OPINION: Why numbers matter
If you are a publican or small brewer, you’ll know all about numbers, especially in the aftermath of the Budget.
Opinion & Interviews
OPINION
OPINION: Survival strategies: thinking beyond ‘business as usual’
Like so many publicans across Gloucestershire and the UK, I was disappointed, but not surprised, by the Government’s lack of understanding and support in the recent Budget.
BIG INTERVIEW
BIG INTERVIEW: Robinsons MD says success is down to great people and continual investing
Who would have thought a guy selling mobile phones could go on to install two breweries and still give the credit to the people around him?
OPINION
OPINION: why beer festivals matter
Last weekend, we celebrated the return of our Celtic Beer Festival – the biggest charitable beer event in the south-west – and what a day it was.
The Hospitality Rides diaries
Today marks the start of diary series in which Amanda Thomson, managing director of Avani Solutions, will take part in the Hospitality Rides charity cycle and tells The Morning Advertiser about the event.
OPINION
OPINION: Licensing Act 2003 has not achieved what it promised
Today (24 November 2025) marks the 20th anniversary of the Licencing Act 2003.
OPINION
OPINION: Optimism for pub industry despite global temperature rise
Five years ago, I started really learning about what COP meetings were all about.
LICENSING HUB: LEGAL WITH POPPLESTON ALLEN
‘Societal contribution of pubs cannot be replicated’
The message that pubs have a massive cultural community and social benefit is propagated by many more eloquent and influential than me but I wanted to set down two recent experiences of mine.
OPINION
OPINION: We need to talk about men’s mental health
During Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month, which takes place every November, the licensed hospitality sector needs to ensure its supports men’s mental wellbeing.
OPINION
OPINION: Gov must support pubs so they can serve communities
With the Autumn Budget fast approaching, now is a timely moment to reflect on the vital role of the hospitality industry.
OPINION: The social tonic of beer and pubs should not be forgotten
Beer and pubs play a vital role in social connection and community, outlines MCA editor Finn Scott-Delany.
Raising the bar: Why the next generation of publicans will redefine the great British pub
From the village green to the high street, the pub has always been part of Britain’s social DNA.
OPINION: Hospitality needs to brace for likely tax-grab budget
I think there’s one thing anyone in business can quite clearly see, with the sad exception of the Chancellor - this isn’t going to be a Budget of growth.
OPINION
OPINION: Lack of money has pushed sustainability ethos down pecking order
Once, ‘sustainability’ dominated every drinks industry headline.
OPINION: Should pubs say no to Halloween events?
Every year, as the nights draw in and pumpkins start appearing in shop windows, pubs across the country transform into haunted houses, draped in cobwebs, skeletons, and fake blood.
Franchising to play key role in JDW’s growth, says Sir Tim Martin
JD Wetherspoon (JDW) chairman Sir Tim Martin has said franchising could play an important role in the pub group’s long-term growth, building on recent partnerships with Haven and The Papas Group.
OPINION
OPINION: How weight loss jabs are knocking out sales
Hospitality has more than enough challenges to face currently so I’m not going to bother listing them here.
OPINION: The three injustices that must be fixed
Do we moan about too many things?
OPINION: Why your voice matters in shaping arbitration under the pubs code
Running a pub is demanding and often unpredictable. For tied tenants, the pubs code provides important rights and transparency from their pub company.
BIG INTERVIEW
BIG INTERVIEW: Opening pubs with school friends ‘best decision ever’ says Three Cheers Pub Co. boss
Three Cheers Pub Co. boss Tom Peake describes his business partners as “a band of brothers”.
OPINION: Sober October schemes can help the sector
Sober October can divide opinions – particularly for on-trade business – but can offering drinks without alcohol help boost the bottom line?
OPINION
OPINION: Pubgoers want greater choice
Sat among some incredible publicans at the Great British Pub Awards last month, I was struck by how many of the winners say they put their success down to “doing the basics really well,” day in, day out.
OPINION
OPINION: Pints and purpose: how pubs can secure their future
What is the role of the pub of the future? Do pubs, and hospitality, need to re-invent themselves to remain relevant and viable in our ever-changing world?
OPINION
OPINION: In search of authenticity in pub culture
Can British pub culture meet Middle Eastern culture, and can there be any authenticity in this?
OPINION
OPINION: No man is an island
I don’t know if the poet John Donne ever made it down to his local, but he certainly nailed it with his line: ‘No Man is an Island’.
OPINION
OPINION: Hospitality left on the tarmac
I was surprised to see Chancellor Rachel Reeves declare the Government’s promise to ‘kick-start the economy’ was underway after Gatwick Airport’s £2.2bn second runway plan was approved.
OPINION: Now is the Time: Why inclusion must remain a focus for hospitality
This year’s National Inclusion Week arrives with a timely reminder - “Now is the Time” to put inclusion at the centre of our sector’s future.
BIG INTERVIEW
BIG INTERVIEW: Longbow boss: I’ve always been in the industry – even before I was born
Peak District-based Longbow Venues opened its first site a month before Covid kicked in – but owner Rob Hattersley has been in hospitality a long time and his business is now flying high.
OPINION
OPINION: Is it safety or sales pushing the lower drink-drive limit?
I received a press release the other day from an organisation called AlcoSense applauding the Government for proposing a lower drink-drive limit.
OPINION
OPINION: Why being sustainable is good for business – and the soul
Not everyone understands sustainability does help pub businesses get stronger.
OPINION
OPINION: Government ignorance is indefensible
The Prime Minister’s Questions in Westminster last week once again highlighted the sheer ignorance of the Government over the position they have put the hospitality sector in.
OPINION
OPINION: Tackling hostility in hospitality
Hospitality is all about people – it’s that warm welcome and sense of community that makes pubs great places to be.
OPINION
Is BrewDog actually BrewDog any more?
Normally, when senior personnel change at the top of a company, no one doubts that the company is still the same.
BIG INTERVIEW
BIG INTERVIEW: Tom Bott is making all the Signature moves
When The Libertines are playing a gig at your brewery and one of your most cherished photos is of lead singer Pete Doherty holding your one-year-old daughter, you’re doing pretty well.
OPINION
OPINION: Gen Z’s importance in the evolution of hospitality in 2025
The hospitality sector is undergoing significant transformation in 2025 – and the changing preferences of Gen Z consumers have a key part to play.
OPINION: Trade bodies must unite to save pubs
The British pub is facing a slow-motion catastrophe.
BIG INTERVIEW
BIG INTERVIEW: Steve Moore on Red Engine’s wild global ride
“What the hell is going on?!” That is Steve Moore’s reaction to the realisation a business he co-founded 12 years ago has opened sites as far afield as New York and Sydney.
REVIEW OF THE WEEK
Revel Collective boss: The industry is overtaxed
Business rates, proposed changes to the drink-driving limit and weight loss jabs were the headlines discussed by Revel Collective CEO Rob Pitcher and The Morning Advertiser’s Ed Bedington this week.
OPINION
OPINION: Is proposed drink-drive limit the death knell for rural pubs?
After surviving the financial and emotional battering of Covid-19, rural pubs across the UK are now facing a fresh wave of challenges – once again from the very Government that should be protecting them.
OPINION
OPINION: Has the pub industry lost sight of the guest?
When you visit pubs today, it is clear the standard of customer experience and the quality of training offered, vary hugely from site to site and business to business.
BIG INTERVIEW
BIG INTERVIEW: The busiest year ever for Wye Valley Brewery
Having taken on the role of leading Wye Valley Brewery’s beer production when it moved away from the back of a pub, Vernon Amor has overseen continual growth for the business that also operates seven pubs.
OPINION: How hospitality can adapt and thrive in a high-wage, high-price economy
I believe in a high-wage, high-price economy.
OPINION
OPINION: The huge opportunity being missed out on
The role of Government is to help things that are good while taxing less good things – using that money to support parts of society that need it.
THE LOW & NO PROJECT
OPINION: The category that continues to defy description
In September 2016, I sat looking quizzically at a bottle of BrewDog’s Nanny State.
OPINION
OPINION: Why we’ve introduced service charge for the first time in 25 years
When we opened the Olive Branch in Clipsham back in December 1999, I never wanted to introduce service charge.
OPINION
OPINION: Tetchy Telegraph tirade a malignant and unnecessary swipe
The recent piece on “rip-off” pubs by The Telegraph’s associate editor Ben Marlow perhaps says more about the increasingly clickbait-ridden newspaper, and the writer’s tentative grasp on reality, than it does about the modern pub sector.
OPINION
OPINION: Sustainability is a key marketing aspect for your business
I’m feeling like Clarence the Cross-Eyed Lion of Daktari fame at the moment – the popular character from the children’s Africa-based TV show aired during the 1960s and ’70s (No? Google it – it was iconic at the time).