Recently in Pubs Category

There's more trouble ahead for the pub trade, with enforcement activity on the up and, of course, further legislation in the offing.

Still, legislation takes a while to push through Parliament - even the flagship Policing and Crime Bill - so the Home Office has a bit of free-time on its hands.

So in a move about as welcome as a warm lager, officials have been running a series of free roadshows for council licensing officers to encourage more enforcement activity against pubs.

Councils themselves are particularly keen on enforcement activity, as due to the tough environment for pubs, variations and applications for new licences have tailed off and there's a revenue shortfall for many.

Still, you'd hope the police would rise above all this populist nonsense and apply some commonsense to the issue of problem drinking, taking a lead were politicians will not. Well, in a word, no.

Cyrus Todiwala was among the speakers at a Caterer round table debate on Scores on the Doors sponsored by P&G Professional and Fairy Expert - and you can read about it in the magazine this week.

The chef proprietor of London's Cafe Spice Namaste Indian restaurant was vociferous in his condemnation of the new programme proposed by the Food Standards Agency for highlighting cleanliness in the UK's hospitality outlets.

"How do you tell people what these stars mean?" asked Todiwala. "I went to a restaurant on Brick Lane once and a rat came into the kitchen. The chef's attitude was: 'It's not my rat, it came from next door.' It's the kitchens that feed the bulk of this country at 3am that we should worry about."

Nick Bish, chief executive of the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers, criticised the six-tier nature of the scheme, with more stars awarded the cleaner a property is deemed to be. "If I get on a plane, I expect it to be safe. I don't want to see some score suggesting how likely it is to crash."

James Arnold, UK business leader (sales and marketing) for P&G Professional added: "Only a tiny percentage will have interest in what the stars mean. If this is to educate the industry about what they should be doing in an ideal world then fine, but the public just want a red flag or a green flag, not three stars or five stars - they won't understand what they mean."

FSA defends Scores on the Doors decision >>

Six-tier Scores on the Doors plan labelled ridiculous >>

Fair play to Guy Ritchie. After realising that he couldn't live off two half-decent films forever, he got himself a pop star missus, stayed married for a few years and is now picking up a cool £50m-£60m in the divorce settlement.

And kind old Madonna is also letting Ritchie keep the Punch Bowl, the underwhelming Mayfair boozer he bought earlier this year.

The purchase of the pub became a rather bizarre story. Davis Coffer Lyons, the property agent, announced that Madonna had bought the pub, but this was swiftly denied by both Madonna herself, whose publicist described the story as "pure fiction", and the leaseholders, Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises

But it eventually emerged that Ritchie - and, by association, Madonna - did in fact own the pub and had paid around £2.5m for it.

Ritchie made the most of owning the pub with stories claiming he would throw out the regulars to have lock-ins with celebrity pals. He also celebrated his 40th birthday there in September.

And he'll still be able to drown his sorrows (and count his winnings) there.

Mo mo mo/How do you like it?/How do you like it?

Not much. In fact, you look like a gay Scandinavian biker. But if it's for charity then I guess it's okay.

Yes, the results for MOvember, the moustache growing charity event, held during November each year in aid of the Prostate Cancer Charity, are in. And they are terrifyingly good.

Well done to Geronimo Inns and London's Cavendish Hotel for growing their respective nasal caterpillars and raising £4000 and £3000 respectively.

Last week, London pub the Endurance was banned from allowing drinkers and smokers outside its premises from 6pm in the evening after losing a case against Westminster Council.

Kitchen Rat hears that the Soho-based pub faces a future of competing against its local rivals without the appeal of outdoor drinking thanks to the complaints of just three residents, with one in particular making an almighty fuss.

The resident in question - who presumably was not forced to live in Soho - mounted a vocal campaign against the pub because of the noise its customers were making outside.

It has emerged that she also complained about the market stall traders of nearby Berwick Street shouting phrases such as "strawberries, £1 a punnet" and "get your bananas here". How terribly inconvenient it is for market folk to try and make a living in the heart of London and not believe that they are in a private, gated, community in Surrey.

The Blue Post pub, on the other side of the road to the Endurance, is yet to receive a complaint and its punters can drink outside to their hearts content. Presumably customers at the Blue Post only speak outside in whispers or are all proficient in sign language. At least they are not trying to drink and sell strawberries at the same time.

As the UK's largest pub operator, there is always plenty going on at Punch Taverns and so to keep us journos and other industry watchers abreast of all the news, the company helpfully sends out a weekly e-mail, known as the Grapevine.

In last week's edition, we learnt that the Green Man in London is installing an ATM machine, in a project dubbed 'Hole in the Wall' (catchy). Meanwhile, in the managed division, Spirit, the Wheatstone Inn in Gloucester was re-opening while the Half Moon in Worksop was hosting a charity talent contest.

All good stuff, no doubt, but for some reason, the e-mail did not carry the rather bigger news that the head of the Spirit division, Andrew Knight, left the business rather abruptly (or so it seemed) last Monday, and was replaced by former Whitbread heavyweight Mike Tye

The rumour mill kicked into overdrive as whispers began that Knight had not exactly been preparing for life after Punch - in fact Caterer spent the day with Knight last month discussing his plans for the future of its managed houses.

One wonders if Knight was pondering the words of the late, great Marvin Gaye. "It took me by surprise I must say, when I found out yesterday, I heard it through the grapevine."

The fall-out from Glasgow Rangers loss in the UEFA Cup final continues as stories emerge from operators about how they dealt with thousands of drunken Scots descending on Manchester.

By all accounts the pubs in the town centre had a quiet afternoon, as by lunchtime the fans of the Teddy Bears had drank the bars dry. An alternative source of booze had to be found so the canny Ger's hit the city's casual dining outlets in a rush for bottled beers.

It has emerged that Cafe Rouge Manchester gave up on selling French fare and emptied its cellars of booze by 3pm, forcing the restaurant to close, the staff to go home and the Rangers fans to turn to Tesco's for their drink.

The Scots being Scots though left a few bottles of the Moutard Rosé Champagne behind. It might have been their first UEFA Cup final appearance since winning the trophy in 1972 but there is no reason to spend that much money.

Rangers win gives HIT Scotland a rosey glow

Poor Alastair Darling, embattled chancellor of the exchequer.Hated by the pub industry after his merciless hike in alcohol duty in this year's Budget the man is even barred from his local, Punch Taverns owned Red Lion as a result.

As the UK economy splutters and Bank of England head Melvyn King hums "There may be trouble ahead" in his ear, it seems everyone's happy to have a laugh at his expense.

Kitchen Rat was more willing to raise a glass to JD Wetherspoon's latest advertising campaign the budget beer purveyor is promoting Abbot's Ale for a wallet friendly £2.39, along with a range of other keenly priced tipples under the poster headline - you've guessed it - "Move Over Darling".

It's enough to make a man furrow his (strangely dark) brow.

Punch Taverns gives chancellor knockout blow>>

Government fails to disclose beer tax motives>>

Punch Taverns, The UK’s largest pub group, is refreshingly optimistic about the near and long-term future for the trade.

However in its half year results last week the company pulled, well, no punches when it came to Chancellor of the Exchequer Alastair Darling.

Attacking the chancellor’s decision to hike alcohol duty in the Budget, the company said it was “disappointed” by events and, reading between the lines, felt it a kick in the teeth given the industry’s efforts to lobby the Government.

Punch has signed up to the Morning Advertiser's campaign to bar Darling from UK pubs until he sees sense and Nigel Turpin, corporate affairs director at the pub company, revealed they may have even more impact than most.

It turns out the chancellor's local, literally down the road from 11 Downing Street, is the Punch owned Red Lion.

Turpin, who described Darling’s tax increases as unjustified, said while his staff were ready to give Darling a frosty welcome if he dared to stick his head in, it hadn’t got to the stage of having a “barred” photo of the chancellor hanging behind the bar just yet.

Well, with eyebrows like Darling’s there’s no need to raise the stakes to a hair-raising level, we presume.

Punch predicts a pick up in trade in the summer>>

Pubs may pass on wine price rises>>

Pub industry furious over rise in alcohol duty>>

Never short on ambition, he once tried to buy Wolverhamton & Dudley, Robert Breare has had a couple of recent triumphs and is unlikely to be visiting a loan shark anytime soon.

First there was the sale last year of Bank to the Individual Restaurant Company for £32m – he was and remains chairman - and last month the news he had entered into a joint venture with property magnate Sir John Ritblat to develop his Merchant Inns concept.

However Kitchen Rat hears this particular industry mover and shaker hasn’t always been so flush.

A London restaurateur recounted recently a tale of meeting Breare at Surrey’s award-winning Westerly to discuss the sale to him of his restaurant group.

However, Breare was late and when he did finally arrive he rushed in clearly flustered. “He asked me if I had £20 to pay the taxi driver as he hadn’t been near a cash machine,” recounted the source.

Being a gent, and keen to keep an interested buyer on side no doubt, the restaurateur in question put his hand in his pocket and found the required readies without further delay.

Sadly, Breare never did buy his group and – no doubt it simply slipped his mind being busy and all – the restaurateur has never seen his 20 quid again.

Merchant Inns in talks to secure £150m extra funding>>