Amanda Green: Week 2 of the flood recovery
I had to lay my head chef off last week, because insurance companies look to make savings, but luckily he has found another job already. He's an...
Archives for August 8, 2007
Adam Hyde celebrates 25 years service
Adam Hyde, finance director at Manchester brewer Hydes, is this week celebrating a quarter of a century working for the company.The only Hydes family...
Saucy ideas
products on trial Heinz Foodservice is encouraging licensees to improve table presentation and consumer perception of their pubs in a new Heinz...
Draconian policing needs investigation
Last week's revelations from Merseyside about two pubs being closed down on a Friday night after just one failed sting operation provoked an outcry...
A glorious weekend for sport
It's a glorious time for sports lovers, no matter what game they follow most avidly. The return of Premiership football to our screens this weekend...
Join GBBF's birthday bash
If you haven't been already, there's still time to get yourself down to Earl's Court and sample some of the finest alcoholic beverages mankind has...
A limeless classic from Mexico
I came over all nostalgic when I saw a double-page advertisement for Sol in last week's MA. In the early 1990s, when Sol and Corona were all the rage...
THE GUV'NOR
Graham Rowson Drinks producers must take their share of the blame for binge drinking, says the licensee of the Plungington Tavern in Preston,...
Psychic grabs M&B by the crystal balls
Snifter was fascinated this week by the story of an Ilford psychic, who says she was banned from her local after complaining when a woman ripped a...
Licensing@aol.com
Are old notices still valid? Q Do we still have to put up the old-style notices on spirit quantities etc that you used to get from trade stockists? I...
Pressure mounts in town pubs
Busy pubs, struggling to keep up. Rosie Davenport rounds up the results from this month's mystery visits to measure the customer experience in urban...
Foot & Mouth pubs to get tax break
Government has offered tax breaks for pubs that are affected by the foot and mouth outbreak. Although there is little sign that many pubs have been...
Gloucester pub trades through floods thanks to local brewery
A pub in the Gloucestershire flood zone has enjoyed two weeks of unbroken trading, thanks to a local brewery.Freeminer Brewery's Don Burgess...
Licence fees to be set at end of year
Pubs will probably have to wait until the end of the year before they know how much they will pay in annual licence fees. A long-awaited decision on...
Rain helps Brains food sales leap 3%
Food sales as a percentage of overall sales in the SA Brain managed estate have leapt by 3% to 29% in the three months since the smoking ban started...
Business Opinion with Andrew Pring
Adnams' eco ethos captures zeitgeist Whisper it quietly but some of Britain's independent family brewers view heritage as a double-edged sword. It's...
THE AGENTS
At Humberstones we have a sister company called Humberstones Financial Services (HFS) that provides finance for the purchase of pubs. Traditionally...
Project update 6: Driving forward
A pie and a pint may sound humble but it could provide a boost to the Hack & Spade as Sell More, Save More's rural pub continues to push forwards...
Project update 6: Secrets of our success
It has been a busy month at Barcena, with licensee Richard Podesta and the Sell More, Save More champions looking to build on the bar's successful...
Tough trading dents licensees' optimism
Licensees across the UK are feeling the pinch in 2007 with nearly one in five admitting trade has been badly affected, this year's Publican Market...
Our new community pub
WHEN I arrive at the White Hart, a team of workmen are swinging a wrecking ball through a derelict set of buildings in an area that will eventually...
Q & A with Richard Podesta
What are the key things you have learnt through the Sell More, Save More project so far?Suppliers will fall over backwards to help you if you stock...
BrandsBriefs
Innis & Gunn at the Fringe Innis & Gunn oak-aged beer is sponsoring a series of gigs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival's Acoustic Music Centre...
Hobsons Mild is new Champion Beer of Britain
Hobsons Mild has been named Champion Beer of Britain at the Campaign for Real Ale's Great British Beer Festival. The 3.2% abv beer is described by...
Camra: local beers mean greener pints
Pubs should embrace ales from local breweries as the greenest way to serve a pint, according to the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra). As the Great...
Publican staff go back to the floor in Somerset
The George Inn, five miles south of Bath, Somerset, has been an inn for more than 600 years and is reputed to be one of the oldest in the country. It...
BarTalk
How important are real-ale sales in your pub? Matt Jackson Sun Hotel, Lancaster Cask ale accounts for about 30% of our wet sales at both the pubs we...
3D to use polycarbs at a third of venues
3D Entertainment Group, which runs mainly late-licensed sites, has introduced polycarbonate glasses in around one third of its 90 venues. The...
Foot-and-mouth fear returns to haunt trade
Trade holds its breath following the announcement that foot and mouth has been discovered in the Surrey area The trade is facing an anxious wait to...
MyNewPub
The Butchers Arms Leake Commonside, Lincolnshire Agent: Davey & Co Phillip Nadolski has been behind the bar of the Butchers Arms for just over a...
SIA door-staff minefield
I was surprised to read, in the report of a recent conference on door supervision, a claim by one speaker that there were up to 20,000 unlicensed...
Bold commercial moves Greene King IPA into lager territory
Greene King is targeting its top-selling ale, IPA, firmly at the lager market with its first commercial in four years plus a £2m spend. Created by...
Daniel Pearce: Should the family come first?
It's not a bad job working on The Publican. We get to see a lot of great pubs, and drink a lot of great beer - when not working our butts off to get...
Chris Maclean: pubs need to clean up their act - and no butts
In this week's local paper one of our local residents, in a letter, is ranting about the litter outside pubs in town. She particularly notes...
MyShout
Better publicity for responsible retailing initiatives is the way forward, says Stephen Crawley Just as the furore over the pricing set by one of the...
Sorting food suppliers for your pub
Mark Taylor looks at what to consider when choosing food suppliers for your pub Where to find suppliers If you are only just starting to go big on...
Greene King's text appeal
Greene King is inviting cask beer drinkers to 'shout' about beer quality by text. The Bury St Edmunds brewer has set up a new quality textline as one...
Sutcliffe on red tape, fees & payment dates
New licensing minister and past National Pubwatch president Gerry Sutcliffe tells John Harrington that the trade will have to wait on some big...
Back to Basics: Recruitment
As the latest wave of school-leavers floods onto the jobs market, now's the time to think about your recruitment techniques.How do you attract the...
Critics question M&B's jv
Management at Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) has come in for sharp criticism in the wake of the decision to put its joint-venture property...
Property agents call for EPC clarity
Property agents have called for clarity and communication when commercial En-ergy Performance Certificates (EPCs) come into effect early next year....
Recovery underway at flood-hit pubs
The pub trade is slowly getting back on its feet after floods caused devastation in large parts of the country. At the height of the flooding, two...
Boxing clever
Former amateur boxer Scott Murray tells Ewan Turney how he reached a £1m turnover at Bar Sport in Cannock, Staffordshire How I got here When I was...
Pete Robinson: Opinion polls? Just a matter of opinion
The same poll claims 36% of non-smokers 'intend to visit pubs more frequently'. Once again we have to ask where are they? As I've said before,...