All news articles for March 2018

Looking strong: Brewdog has reported adjusted EBITDA up 47% to £8.9m for the year ended 31 December 2017

Brewdog unveils huge revenue upturn

By Finn Scott-Delany, MCA

Brewdog has reported adjusted EBITDA up 47% to £8.9m for the year ended 31 December 2017 – up from £6m in 2016.

City site: the Welsh brewer operator has one of its bars in Cardiff

MA500 is coming to Cardiff

By Nikkie Sutton

Award-winning Welsh brewery Tiny Rebel runs three sites in Cardiff and marketing manager Niall Thomas gave the lowdown on the Welsh capital’s hospitality scene.

Star turn: Robbie Savage and John Hartson will manage teams at Leicester City's King Power Stadium

Still time to enter the 2018 BT Sport Pub Cup

By Stuart Stone

This year’s BT Sport Pub Cup will offer teams the chance to step up and represent their pub at professional grounds across the UK as well as providing former Wales international Robbie Savage with a first taste of managing an 11-a-side team. Though teams...

Pioneering: the team will be spearheaded by former Beavertown brewer Jenn Merrick

Female brewers collaborate on limited edition beer

By James Beeson

Jenn Merrick, founder of community based brewery Earth Station, is to brew a collaborative beer with a leading team of 24 female industry-leading brewers, Heriot-Watt students and lecturers.

'Entry level': Brits are guzzling cheap Prosecco when there's so much more

There’s more to life than ‘party' Prosecco

By Nicholas Robinson

Consumers are chugging back 'entry-level' bottles of Prosecco in high volumes when they could instead be spending a little more on quality, according to Bibendum on-trade channel director John Graves.

Action needed: UKHospitality warns the Government over unemployment and business rates

UKHospitality pushes for action on unemployment and business rates

By Georgina Townshend

UKHospitality (UKH) has warned the Government that it "must act" to lower costs for businesses or risk further joblessness and loss of vital hospitality businesses while calling for an overhaul in the system of discretionary business rates relief.

Learning first: STAR is claimed to be the first training programme built to match the apprenticeship levy

HIT Training and CPL collaborate to launch STAR

By Stuart Stone

HIT Training and CPL Training have joined forces to launch a new virtual learning environment designed to provide hospitality apprentices with access to high-quality learning facilities.

Three generations have run the Oxford Arms in north London

My pub: the Oxford Arms, Camden Town, north London

By Claire Churchard

Licensee Tom Maloney and his daughter and general manager Caroline Maloney explain how things have changed in the 50 years that three generations of their family have run the Oxford Arms in the heart of Camden Town

Big venue: the festival takes place at London's Olympia

Rock radio to take over GBBF

By Nikkie Sutton

UK rock radio station Planet Rock is joining forces with the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) this year, in a bid to bring a whole day of entertainment to the annual event.

Moving forward: the new flavours tap into the

Belvoir releases new flavours

By Nikkie Sutton

Soft drinks producer Belvoir Fruit Farms has announced it will be launching four new products across the on and off-trade this month (March).

Expensive hobby: being a craft beer connoisseur isn't cheap

Craft beer connoisseur: drinking beer costs

By Craft beer connoisseur

Being a craft beer connoisseur doesn’t come cheap. The frenetic pace of beer releases is a near constant drain on the bank balance, and I always need to be kitted out in the latest brewery ‘stash’ or risk humiliation at that tap takeover or meet-the-brewer...

Popular option: sales of game meat are strong, according to Aubrey Allen managing director Russell Allen

Is there a right time for meat?

By Huw Cross

It’s not just fruit and vegetables that are best when in season. Although most meats are available year-round, they can be even better when served at the right time.

Lifetime achievement: John Keeling (left) accepts the Silver Tankard from Buster Grant

Fuller’s John Keeling awarded SIBA’s ‘Silver Tankard’

By Stuart Stone

Fuller’s former head brewer, now global ambassador, was presented with the lifetime achievement award by Buster Grant, chairman of the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) at the organisation’s flagship event BeerX in Liverpool.

Refurbishment honours: London's Fitzroy Tavern has been recognised for its Victorian aesthetic

Restored Victorian pub scoops design award

By Stuart Stone

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has revealed the best pub designs across the country in the latest Pub Design Awards, including the recently refurbished Fitzroy Tavern in London.

New entry: the Devon-based pub entered the Top 50 Gastropubs list for the first time in 2017

Top 50 Gastropubs

How to make: the Swan in Bampton's sea trout

By Nikkie Sutton

The Swan in Bampton, Devon, was the highest climber rising from number 50 to 28 at this year’s Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs. Here’s a delicious fish dish from the award-winning pub.

What's to come: possible exemptions to the policy could be found in cheese shops or wine bars

Could cumulative impact zone policies stifle pub innovations?

By Poppleston Allen

Local authorities up and down the land have adopted a wide range of cumulative impact policy zones, covering specific geographical areas where unacceptable levels of crime, disorder or public nuisance are deemed to take place.

Don't take a gamble: What you need to know legally about gambling machines

Don't take a gamble with gambling machines

By Poppleston Allen

Alcohol-licensed premises can provide gaming machines to their customers if they benefit from an on-licence, they contain bar facilities for the sale and consumption of alcohol and there is no requirement that alcohol is only served with food.

Triple whammy: three different types of taxes are hitting the pub sector (image credit: Flickr Adam Bruderer)

18 pubs closing weekly due to tax burden

By Nikkie Sutton

Some 18 pubs a week are closing due to a triple whammy of high beer duty, rising business rates and VAT, according to new figures just released.

Regional focus on...the north-west

By Stuart Stone

Our regional focus on the north-west focuses on the best pubs in Greater Manchester, Mersey, Cheshire, Lancashire and Cumbria.