Finance

Star unveils 'biggest ever' events support package

04-Jan-2024 By Rebecca Weller

Star Pubs & Bars has announced its “biggest-ever” package of events support for its licensees, set to launch later this month.

POLL: How was trade at your pub over the festive period?

04-Jan-2024 By Amelie Maurice-Jones

Despite concerns the festive season would be a disaster, operators have reported that trade was somewhat better than expected.

£1 burgers and pizzas at BrewDog bars

03-Jan-2024 By Amelie Maurice-Jones

From 3 January, BrewDog is offering customers burgers and pizzas for a quid as part of a ‘buy one, get one £1’ deal at any of their UK sites.

St Patrick's Day most popular for pints in 2023

02-Jan-2024 By Rebecca Weller

St Patrick’s Day proved the most popular event for pubs last year with the highest number of pints pulled, according to new figures from Greene King.

Latest pub food trends revealed in new report

02-Jan-2024 By Amelie Maurice-Jones

A new report from Lumina Intelligence has revealed how operators are adapting menus to drive spend while retaining value perceptions.

JDW launches January sale

02-Jan-2024 By Amelie Maurice-Jones

JD Wetherspoon (JDW) is rolling out a nationwide sale at more than 800 of its pubs to welcome in the new year, and £1.99 pints are on the cards.

Purity Brewing Co acquired by The Breal Group

30-Dec-2023 By Nikkie Thatcher

Investment firm The Breal Group has acquired the assets of Warwickshire-based business Purity Brewing Co for an undisclosed sum.

JW Lees reports record turnover of £88m

22-Dec-2023 By Gary Lloyd

Manchester-based brewer JW Lees has reported record turnover for the year to 31 March 2023 with revenue at £88m (up £13m (16%) on the previous year).

£1m revamp of cricketers’ pub ‘will increase turnover by 60%’

22-Dec-2023 By Gary Lloyd

Former England cricketers Stuart Broad and Harry Gurney are teaming up with Everards to plough £1m into the renovation of the Griffin Inn in Swithland.

Farewell 2023, here's to 2024

21-Dec-2023 By Ed Bedington

There's a strange feeling of deja vu as I sit down to write my thoughts on the year and hopes for the year ahead.

Challenges remain but positive changes may be in the offing on utilities

21-Dec-2023 By Ed Bedington

What to expect from utilities in 2024? We asked industry expert Gerry O'Hara of Nationwide Energy to give his perspective on what the coming year was likely to bring.

NWTC enjoys record trade leading up to Xmas

20-Dec-2023 By Nikkie Thatcher

New World Trading Company (NWTC) has reported a record week of sales in the festive lead up.

Pint price up 2p on October 2023

20-Dec-2023 By Nikkie Thatcher

The average price of a pint of draught lager has increased by 2p, official figures have revealed.

Anglian Country Inns reports strong revenue growth

20-Dec-2023 By Nikkie Thatcher

Multiple operator Anglian Country Inns (ACI) has revealed a 25.8% uptick in revenue, partly driven by price increases to offset inflationary costs with the majority coming from a rise in footfall.

Inflation drop ‘good for economy, far from reality for hospitality’

20-Dec-2023 By Nikkie Thatcher

A decrease in the rate of inflation is a good sign but the upcoming increase in business rates will cause operators more pain, one trade body has said.

Knipe re-takes control at Blackrose

20-Dec-2023 By Ed Bedington

Blackrose Pubs has been bought back following the purchase of the business brand by former managing director Daren Knipe.

Admiral invests almost £700k into two sites on same road

20-Dec-2023 By Ed Bedington

Admiral Taverns has ended the year with a nearly £700,000 investment project across two pubs in the north east on the same road.

Scottish Budget ‘bitter pill to swallow’

20-Dec-2023 By Nikkie Thatcher

Voices from across the Scottish hospitality sector have responded with disappointment in reaction to the Budget announcement.

Business rates support slashed for Welsh pubs

19-Dec-2023 By Nikkie Thatcher

Pubs in Wales will see their business rates relief decrease from 75% to 40%, finance minister Rebecca Evans has announced.

Admiral invests almost £1m in four pub revamps

19-Dec-2023 By Gary Lloyd

Admiral Taverns has invested close to £1m in the renovation and reopening of four of its pubs in the past month.

London borough scheme helps to fill staffing shortages

19-Dec-2023 By Gary Lloyd

More than 200 businesses in one London borough have been given support in a bid to help fill 121,000 hospitality job vacancies in the UK.

Festive lifeline needed to save firms

19-Dec-2023 By Nikkie Thatcher

More than half of small to medium business (SME) owners will have to close, put plans on hold or find other employment if Christmas isn’t a successful trading period, research has found.

The Big Interview

'I've got a ridiculous addiction to pubs' - Stonegate's Payne takes a look back

19-Dec-2023 By Ed Bedington

After more than 50 years in the pub trade, Stonegate founder and chairman Ian Payne is hanging up his bar blade. The MA met up with him to chat over 50 amazing years in the trade.

Beer and cider draught sales volumes 7.4% higher than last year

19-Dec-2023 By Gary Lloyd

Weekly volumes sales of draught beer and cider have risen 7.4% versus the corresponding week in 2022 – driven by an increase in footfall and dwell time in the run-up to Christmas.

Greene King to launch Seared concept in New Year

19-Dec-2023 By Amelie Maurice-Jones

Greene King is set to launch the first pub under its new concept, Seared, which brings drinks and dishes from around the world closer to home.

Ringwood sales process slammed as a 'sham'

18-Dec-2023 By Ed Bedington

Carlsberg Marston’s attempts to find a buyer for the iconic Ringwood Brewery prior to announcing its closure have been branded a “sham”.

Potential for a flagship bar at luxury London destination?

15-Dec-2023 By Gary Lloyd

A new bar, restaurant and event space at luxury destination The Royal Exchange has been announced by Des Gunewardena, co-founder of restaurant group D&D London.

Review of the Week

'We have a vital role'

15-Dec-2023 By Ed Bedington

The Morning Advertiser's Ed Bedington caught up with Frederic Robinson's William Robinson to hear his thoughts on the week, from Christmas trade to changing of the political guard.

Tech investment high on agenda of hospitality leaders for 2024

14-Dec-2023 By Gary Lloyd

Three in five hospitality leaders plan to invest in new technology solutions in 2024 – with employees being their main area of focus.

Party-goers spend 2.1% less on nights out

14-Dec-2023 By Amelie Maurice-Jones

For the first time in over a year people are spending less on a night our according to the quarterly survey commissioned by the UK’s largest late-night operator Rekom UK.

Draw more customers with knockout boxing event

13-Dec-2023 By The Morning Advertiser

Pubs will potentially have the chance to gain extra footfall on the night before Christmas Eve when a huge night of boxing can be screened.

Outsourced staff working for Greene King agree new pay deal

13-Dec-2023 By Gary Lloyd

GXO staff members who are contracted by Greene King as lorry drivers and warehouse workers have agreed a new pay deal after going on strike on days last week and at the end of November.

Amber Taverns to reach 170 sites with four openings

13-Dec-2023 By Gary Lloyd

Amber Taverns will open pubs at four new locations in spring 2024.

Strangest reasons people cancel bookings

13-Dec-2023 By Nikkie Thatcher

An unexpected council meeting and seagull problems are just two of the strangest reasons customers have given for cancelling bookings in pubs, bars and restaurants, new research has found.

Solid November for managed pubs

13-Dec-2023 By Amelie Maurice-Jones

Britain’s leading hospitality groups achieved year-on-year sales growth of 4% in November, the new CGA RSM Hospitality Business Tracker has revealed.

Help is at hand with your festive food offer

12-Dec-2023 By The Morning Advertiser

If you haven’t sorted out your food provider for the festive period – or maybe you’ve been let down at the last minute – help is at hand from Booker Wholesale.

Admiral opens 200th Proper Pubs site

12-Dec-2023 By Gary Lloyd

Admiral Taverns has opened the 200th site in its Proper Pubs division in time for Christmas.

Like-for-like on-trade drinks sales volumes down

12-Dec-2023 By Gary Lloyd

On-trade drinks sales have fallen behind last year’s volumes but it would be difficult to beat last year’s biggest single day of sales when England competed in the football World Cup quarter final.

Ofgem proposals ‘needed for fairness’ says UKH

08-Dec-2023 By Amelie Maurice-Jones

UKHospitality (UKH) has backed Ofgem’s proposals to expand existing rules of standards of conduct to al businesses.

Brits set to spend £7.4bn on Christmas partying

07-Dec-2023 By Amelie Maurice-Jones

Brits are planning to spend three times more than last year on Christmas partying, new research has revealed.

Night czar: overseas salary plans ‘risk huge damage to sector’

06-Dec-2023 By Gary Lloyd

London night czar Amy Lamé fears plans to raise the minimum salary required for skilled overseas workers will hit the hospitality sector hard.

35.9m pints poured in first week of festive runup

05-Dec-2023 By Amelie Maurice-Jones

The festive season has well and truly commenced, with 35.9m pints being sold in the first week of the run up to Christmas according to new research.

Marston’s revenue rises 9%

05-Dec-2023 By Gary Lloyd

Marston’s pub company has reported a 9% uplift in revenue in its preliminary results for the 52 weeks ended 30 September 2023.

Drinks sales down but hopes up for strong Christmas

05-Dec-2023 By Amelie Maurice-Jones

On premise drinks sales were down by 5% year-on-year in the week to last Saturday (25 November)—but there are grounds for optimism as the run-up to Christmas begins.

M&B reports record market outperformance

01-Dec-2023 By Shwetali Sapte, MCA

Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) has reported financial results for the year ended 30 September 2023 (FY23), with like-for-like (lfl) sales growth of 9.1% against FY22.

Breweries pushed into insolvency due to rising interest rates

01-Dec-2023 By Rebecca Weller

Nearly as many craft breweries went out of business in the first half of 2023 as the whole of last year due to a surge in interest rates, data from Price Bailey has revealed.

Xmas rail strikes cast 'dark shadow' despite RMT deal

30-Nov-2023 By Rebecca Weller

Industrial action will cause a “dark shadow” over festive trade despite rail unions pay deal to end dispute ahead of next year’s Spring strikes.

Foodservice price inflation drops 20%

30-Nov-2023 By Amelie Maurice-Jones

Foodservice price inflation (FPI) decreased for the fifth consecutive month in October, the CGA Prestige Foodservice Price Index has revealed.

POLL: How much of an impact will the NLW rise have on your business?

29-Nov-2023 By Amelie Maurice-Jones

From April 2024, workers aged 21 and over will be eligible for NLW with the rate for that age bracket being £11.44, rising from its current level of £10.42.

Ex-England cricketers’ pub celebrates first anniversary

29-Nov-2023 By Amelie Maurice-Jones

Ex-England cricketer Harry Gurney feels “pretty ecstatic” as his pub surpasses trading expectations while rounding off its first year of opening.