07-Jul-2011 By Peter Coulson
Licensees should always monitor compliance with safety requirements and insist on reports of any incident in their pub, however trivial, warns Peter Coulson.
Anti-cig vending ban action continues
20-Jun-2011 By John Harrington, M&C Report
Imperial Tobacco says it will continue its campaign to reverse the imminent cigarette vending machine ban despite the Court of Appeal upholding the...
04-May-2011 By Gurjit Degun
Licensees contesting their 2010 business rates could see their appeals thrown out if new, stricter deadlines are not met. Under old procedures the...
18-Apr-2011 By Peter Coulson & Michelle Perrett
Local authorities are not able to accept late complaints from local residents on premises licences, a judgement in the Court of Appeal confirmed last...
14-Apr-2011 By Michelle Perrett
A new wave of rogue business rates advisors has been targeting pubs over their rates appeals. The news has only come to light as the Valuation...
06-Apr-2011 By Gurjit Degun
Licensees who feel they have been unfairly denied bank lending are being urged to put a new appeals process to the test. This comes after the...
Caroline Nodder: CAMRA had its own reasons for super-complaint
18-Feb-2011 By Caroline Nodder
The fact that CAMRA wasn't exactly up front about the decision to withdraw its appeal over the beer tie says a lot about how it thought the move...
CAMRA's OFT beer tie appeal withdrawn
15-Feb-2011 By James Wilmore
CAMRA has withdrawn its appeal against the Office of Fair Trading's (OFT's) decision not to refer the beer tie to the competition authorities, The...
New hope for cig vending machines
14-Feb-2011 By John Harrington
Fresh hope has been raised that the cigarette vending machine ban could be stopped by legal action. Machine provider Sinclair Collis, part of...
Ban on pub's outside drinkers stays after third appeal
01-Feb-2011 By James Wilmore
A London pub which was forced to ban people from drinking outside after 6pm has lost its third appeal against the decision. The Endurance in Berwick...
01-Feb-2011 By John Harrington
Pubs could find it more difficult to successfully appeal onerous licensing decisions after a new legal ruling. The Court of Appeal ruling...
Gay employee wins appeal against Realpubs
17-Jan-2011 By Lesley Foottit
A gay employee has won a case for unfair dismissal against Realpubs through the Employment Appeal Tribunal. Charles Lisboa joined the Pembroke Arms...
Diageo settles Vodkat dispute
15-Dec-2010 By Matt Eley Matt
Diageo has reached an out of court settlement with drinks company InterContinental Brands (ICB) to bring an end to a two year saga over the latter's...
Council to pay £25K after 'wrongly' shutting club
10-Dec-2010 By Matt Eley Matt
A council has been ordered to pay record costs of £25,000 after a judge ruled it was too quick to close down a nightclub. V2 in Ruthin, North...
29-Nov-2010 By John Harrington
A barmaid has successfully contested her fine for failing an underage sting after magistrates agreed the tester looked older than she was.
05-Nov-2010 By John Harrington
A legal test case is set to rule on the legality of drinks discount cards in Scotland — and could provide clarity on other promotions. Mitchells...
25-Oct-2010 By John Harrington
Edinburgh City Council is standing by moves to cut capacity at pubs over lack of toilet provision — despite relenting at one venue.
22-Sep-2010 By Ewan Turney
A solicitor has agreed to pay £38,000 in legal costs after an appeal over a licensee's conviction was abandoned.
Solicitors face £38,000 pay-out over foreign satellite appeal
22-Sep-2010 By James Wilmore
A legal firm at the centre of the battle over foreign satellite football is facing a pay-out of £38,000 after an appeal over a licensee's conviction...
Just weeks left to contest old business rates
03-Mar-2010 By Hamish Champ
Companies have until the end of this month to lodge an appeal against the amount they have paid in business rates over the last five years, which in...
17-Feb-2010 By Ewan Turney
Enterprise Inns has reminded tenants they can take advantage of a free ratings appeal service. Many licensees are facing crippling rises in business...
12-Feb-2010 By Gemma McKenna
Pubs across Britain will now receive up to £10 million in refunds after the High Court rejected an appeal over charges for playing music in venues.
Pubs to share in £20m refunds as PPL appeal fails
12-Feb-2010
Pubs across Britain are to share in £20m in refunds following today's High Court ruling rejecting an appeal brought by music collection agency PPL...
05-Feb-2010 By John Harrington
Between 30 and 40 major breaches of pubco lease codes of practice have been resolved through the BII-led accreditation scheme BIIBAS. That's...
PPL £20m refunds appeal decision due in next few weeks
03-Feb-2010 By James Wilmore
A decision on whether pubs will get a share of refunds totalling up to £20m from music royalties collection firm PPL is expected by the end of this...
CAMRA boss urges pub customers to dig deep for beer tie battle
06-Jan-2010 By Matt Eley Matt
CAMRA chief executive Mike Benner has urged pub goers to support the consumer group's bid to overturn the Office of Fair Trading's (OFT) ruling on...
08-Dec-2009 By John Harrington
The High Court has upheld the right of police to use force to eject troublemakers from pubs and stop them re-entering. It came in an appeal of Luton...
30-Nov-2009 By Lesley Foottit
A financial expert has offered a glimmer of hope for pubs fighting to reclaim unfair bank charges. On Wednesday the Supreme Court overturned the...
PPL forced to pay back up to £20m to pubs - and current fees to be cut in half
22-Oct-2009 By James Wilmore
Pubs that play recorded music are in line for a share of refunds totalling up to £20m from royalties collection firm PPL after a ruling from the...
Sam Smith's appeals against tribunal decision
13-Oct-2009 By The PMA Team
Brewer Sam Smith's is to appeal against the decision of an employment tribunal which ruled it unfairly sacked one of its pub management couples....
02-Oct-2009 By John Harrington
MPS says it has had its busiest two months since prosecutions began. Operators of 23 pubs and clubs have been hit with fines on average of £1,174, with average costs of £712.
Crehan case on course for resurrection?
15-Sep-2009 By Hamish Champ
A former Inntrepreneur lessee is attempting to resurrect the 13 year-long challenge to the beer tie that effectively ended three years ago in the...
Profile: Game on at the Angel
26-Jun-2009
While the links between the pub trade and the shooting and fishing fraternity are well established, it tends to be pubs in rural communities where...
Pubs in line for fruit machine tax windfall
16-Jun-2009 By Matt Eley Matt
Pubs could hit the jackpot after a court ruling paved the way for huge rebates in overpaid VAT on games machines. At the High Court earlier this...
08-Jun-2009 By Ewan Turney
A Northumberland licensee is appealing a conviction for showing Premier League football matches via a non-EU based foreign satellite. The appeal by...
Licensee appeals foreign satellite conviction
08-Jun-2009 By James Wilmore
A licensee convicted of showing foreign satellite football using a non-EU card has launched a crown court appeal. Alec Piercy of Ridge Farm Pub and...
07-May-2009 By Ewan Turney
A licensee who formerly ran around 150 pubs for Marston's has won a High Court appeal to continue his fight against a dilapidations bill of...
Inspector: London Town must retain village pub
26-Feb-2009 By The PMA Team
A planning inspector has told London Town that a pub is too important to its village to turn into a house. London Town appealed against the decision...
20-Feb-2009 By Peter Coulson
Making an appeal is free, but it should only be used as a last resort — and if you have a genuine and arguable case, says Peter Coulson.
22-Jan-2009 By Peter Coulson
One of the major differences between the workings of the old 1964 Licensing Act and the current 2003 version is the lack of clarity about what the law actually means, says Peter Coulson.
13-Nov-2008 By Peter Coulson
Peter Coulson hails the High Court decision to uphold Pubwatch bans and answers your questions.
Smoke-ban-hit pubs could be in-line for rate cut
11-Nov-2008 By James Wilmore
Licensees could save thousands of pounds in rates if they can prove their business has been directly affected by the smoking ban. And pubs that have...
Pubs given hope over noise ruling
27-Oct-2008 By James Wilmore
A High Court ruling has given hope to licensees who face legal action over noise complaints from neighbours. Residents who know about the chance of...
25-Sep-2008 By John Harrington
Smoke ban rebel licensee Nick Hogan has lost his Crown Court appeal against convictions for flouting the smoking ban. Hogan appealed three of his...
Sheps saves £1.5m on rates appeals
17-Jul-2008 By John Harrington john.harrington@william-reed.co.u
Shepherd Neame has secured business rate reductions at about 130 — roughly one in three — of its pubs since 2005, the company has revealed. This...
24-Jun-2008
Foreign satellite case kicks-off with Murphy asking for a referral to European Court of Justice
Legal advice: High court redresses pub rights
02-Jun-2008
THE HIGH Court judgment decided in favour of Daniel Thwaites on March 10 is an important victory, not just for the claimant, but for licensees...
25-Mar-2008 By John Harrington
A licensee has lost his Crown Court appeal against a licence suspension for three underage alcohol sales. Jeffrey Barnett was told he was "driving a...
Focus Outdoors: Battling the planners
29-Feb-2008
It's said that every picture tells a story. But the photos here of recently completed Shepherd Neame outdoor developments in Kent fail to reveal the...
Rebel to appeal against 'extortionate' court order
31-Jan-2008
SMOKING ban rebel Nick Hogan has vowed to fight an order to pay £10,000 for letting people smoke in his pubs. At Bolton Magistrates Court this week...
