City Diary — 2 July

Einhorn rides the roller coaster

Punch Taverns investor David Einhorn sold 2% of his stake in the company, taking it down to 11%, on the Friday before it announced a rights issue on the Monday that followed. Its share price fell 5½p to 148½p on the news. But it was as nothing compared to the share price losses on the day of the announcement, when it was down 30% or so. It's been a real roller coaster for Einhorn, who made a fortune short-selling Lehmans before it tanked last September. Einhorn bought in at 283p and watched the price fall to 132p. Last October he told investors in his Greenlight Capital fund that the market had got it wrong if it thought Punch would need to issue new shares. He thought the company could repay some of its debt early with cash saved from scrapping the dividend. So far, so wrong. Then last December he saw the share price fall to around 60p. He sold nearly half the stake — 13 million shares — and instead took options to buy them by December 2010 at 42¾p. Can anyone work out whether he's ahead or not?

Second Gerard site up in smoke​

Terrible luck for former Mitchells & Butlers executive Chris Gerard, who has lost a second pub to fire in less than 12 months. Gerard, who now runs Innventure, saw his D'arry's venue in Cambridge burn down last August and has now had his Wellington venue in Welwyn ravaged by a six-hour fire. He says: "The building has lost two thirds of its roof, has damage to the first floor and water damage to the ground floor." Special mention goes to staff members Ade Aderibidge and Jollan d'Souza who heroically risked their lives to save a colleague from the fire raging in the accommodation area. Added Gerard: "The choices taken by Ade and Jollan in a split second to help another are an inspiration to all, and provide an extraordinary example of courage and clarity of thinking at a desperate time."

Pubco chief seeks PR boost​

News on the public relations front. City Diary hears that the chief executive of a major pubco has been seeking advice from a well-known agency on how to boost his profile. Some will wonder whether the aforementioned chief executive is getting restless.

Brulines sizes up the US market​

More news on the prospects of Brulines becoming a major UK exporter. The company is trialling its systems with a number of bar companies in the Denver region of Colorado. Brulines chief executive James Dickson reports that there are one or two rivals in the US throwing large amounts of cash at trying to establish competitor systems. "It's taken 15 years to get where we are today," he said. Brulines turns over £20m in the UK and Dickson thinks there could be an American market worth twice that.

Hall's tennis-elbow agony​

As part of celebrations to mark Orchid Pub Company's third birthday last week, boss Rufus Hall sent all 249 managers a box of chocolates accompanied by a hand-written note. When City Diary caught up with Hall there was only one problem — a severe case of tennis elbow that was making the whole process agonising.

Open invitation to Wetherspoon​

A few weeks back, City Diary reported on how keen Driffield in Yorkshire was to welcome a possible new JD Wetherspoon venue. Now they've started to sound desperate. A row has broken out after 400 revellers claimed on an internet social-networking site that Driffield is the "worst night out in England". Town mayor councillor Steve Poessl said: "To be blatantly honest, I would agree in some respects, there isn't much for the young people. There are plenty of pubs, but only one nightclub and no cinema, bowling alley, social club or anything like that, which is not very good. In the current financial climate, unless a pub chain, like JD Wetherspoon, comes to Driffield, the situation is unlikely to change."

What's in a name? Quite a lot if you're Jean-Christophe Novelli​

Quite-a-lot-of-fuss-about-nothing time. An injunction stops the new owner of the Harpenden gastropub that Jean-Christophe Novelli used to own from using his name. The High Court interim order requires Urban & Country Leisure, which bought the White Horse in Redbourn Lane in January, to remove the name Novelli from all signs and menus immediately and replace the frosted glass panes within seven days, or risk prison for contempt of court. Urban & Country Leisure operations director Dan Shotton tells City Diary: "When we bought the pub in February, Mr Novelli began negotiations to work as an adviser and business partner. However, no agreement could be reached on the fees, so it was decided in early May to fully debrand all references to Novelli. All references to him had been removed other than two pieces of glass within the pub, which were changed last Wednesday. This includes internal and external signage, point-of-sale, napkin and bill holders and a new website. All our staff were briefed about the break in relationship, and at no time have any customers been told or 'deceived' to the contrary. Indeed, our research has shown that customers are pleased the pub has been rebranded, as the perception was of an over-priced, stuffy restaurant. The fact that we have doubled sales suggests our strategy is working." So there.