City Diary: 9 April

Opportunity knocks

Good to see some canny licensees are making the most of the freehold bargains out there.

Norwich licensee David Turnbull, who already owns the Blue Boar in Wroxham Road, Sprowston, has bought the Lord Rosebery pub from Admiral Taverns. Turnbull, who celebrated 30 years at the Blue Boar last month, says: "In every recession there are opportunities like this. This pub is a sleeping giant. It has had no real investment for about 20 years, and is a lovely building."

Martin's middle feels the pinch​

This one takes the biscuit. A customer of JD Wetherspoon has written to the company to complain about the disappearance of the free biscuit that formerly accompanied hot drinks served at its 700-plus pubs. Chairman Tim Martin sees an upside: "The absence of the free biscuit has benefited me, as I drink many cups of tea and coffee in our pubs. The biscuits were affecting my waistline (Abbot, too, can take some of the blame)."

Enterprise host strikes gold​

Are you an Enterprise or Punch licensee who doesn't believe your pubco is going bust? City Diary hears that one enterprising Enterprise licensee thought the company's shares were a buy opportunity last month and went out and bagged himself £40,000-worth. Lo and behold — he's now sitting on a profit of almost £30,000. And for those who don't receive analysts' notes, Deutsche Bank analyst Geof Collyer has a current price target of 185p.

Minority views still count​

City Diary is no automatic apologist for tenanted pubcos and has the odd small scar as proof. But it's extremely disappointing to see one Enterprise tenant speaking up for the company on our website forums being jumped on by other posters. Be nice if some were a little more accepting of the fact that not everybody is unhappy running a tenanted pub. In fact, plenty are still making a tidy profit.

Martin's middle, continued...​

City Diary spoke to Wetherspoon (JDW) boss Tim Martin in Brighton on Wednesday. Having visited JDW sites in Hove and central Brighton, he was striding along the seafront on his way to Brighton Marina to check out his Lloyds No 1 venue. The previous day, he reported, he'd visited 10 different JDWs. "You've got to keep your nose to the grindstone," he puffed.

US guru likes to bottom fish​

The biography of the Sage of Omaha, Warren Buffet, the US's canniest investor, has sold an astonishing 110,000 copies outside the US alone. In The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life, Buffet says the companies he is always most keen to buy outright, or buy shares in, are able to increase their prices without any real backlash. Think of rail companies or the owner of the Dartford Crossing, which recently increased prices by 50%. Anyone think of good examples in our neck of the woods?

Greene King's boom in Scotland​

When Greene KIng bought Belhaven in August 2005, a number of people thought the move was risky ahead of the smoke ban in Scotland. Nearly four years on, like-for-likes are positive at Belhaven across both managed and tenanted divisions. Greene King boss Rooney Anand told a recent Numis conference that Greene King has benefited from the Scottish market being fragmented and the large percentage of people in rented accommodation. Oh, and one other thing. "Half of them work for Gordon," Anand added, referring to the very large public sector in Scotland.

Tuppen takes no prisoners​

What was Enterprise boss Ted Tuppen's take on the ITV Tonight documentary featuring an Enterprise couple who had paid an £83,000 premium to take on a pub in Pontypool without taking legal advice or insisting on proper accounts? "People have a responsibility to themselves to do proper research, even if they are only paying £1. There's an even greater responsibility when they're paying £100,000."

Tips top-up controversy​

The issue of whether tips should be used to top up wages to meet National Minimum Wage (NMW) calculations is painful for some. Take Italian restaurant and deli chain Carluccio's, which is still not paying credit-card tips in full to staff, preferring to include them in NMW calculations. City analyst Douglas Jack calculates compliance from October 2009 will cost Carluccio's at least £1m per annum.

Bad Friday for Ramsbottom?​

Ramsbottom sounds a rum place. Tomorrow (Good Friday) it hosts the "Rammy mile" where revellers enjoy a monumental pub crawl. Traditional starting point is Orchid Group's Hare & Hounds. But licensee Andy Grant is closing for the day after getting fed up with people wrecking his pub. He says: "I don't like those who don't respect the area, litter everywhere and urinate on the carpets." In 2008, the pub was under pressure to top the record takings of the previous year's bank holiday. The end result, though, was a £6,000 cleaning bill.

US beer champ's on her way to UK​

Award-winning US brewer Tonya Cornett, who has picked up gold, silver and bronze medals at the Great American Beer Festival, is coming to the UK for JD Wetherspoon's beer festival. JDW's magazine has an uncompromising message for any unreconstructed sexists: "That's right fellas — Tonya is a female (get over it, beer is not just for men and should not be brewed

Who's who in entertainment? Don't ask Eminence... ​

City Diary hears the sound of teeth-gnashing at Luminar HQ in Milton Keynes. Readers will have noticed last week that 3D Entertainment, the company in which Luminar has a 49% stake, sold 28 bars to Eminence Leisure boss Martin King, who will run them in a company called Helena Leisure. Eminence sources and books entertainment at nightclubs, including for Luminar. Its website lists Luminar chief executive Stephen Thomas as chairman. But he resigned 12 months ago — and neither the site nor Companies House has caught up. "I've had a frank exchange with

our company secretary," Thomas says.