Battle for Scottish & Newcastle takes new twist
16-Nov-2007 By Hamish Champ
The battle for Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) took a new twist last night as the Carlsberg/Heineken-led consortium publicly appealed directly to...
Everards ups the stakes in bounty scheme
05-Nov-2007
Leicester brewer Everards has increased the bounty on offer to people who find new tenants for its pub estate.Licensees, employees and members of the...
Carlsberg delivers a heavy blow
01-Nov-2007
Freetrade licensees are understandably furious that Carlsberg is to charge them £5 for scheduled deliveries and £10 for unscheduled deliveries from...
Carlsberg hits back at Scottish & Newcastle over BBH agreement claims
31-Oct-2007 By Hamish Champ
The war of words between Carlsberg and Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) was stepped up yet again today, with the Danish brewer officially rebuffing...
Hamish Champ: Sailing the stormy seas of business partnerships
28-Oct-2007 By Hamish Champ
Partnerships of all kinds - friends, families, marriages - go through rocky patches, some to come through stronger, others never to recover. In...
18-Oct-2007 By Tony Halstead
The Licensed Trade Charity has slammed the financial support it receives from the big pubcos as laughable
Trade needs a unified front
27-Sep-2007
Trade bodies never get a particularly good press. The sheer impossibility of stopping the torrent of red tape and misguided initiatives that streams...
Newcomers: The deal is done
26-Sep-2007
After a lot of consultation and discussion we instructed our lawyer to conclude missives this morning.It was a relief.The contractors can now be...
Newcomers: Frantic calls
25-Sep-2007
The past few days have been frantic. I don't know why it's happening but questions that should have been asked ages ago by both sets of lawyers have...
Sixth opening for London gastropub operators
24-Sep-2007 By Lucy Britner
Gastropub entrepreneurs the Martin brothers are to open a sixth venue next February. Tom and Ed Martin are the team behind The Gun, The Empress of...
Food revamp before ban
13-Sep-2007
More than four out of 10 Everards tenants revamped their food menu before the English smoking ban, a new survey shows. The survey of the...
Ali Carter former BII licensee of the year and industry consultant
06-Sep-2007
It annoys me that I keep hearing the same story from experienced licensees who are caught out in this way. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but the...
Hamish Champ: Cognac, the Water Of Life
03-Sep-2007 By Hamish Champ
Thanks to those good people of Courvoisier I've been recently able to experience how the stuff of Napoleon gets made - and in its own backyard. True,...
One in five British schoolchildren drinks more than a bottle of wine a week
20-Aug-2007 By Eleanor Goodman
Nearly one in five British schoolchildren admits to drinking the equivalent of a bottle and a half of wine each week, a report has revealed. On...
Newcomers: Eureka
10-Aug-2007
What is becoming apparent through continued research into EPOS systems is that although much of the EPOS hardware is much the same, it's the software...
03-Aug-2007 By The PMA Team
Bob Senior, the boss of bar and nightclub company Utopian Leisure, has won licensing for a new lap-dance club in Newcastle. The 90-capacity venue...
Amanda Green: the recovery from the floods
02-Aug-2007
Last Wednesday the water had gone from the building but the electricity was still compromised. We were still living through the majority of the...
David Morgan, Managing Director, Cookseys DMP
01-Aug-2007
Third-party liability is fertile ground for solicitors - and it's expensive. The pubco was a third party to the contract, its solicitors did not...
Chris Maclean: Wetherspoon's dirty war
26-Jul-2007 By Chris Maclean
I've just walked past Wetherspoon's and noticed it has their poster up headed "Deal or No Deal" and listing the comparative prices of three local...
Chris Maclean: a cruel fete
24-Jul-2007 By Chris Maclean
At the weekend we provided the bar at a village fete some miles from here.For many years we have provided such bars for communities and events and,...
Chris Maclean: food from weeds
23-Jul-2007 By Chris Maclean
On Saturday there was a fine photograph of our chef in The Guardian's food section. We expected some decent copy too but that didn't materialise....
05-Jul-2007 By Andrew Pring
Energy costs may have come down slightly in the past few months, for some licensees at least. But for most people, the hike in utility bills over the...
Chris Maclean: quantity or quality?
29-Jun-2007 By Chris Maclean
Really good advice rarely comes from where you expect it and often in a form you do not recognise.But this week I have been gifted a gem and it has...
Wednesday July 11: Analyse this
27-Jun-2007
If you only take the time to do one thing during Proud of Pubs Week then take the opportunity to stand back from the coalface of your business, even...
fhd
14-Jun-2007 By The PMA Team
Orchid Group, the managed operator set up last year by private equity company GI Partners, has sold 16 sites, including a number of Bar Room Bar...
30-May-2007 By The PMA Team
Food and Drink Group is to open its first new Henry J Bean's site since it acquired the brand. The company is to convert the Life bar in Wimbledon it...
Chris Maclean: watching the football
26-Apr-2007 By Chris Maclean
I went to watch the football last night.One of my fellow licensees, who had read a previous blog about football in pubs, challenged me on Monday to...
Chris Maclean: acts of kindness
25-Apr-2007 By Chris Maclean
Last year I was in a queue of parked traffic and noticed the car in front had a broken brake light. I got out of the car and spoke to the driver who...
Chris Maclean: the ballet behind the bar
02-Apr-2007 By Chris Maclean
Yesterday I visited London. It's a busy place.I am an impatient person, so my wife tells me, and I loathe queues and crowds. I don't think I am...
Chris Maclean: who's to blame for misbehaviour?
15-Mar-2007 By Chris Maclean
One of our local pubs, rarely out of the limelight for the problems associated with it, has new managers. They are making a real attempt to...
THE GUV'NOR
08-Mar-2007
Ali Carter Selling your pub can be very stressful, says the licensee of the Bay View Inn, Widemouth Bay, Cornwall Someone at a BII seminar asked me...
THE GUV'NOR Peter Gatling
01-Mar-2007
Use professionals and pay proper wages. These are just two of the lessons the licensee of the Merry Harriers in Clayhidon, Devon, has learned after...
Varying your menu is easier than you think
01-Mar-2007
Brakes channel marketing manager Anne Mulcahy shows you how to make the most of your offering without a major menu overhaul Trying new ideas for your...
Chris Maclean: it's the way he tells 'em
20-Feb-2007 By Chris Maclean
This morning I drove past a newsagent's shop which had a sign outside saying "Paper boys and girls wanted". When I got home I got a sheet of...
Chris Maclean: getting on target
31-Jan-2007 By Chris Maclean
The ladies' darts team were here last night. It's a good thing I had something booked in or the pub would have been virtually empty.They have...
Wales
18-Jan-2007
Craig and Millissia Owen Plough Inn, Aberaman, Mid Glamorgan It was while serving in the forces that Craig Owen met Millissia, who worked in the...
Punch does the full monty for 2007
18-Jan-2007
The telesales department at Burton-based Punch Taverns has raised an impressive £16,000 for cancer charities with a saucy calendar starring the...
West Country
11-Jan-2007
The Cow Parkstone, Dorset David Sax has certainly got the Midas touch. He used to run a financial consultancy practice, and business often coincided...
The Publican calls on licensees to get "Pubs Dressed to Party" this Christmas
18-Dec-2006
The Publican is calling on licensees who have caught the Christmas bug to enter our "Pubs Dressed to Party" competition, in association with WKD.The...
Licensees come to the rescue
07-Dec-2006
When Anna and Richard Scott, licensees at the Tal-y-Cafn hotel in North Wales, heard an almighty bang just before the lunchtime rush on a busy...
Laurel Pub Company managers hit Rio
30-Oct-2006
A group of Laurel Pub Company managers are setting off for the trip of a lifetime to the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.The 14 managers have won all...
MyNewPub
12-Oct-2006
My New Pub, The White Hart, Modbury
Proud of Your Staff: Fisherman's Retreat, Lancashire
05-Oct-2006
The barstaff at the Fisherman's Retreat, in Ramsbottom, Lancashire, are, according to licensee Hervey Magnall, "some of the best in Britain".The...
Cheers
05-Oct-2006
Top Gun's benevolent rivals are buddies Snifter donned his best tweeds to ride up to Holland and Holland shooting club in Middlesex for the Buddies...
Provence 'ran inn into ground'
21-Sep-2006
Lucy Britner Provence has been accused of running a pub into the ground by its former owner. Julie Howard sold the Ploughshare in Beeston, Norfolk,...
14-Sep-2006
Another property firm has warned vendors to beware of rogue agents that over-value properties and demand upfront advertising fees. Property agent...
Sunderland bar facing legal action over Newcastle shirt burning
07-Sep-2006
A bar which allowed a football shirt to be burnt on the premises as fans whipped up a frenzy is facing legal action.The incident in Idols Bar in...
Wetherspoon's slashes cost of proof of age
04-Sep-2006
JD Wetherpoon's responsible drinking campaign has taken a step forward as half-price CitizenCard proof of age cards have made available in all of its...
24-Aug-2006 By The PMA Team
Utopian Leisure, the company set up by former Ultimate Leisure boss Bob Senior, has acquired nightclub company Tokyo Industries for an undisclosed...
BarTalk
24-Aug-2006
Are you planning anything special for the bank holiday weekend?
