh Osmond, the founder of Punch Taverns. Back in March 2003, Osmond, tilting at Six Continent at the time, was savaged

(not for the first or last time) by Martin, who said, "If he's [Mr Osmond] thinking of himself as a manager he's getting ideas above his station." Osmond's response: "The question I'd like to ask is about Tim Martin's haircut." It's hard to believe that Martin will stay de-mulleted for long.

Cains creditors, look away now ​

A copy of the latest PriceWaterhouseCoopers report to Cains creditors arrives on City Diary's desk. Not good news for either secured or unsecured creditors. The Royal Bank of Scotland will suffer a substantial shortfall in relation to its lending to the group — £28m. Unsecured creditors look out of pocket by £12m. Ouch.

Vick gets a grand at the Greyhound​

It's not every licensee who gets a £1,000 cash windfall the day he moves into a new pub. But company boss Vick Dunkley got his hands on a handy wad of banknotes after taking over the Greyhound at Grizedale in the Lake District, in January. The money was handed over by television production company Eye TV & Film, which is producing a documentary on the new Cumbrian pub hopefuls. The cameras have followed Dunkley and his team's early days in the village freehouse for the show, due to screen on UK Style this spring. Dunkley, who has run pubs since 1971, has formed a limited company and set up a village committee to operate the 250-year-old country inn. The new company is paying outgoing owners £1,500 a month rent for the next year with the option of buying the freehold if the business proves a success. "The local villagers rallied round to rescue the pub when they realised it could close down after the current owners decided to retire. We've had a good start and have raised weekly takings from £380 to £2,300. Now spring is around the corner we are very hopeful," he said. Dunkley added: "But the TV company's £1,000 certainly gave us a helping hand during the first few days."

Croydon club in double trouble​

News of another major closure in the volatile world of the nightclub. The Hub on Croydon's high street has closed days before it was due to celebrate its first anniversary. This time, though, it doesn't appear to be the state of trade that's the problem. Sources close to the club say one reason for the sudden closure was the club's name — as it already belonged to another London club.

Kearsey joins Badger set​

City Diary hears Hall & Woodhouse has found itself a new tenanted division director. Matt Kearsey has been lured across from Greene King, where he was operations director in charge, alongside Steve Worrall, of overseeing the 1,060 pubs in the core Greene King Pub Partners estate.

Blue Boar veteran sees the light​

Sign of the times, Part 36. David Turnbull has been running Enterprise Inns' Blue Boar in Norwich for 30 years, taking it over on 13 March 1979. He thinks the past year has been the worst ever, but is convinced the best pubs will survive the recession; he is confident his vast experience in the trade will get him through it.