Pub

Which is best, a tenancy or a lease?

29-Sep-2017 By Michelle Perrett

Your knowledge of the pub business and how much money you have to spend are key factors in deciding whether you come into the trade on a tenancy, lease or a freehold. It is crucial to get it right first time

Good Pub Guide 2018: the Kings Head Inn is pub of the year

06-Sep-2017 By Michelle Perrett

The Kings Head Inn, Bledington, Oxfordshire, has been unveiled as the Pub of the Year in the Good Pub Guide 2018.

Anger over Hungry Horse pub scrapping children's menus

05-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Customers have complained after a major refurbishment of their Hungry Horse pub left them without a children's menu.

My Pub: Hare & Hounds, Birmingham

05-Sep-2017 By Georgina Townshend

Around 10 years ago Adam Regan and his partners rescued the Hare & Hounds from disrepair. Since then, acts such as Ed Sheeran and Ellie Goulding have graced the pub – helping it to win Best Entertainment Pub at last year’s Great British Pub Awards....

Meet the GBPA nominees: Best Student Pub

22-Aug-2017 By Ed Bedington

Our next set of previews for the finalists in this year’s John Smith’s Great British Pub Awards are the nominees in the Best Student Pub category. 

Name of the game: evolution of pub entertainment

17-Aug-2017 By Georgina Townshend

Once upon a time, not so long ago, all pubs needed to do to entertain their punters was have a dartboard, a pool table and perhaps a fruit machine tucked away in the corner with some ballads playing in the background.

Meet the GBPA nominees: Best Partnership Pub sponsored by Ei Group

11-Aug-2017 By Ed Bedington

The last in our second set of previews of each of the 100+ finalists in this year’s John Smith’s Great British Pub Awards is the Best Partnership Pub category, sponsored by Ei Group

Great British Beer Festival

What licensees want from CAMRA

09-Aug-2017 By James Beeson

Campaigning to further reduce beer duty and improving education around cellar management are just two things pub landlords want to see the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) do more of in the future.  

Meet the GBPA nominees: Best Freehouse

07-Aug-2017 By Ed Bedington

Our round-up of the finalists in this year’s John Smith’s Great British Pub Awards is back. Today we are taking a look at the nominees in the Best Freehouse category. 

Meet the GBPA nominees: Best Entertainment Pub

31-Jul-2017 By Ed Bedington

Next in our previews of each of the 100+ finalists in this year’s John Smith’s Great British Pub Awards is the Best Entertainment Pub category.

'Oldest community-owned' pub celebrates 20th anniversary

28-Jun-2017 By Fred A'Court

What is believed to be the longest running community-owned pub in the UK celebrates its 20th anniversary on Saturday (1 July).

Exclusive

How pub staff saved customers’ lives in London Bridge terror attack

04-Jun-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Staff and customers at Borough Market pub the Wheatsheaf came face to face with the terrorists who inflicted havoc in the area after barricading themselves in the venue moments before the attackers were gunned down by police.

More than 150 pubs open doors for Pint of Science festival

17-May-2017 By Georgina Townshend

Selected pubs across the UK have taken part in a three-day festival that embraces a “time-honoured tradition” of dissecting complex topics over a pint.

Pub success: Stepping up a gear

22-Mar-2017 By Liam Coleman

You’ve realised the dream and have the keys to your own pub. Now that you have your foot in the door, it’s time to think about how you can make the most of the site.

Pub success: Starting out

09-Mar-2017 By Liam Coleman

Owning a pub is the aspirational dream for a significant minority of people who regularly soak up the atmosphere in a pub. But just what do you need to know about the trade before starting out and what challenges lie ahead for first-time operators?

Are ACVs an asset to the pub trade?

06-Feb-2017 By Liam Coleman

With the law around assets of community value set to be reviewed. Here’s what the industry needs to do to make the legislation of real value to pubs.

How pubs got serious about British cooking

01-Feb-2017 By Daniel Woolfson

Gastropubs occupy a unique space in the eating-out sector, largely free of the hyperbole of the city-focused restaurant scene, but offering some of best food in the country.

My pub: The Hare, Milton-under-Wychwood, Oxfordshire

27-Jan-2017 By Phil Mellows

Sue Gray (now Hawkins) shot to pub industry fame – and fortune - with her second pub, Bar Humbug. She continues to rescue failing pubs and develop them into thriving businesses. Here, she talks about her latest, the Hare at Milton-Under-Wychwood in the...

Property

How to save a pub - The story of the Duke of Marlborough

06-Dec-2016 By Liam Coleman

In December 2014, the last pub in the Suffolk village of Somersham closed its doors. Less than two years later, the pub has been bought by the local community and is on the verge of reopening. Here’s the story of the Duke of Marlborough.

My Pub

My Pub: the Plume of Feathers

05-Dec-2016 By Ed Bedington

Richard Slingsby joined forces with Bob the Builder and Men Behaving Badly actor Neil Morrissey to launch the With Neil Morrissey Pub Company. Here, Slingby explains why their first venue, the Plume of Feathers, presses all the right buttons as a community...

Other Operators

Operator celebrates 50 ‘remarkable years’ in pub

24-Nov-2016 By Sara Hussein

An operator has celebrated 50 ‘remarkable’ years at his pub by charging customers 10p for a pint of beer — the price of a pint in 1966 when the site was first purchased. 

Staycations

'Staycations': Why British holidaymakers are choosing to stay in a pub

23-Nov-2016 By Helen Gilbert

British holidaymakers are abandoning overseas travel in favour of ‘staycations’, which spells good news for pubs. 

Charity

Pub is the Hub plea for donations

18-Nov-2016 By Michelle Perrett

Pub is The Hub is appealing for donations for its Community Services Fund and has launched a new online donation facility for the scheme.

The Dyke closure

Licensee has 'never ever seen' ACV campaigners at his pub

12-Oct-2016 By Oli Gross

The licensee of a pub that ‘closed overnight’ and was turned into a furniture shop has defended his decision to shut the site, after campaigners submitted an ACV application.

In association with Makro

Freshen-up profits with produce

10-Oct-2016 By Nicholas Robinson

When Jonathan Thomson and Richard Phillips took the reins at former Punch pub the Chequers, they knew a food offer would be vital for business to grow

MA Property

How to avoid a dilapidations disaster

22-Sep-2016 By Kevin Marsh, director of licensed leisure at Savills

A dilapidations bill can be a crippling expense at the end of a tenancy. Can that expense be avoided by something as simple as keeping the pub in a good state of repair?

National Pub of the Year

CAMRA names top 16 regional winners in search for Pub of the Year

21-Sep-2016 By Oli Gross

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has named its top 16 pubs in the country as part of its search for the National Pub of the Year.

MA Sport

Wrestling, sailing and NFL: Embracing the sporting alternatives

06-Sep-2016 By Liam Coleman

You’ve paid the big bucks to have sport from both BT and Sky in the pub; you’ve got a state-of-the-art AV system; and a selection of TVs just waiting to beam high-definition coverage to the punters. Yet the reality is that outside of the Premier League...

Professional services

Never mind the paperwork, here's the way to get back to running the pub

25-Aug-2016 By Fiona McLelland

As a pub owner, you want to get on with what you do best... running your pub. You don’t want to worry about paperwork and licensing laws, or struggling to keep on top of the books. We take a look at how professional service providers can help take the...

Admiral Taverns

Licensee to quit pub after 33 years over lack of trade

04-Aug-2016 By Nikkie Sutton

A licensee in Oxfordshire is walking away from his pub after 33 years due to a lack of trade and too many pubs in the village.

Interior Design

Five important things to consider when refurbishing your pub

02-Aug-2016 By Sara Hussein

The design of a pub is a method in which the business can draw customers in: its location, indoor and outdoor space, as well as décor, can all contribute to that important first impression. 

'Every pub does it': Pub loses licence after 8am lock-ins

29-Jul-2016 By Oli Gross

A distraught publican's licence has been revoked by the local council after a string of late-night lock-ins at the pub.

Planning

Carlton Tavern demolition: 'Let this be a lesson' to developers

22-Jul-2016 By Oli Gross

The battle to rebuild the Carlton Tavern has not been won yet, but the latest order to rebuild the pub brick by brick should act as a deterrent for developers looking to 'abuse' the system, according to the director of planning at Westminster...

My Pub

My Pub: The Salutation Inn, Ham, Gloucestershire

14-Jul-2016 By Emily Sutherland

Pete Tiley, who runs CAMRA National Pub of the Year 2014 award winner the Salutation Inn, talks about importance of wet-led pubs and how he went from London-based data analyst to rural Gloucestershire licensee.

Digital Feature

Small is beautiful – the quiet rise of the micropub

12-Jul-2016 By Jamie Hailstone

Several years ago micropubs were seen as a growing trend, but is this still the case? The Morning Advertiser reports.

Opinion

Pete Brown: Not every failing pub is the fault of 'evil pubcos'

16-Jun-2016 By Pete Brown

Offering an ‘unbiased view’ can sometimes make those on each side of the debate assume you favour the opposition. Pete Brown tells us more.

PR tips on a shoestring budget

10-Jun-2016 By Emily Sutherland

Creating a buzz around their businesses can seem like an uphill battle for small or single-site operators without the big marketing budgets enjoyed by larger pub companies. But entrepreneurial licensees have proved you don't have to spend big to...

Innovation

BII's Anthony Pender: Why I opened a pub without a bar

02-Jun-2016 By Anthony Pender

Co-owner of Yummy Pub Co and BII Chairman Anthony Pender talks about the need for constant innovation in the pub sector.

Summer of Sport

My Pub: Creating an award-winning sports offer

04-May-2016 By Oli Gross

Philip Cutter, licensee of freehouse the Gardeners Arms, better known to its regulars as the Murderers, tells the Publican’s Morning Advertiser about the pub’s award-winning sports offer.

The Big Interview: FLVA president Michelle Dwan

28-Apr-2016 By Emily Sutherland

Pubs run in the family — her grandmother and her parents were all licensees — so despite a brief time managing hotels, Federation of Licensed Victuallers president Michelle Dwan quickly found herself back behind the bar.

Mintel research

More than half of Brits went to pub in January

21-Apr-2016 By Chris Wisson

The Publican’s Morning Advertiser has partnered with market analysts Mintel to provide insight from its new leisure tracker, which covers consumers’ pub visiting habits. Senior analyst Chris Wisson examines the latest findings.

Pubs

Battle to save pub rumoured to be inspiration for Eastenders' Queen Victoria

04-Apr-2016 By Emily Sutherland

An East London licensee battling to buy his pub says he is ‘hopeful’ of success after raising £60,000 in under three weeks.

Why Jason Atherton's sommelier is opening a community-owned pub

08-Mar-2016 By Ben Winstanley

In part two of our look at community-owned pubs, Ben Winstanley gets the lowdown on one such outlet and why the owners have chosen now to hand the lease to former Jason Atherton sommelier, Boris Poliakov

Running a pub in association with Star Pubs & Bars and Punch

Pub Success: Part 1 - Starting out in the pub trade

03-Mar-2016 By PMA

Starting out as a newcomer to the pub trade can be a challenge. In the first of this three-part series, the Publican’s Morning Advertiser (PMA) talks to a selection of pub operators at the start of their pub career journey.

‘Death threats’ force pub to remove foie gras from menu

11-Feb-2016 By Daniel Woolfson

A pub was forced to remove foie gras from its Valentine's Day menu after it claimed staff were threatened by 'vegan activists'.

Health and safety

Wetherspoon apologises after customer claims 'a rat ran up my trouser leg and stole a chip'

03-Feb-2016 By Emily Sutherland

Wetherspoon has apologised to customers at its Albany Palace branch in Trowbridge after a diner complained that 'a rat ran up his trouser leg and took a chip out of his hand'.

What’s next for vegetarian food in pubs?

22-Jan-2016 By Nicholas Robinson

More people are considering meat-free dishes when they eat out and want to see more choice on the menu. Michelle Perrett unearths a potential new order

Christmas Rules

Pub creates Christmas rules: "Do not read if you are easily offended"

24-Dec-2015 By Oli Gross

A pub has created a list of rules for the customers who are 'ruining' pubs at Christmas.

Mintel's Chris Wisson on how multiple site operators can boost footfall and spend

04-Dec-2015 By Emily Sutherland

What can operators do to boost spend?

Licensing restrictions

'We're ruined'...Are councils too quick to restrict opening hours?

02-Dec-2015 By Oli Gross

Restrictions to a pub’s opening hours can have huge consequences - shutting early to appease neighbours can devastate takings, and restricting garden hours can be off-putting for smokers or customers hoping to sit outside. But do councils strike a fair...