City Diary: 30 April

Staying out of expenses row

Pub champion John Grogan was keen to stress his non-sponging credentials at last week's ALMR Business Day. He told members that he started his day at his rented flat in Bayswater. "Rented flat, I stress — and no cable TV," he told delegates.

I'll have a P please, Steve​

Novus Leisure boss Steve Richards gave five top tips for running his business at the ALMR Business Day. He listed the five Ps — people, product, price, place and promotion. Then Richards thought of one more useful P: "For those of us running pub businesses maybe we should have pre-pack."

S&NPE cuts Indigo Alley price​

More evidence, if it was needed, of the changing pub property market.

A year ago, Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises bought the Indigo Alley, Scarborough, for around £460,000. Now it's back on the market, as part of wider S&NPE moves to clear 32 freeholds off its balance sheet, for £225,000. An S&NPE spokeswoman said: "Indigo Alley was acquired by S&NPE on 11 April 2008, however, as it no longer fits with our long-term business strategy it has been up for sale for a number of months. During that time market conditions have changed considerably and we have recently decided to lower the asking price to generate more interest."

Get set to wait for Carlsberg cash​

Payment times tend to lengthen in tough economic times but Carlsberg may be breaking new ground. Invoices will be paid 95 days from the end of the month of the date of the invoice. That could means payment arrives up to nearly four months later if you supply at the start of a month. Yikes.

Who's that pubco poster boy?​

City Diary has found out that a top tenanted pubco executive has taken to posting on Morning Advertiser website forums, defending his pubco against detractors. The only thing is that he appears a little shy and retiring, enterprisingly using a nom de plume rather than his real name. Would the real William Bass please stand up.

Trust Inns brings back think tank​

Pub boss Brian King is discovering it's good to talk. The managing director of Trust Inns has reinvented his Licensees' Think Tank — a scheme first devised when he ran the tenanted division of now defunct Greenalls back in the early 1990s. A selected panel of experienced hosts drawn from every region of the company's national estate gets together periodically to exchange views and devise new trading ideas. "It's a very useful forum that gives us a great insight into what our licensees are thinking," says King. "We don't automatically take on everything they put forward and from time to time we get some bizarre suggestions thrown at us. But often it provides us with the germ of an idea on which we can start to build useful initiatives," he reveals. "Pub companies have not got a monopoly on wisdom and it's often good to get an insight into what's happening at the coal face of the trade."

Danish beer boss is fan of England​

Little known fact time. Carlsberg boss Jorgen Buhl Rasmussen is a bit of a Anglophile. He lived in Britain for many years running Duracell and has two sons still living in London. "I even participated in the London marathon some years ago, and completed it." he says.

Funny money's in India these days ​

The Comedy Store, just off London's Leicester Square, has a successful sister venue in Manchester. Between them, they turn over a handy £5m a year. Now Comedy Store owner Don Ward has decided to open his third venue. Somewhat surprisingly Ward has plumped for Mumbai for expansion.

"I think Mumbai is like London 30 years ago; it's the same kind of challenge times two," he says. We'll take your word for it.

Drinks & doners to your door ​

Boss of market research company CGA Jon Collins reports that his local kebab shop is now advertising free delivery of booze up until 4am. Where will it all end?

Driffield delight at imminent JDW​

As shops close down at a rate of knots the prospect of a new JD Wetherspoon now fills local burghers with delight. Little Driffield in Yorkshire is a good example. Word has got out that the town is very high on the Wetherspoon hit list of new openings. Driffield mayor Councillor Tony Cooper says: "It is brilliant that the pub chain is targeting Driffield — it is something we need. I'm delighted Wetherspoon want to invest in the town at a time when people and businesses are suffering from the credit crunch. It can do nothing but good for the town and certainly fits in with the aims of the Driffield Partnership." A Wetherspoon spokesman says: "We had been looking at taking over an existing pub, but that fell through, so now we are considering other sites. We are looking at particular sites, but can't identify them at this stage for commercial reasons."

More good news — in Shawbury​

Pub closures are so regular that pub openings are now bigger news. Step forward Shropshire entrepreneurs Jeff Blundell and Nigel Lee who have spent £1m reopening the Fox & Hounds in Shawbury.

"The Fox & Hounds had been empty since 2002 and, following a failed attempt by Galliers Homes to turn it into an exclusive residential development, was literally falling into a state of disrepair and a magnet for antisocial behaviour," says Blundell, who previously ran the Four Crosses in Bicton Village with his wife, Carol. "I had spotted it a few times driving past and always thought to myself what great potential."