MA Leaders Club

Sales up at Luminar

30-Oct-2007 By Mark Wingett, M&C Report

Nightclub operator Luminar Leisure reports a 1.8% increase in like-for-like sales

Luminar unfazed by smoking ban

30-Oct-2007 By Hamish Champ

Dance venue operator Luminar has reported that the smoking ban has had a "marginal impact" on first half trading performance.Announcing its figures...

Orchid ramps up carvery roll-out

26-Oct-2007 By The PMA Team

Orchid Group is stepping up its plans to open new carveries after "phenomenal success"

Luminar aims for 16 Oceanas

18-Oct-2007 By The PMA Team

Nightclub company Luminar is looking to increase the number of Oceanas from 10 to 16 by early 2009

Luminar aims for 16 Oceanas by 2009

18-Oct-2007 By The PMA Team

Nightclub company Luminar is looking to increase the number of Oceana mega-clubs it runs from 10 to 16 by early 2009, according to KBC Peel Hunt...

Cognetas writes down Novus Leisure investment by £60m

04-Oct-2007 By Hamish Champ

The private equity group which owns Tiger Tiger operator Novus Leisure has revalued its investment in the company from the equivalent of nearly £80m...

Debating hot industry topics at the ALMR's Ops Academy

01-Oct-2007 By Hamish Champ

I was recently asked to co-chair a debate featuring high-flying members of the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers' (ALMR) 'Ops Academy'. The...

Ultimate Leisure takes premium to heart

24-Sep-2007 By Hamish Champ

In changing its name to Premium Bars and Restaurants Ultimate Leisure new moniker will reflect "the positive strides the group has taken over the...

Giles Thorley backs calls to reduce drinking age

20-Sep-2007 By Hamish Champ

Punch Taverns chief executive Giles Thorley has added his weight to calls for the drinking age in the UK to be lowered to 16.The boss of the biggest...

Wellstead's successors announced at Christies

19-Sep-2007

Following Colin Wellstead's decision earlier this year to retire Neil Morgan has been appointed as Christie & Co's director & head of public...

TCG launches Oasis concept

04-Sep-2007 By Mark Wingett

Tattershall Castle Group (TCG), the managed pub operator owned by Alchemy Partners, the private equity firm, has launched a new concept called Oasis under the banner "classic pubs with a twist".

Luminar trebles its nightclubs' seating area

31-Aug-2007

Nightclub operator Luminar plans to treble the amount of seating space at its venues to around 20% of the total area. Luminar chief executive Steve...

Heartstone Inns banks £3m in new financing

17-Aug-2007 By Hamish Champ

Heartstone Inns, the Reading-based pubco founded earlier this year by industry veterans Stuart Hawthorn and James Birch, has raised £3m in a second...

TCG reports loss of £7.5m

26-Jul-2007 By The PMA Team

TCG Acquisitions, the managed company that runs the Henry's and Bar 38 chains among 160 former Spirit Group pubs and bars acquired in September 2005,...

Tattershall Castle reports £7.5 million loss

25-Jul-2007 By The PMA Team

TCG Acquisitions, the managed company that runs the Henry¹s and Bar 38 chains among 160 former Spirit Group pubs and bars acquired in September 2005, made a loss of £7.5m in its first full year.

Camerons Brewery sells free on-trade business

06-Jul-2007 By Hamish Champ

Tough market conditions have forced North East brewery Camerons to sell its free on-trade business to Coors for an undisclosed sum.The business...

26 Alex Salussolia

31-May-2007

managing director, Glendola Leisure (new entry)

The ALMR conference - a lesson in how to have fun in the licensed trade

27-Apr-2007 By Hamish Champ

I wandered over the Millennium Bridge from our offices on the South Bank this week to pay a visit to the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers'...

ALMR calls for common sense over rent rises

26-Apr-2007 By Hamish Champ

The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) has called on landlords to cut its members some slack when it comes to rent reviews. Addressing...

McMullen's hits out at Home Office response

12-Apr-2007

McMullen's HAS hit out at the Home Office, claiming its approach to pubs is both "counter-productive" and "misguided". Peter Furness-Smith, the...

Drink Pink as Ember Inns teams up with cancer charity

13-Mar-2007 By Lucy Britner

Ember Inns is urging customers to drink pink this month to help raise money for a breast cancer charity. Pub goers will raise a glass of rosé wine...

Wells & Young's snaps up Courage rights

17-Jan-2007

Wells & Young's buys rights for Courage from Scottish & Newcastle UK.

Whitbread sells TGI Friday's for £70.4m

17-Jan-2007 By Hamish Champ

Whitbread has sold its interest in the TGI Friday's restaurant chain to ABN AMRO Capital and US group Carlson Restaurants Worldwide for £70.4m.The...

Law lets pubs down says McMullens

11-Jan-2007 By John Harrington john.harrington@william-reed.co.u

McMullens boss Peter Furness-Smith has written to Home Secretary John Reid slamming British law enforcement for not doing enough to support pubs. The...

New partner and site for Peach pubco

30-Nov-2006 By The PMA Team

Peach Pub Company, the innovative food-led multiple retailer, has signed up for its seventh property - the Old Mill, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, a...

Geronimo Inns set to double in size

30-Nov-2006 By The PMA Team

Private-equity firm Penta Capital has taken a controlling stake in Geronimo Inns, the multiple lessee founded by Rupert and Joanna Clevely that is...

Porters saved from demolition

30-Nov-2006

A MACCLESFIELD licensee who was turned into a virtual computer game hero to save her pub from demolition has been given an extra life after the...

Laurel and hearty

17-Nov-2006 By Hamish Champ

Talking to Paul Symonds about the portfolio of brands under his control - Ha! Ha! Bar & Canteen, Slug & Lettuce, Yates's and Hog's Head -...

Luminar close to selling Entertainment Division

15-Nov-2006 By Hamish Champ

Nightclub operator Luminar says talks to secure the sale of its struggling Entertainment Division are "at an advanced stage".The group, which today...

Camerons snaps up eleven more venues

19-Oct-2006 By Tony Halstead

North east brewer Camerons is set to notch up a half century of pubs after agreeing terms to buy 11 new venues. Completion of the deal later this...

Brewers Young's and Charles Wells to merge

23-May-2006 By Iain O'Neil

Young's and Charles Wells are to merge brewing operations to form a new company called Wells and Young's. The move clears the way for Young's to sell...

Family ties seal Wells and Young's merger deal

01-May-2006 By Hamish Champ

While for Young's the not-insignificant matter of realising between £80m and £100m from the sale of the brewery site played its part, the close...

ALMR set to up its game

27-Apr-2006

Industry body will clarify its role as members seek more focused organisation to represent their views.The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers...

Luminar reports like-for-like sales drop

23-Mar-2006 By Mark Stretton

Luminar, Britain's biggest nightclub business, has reported, as part of a trading update, a 0.6% like-for-like sales decrease in its core business....

Wells sets 20% target to boost pub portfolio

09-Feb-2006 By The PMA Team

Bedford-based brewer Charles Wells has set a target of increasing its pub estate by 20% by September 2008.

JW Lees investigates tenants

09-Feb-2006

Manchester brewer JW Lees has launched an investigation across its 130-strong tenanted estate after finding a band of licensees buying outside the...

Doorstaff warning after Luminar loses case

02-Feb-2006

Pubs which use doorstaff are being warned that they are liable for their actions after late-night operator Luminar Leisure lost a case in the Court...

Luminar optimistic despite tough trading

15-Nov-2005

Despite continued tough trading late night operator Luminar said it remained "cautiously optimistic" it can end its financial year in good...

McMullen's looks to

20-Oct-2005

its people The traumas of a threatened break-up of the business are now behind McMullen's, and MD Peter Furness-Smith is focusing on people and...

JW Lees revamps troubled pub

11-Apr-2005

J W Lees,the Manchester brewer, has reopened the Greengate on the Limeside Estate, Middleton, Greater Manchester after working with the police to rid...

Restaurant Group takes stake in Living Ventures

31-Mar-2005

The Restaurant Group has tied up its deal with Living Ventures, initially acquiring a 40 per cent stake in the upmarket bar business.In a complex...

The heart of it

23-Mar-2005

The brewery contains the very soul of St Austell - as Lorna Harrison reports.In today's climate, the heart-wrenching decision to quit brewing and...

Luminar considers future of Chicago Rock Cafe

18-Mar-2005

Luminar is considering the future of Chicago Rock Café and Jumpin' Jaks after what it has described as unsatisfactory performance by these...

Yates and Tchenguiz chase SFI

16-Mar-2005

Both the Yates wine bar group and property magnate Robert Tchenguiz are being widely tipped as potential bidders for SFI.Despite reports splashed...

ALMR announces finalists in Operations Manager Awards

13-Jan-2005

Entrants for the 2005 ALMR Operations Managers Awards have been whittled down to the final 16 as the last stage of judging approaches.Seven area...

GI shakes up Yates Group boardroom

25-Nov-2004

Yates Group has made three major appointments as part of a boardroom re-organisation. Colin Rawlinson, who acted as a consultant to GI Partners when...

Geronimo eyes Heathrow

23-Sep-2004

by John Harrington Gastro pub operator Geronimo Inns hopes to take premium pub dining into uncharted territory with plans to open a new outlet at...

Thorium scents victory in Yates battle

26-Jul-2004

The Yates Group management team is poised to push through its buyout of the business after raising its offer by 7p a share.Details of the 147p a...

Thorium extends deadline for Yates buyout

23-Jul-2004

Thorium, the bid company behind the planned management buy-out of Yates, has extended the deadline for shareholders to accept its offer for a further...

Thorium stands by Yates offer deadline

21-Jul-2004

Buyout group Thorium has reconfirmed its offer deadline for Yates Group after family members suggested the business has been undervalued.Thorium, led...

Property of the week

BERKSHIRE - RENOVATED PUB WITH FOUR LETTING BEDROOMS

- Leasehold

Village position close to Reading and Newbury Extensively renovated public house Bar, conservatory, snug and function room (80-90) Four en suite letting bedrooms Two bedroom owner/staff accommodation Part-covered trade garden...