Inventive Leisure reports 30% profit rise at Revolution invested sites: Inventive Leisure is to increase the planned investment in its Revolution vodka bar estate from £7m to £10m after invested sites saw a 30% rise in profits. The pla … view

Simon French – M&B figures suggest like-for-like declines of 2.3% outside of the M25: Panmure Gordon leisure analyst Simon French has issued a “Sell” note on Mitchells & Butlers after this week’s full-year results, pointing out th … view

Punch reports 1.4% like-for-like net income boost in core estate: Punch Taverns has reported that first quarter trading for the 12 weeks to 9 November 2013 was positive with like-for-like net income in the core estate up 1.4%. Trading in … view

Casual dining operators told to look at engaging women with craft beer: Savvy casual dining operators may want to explore ways to engage women with craft beer, according to the American beverage industry newsletter Vibe. The newsletter ba … view

West Cornwall Pasty Company reports turnover down, losses widen: West Cornwall Pasty Company has reported it has been hit by the imposition of VAT on hot takeaway products. Turnover dropped to £21,334,280 in the 53 weeks ended 1 March th … view

M&B reports 0.4% like-for-like sales growth: Mitchells & Butlers has reported 0.4% like-for-like sales growth in the 52 weeks ended on 28 September. Profit before tax was £150m (FY 2012: £83m). Total sales grew 2.2% to £1,895m. Operati … view

Crowdcube claims 78% of UK crowd-funding market: Crowd-funding website Crowdcube has claimed to have captured 78% of the UK crowd-funding market, raising £16m of the £20m invested this way so far in the UK. A total of 23 of the 70 compa … view

Arran Brewery plans chain of craft beer bars as it launches crowd-funding push: The Arran Brewery has launched a crowd-funding initiative, aiming to raise £4m to upgrade its brewery on Arran, develop two new breweries on the mainland, a … view

JD Wetherspoon exchanges on first pub in Eire: Pub operator JD Wetherspoon has exchanged contracts to purchase its first pub in the Republic of Ireland. The Watford-based company has purchased The Tonic Bar in Temple Road, Carydfort Avenu … view

Lucky Voice signs deal with Luminar: Karaoke business Lucky Voice has signed a deal with nightclub operator Luminar to install the first Lucky Voice pod within its estate – at its Kingston nightclub Pryzm as part of a £1m re-launch of … view

Tim Martin – pub companies need to listen to their licensees: JD Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin has argued that major pub companies do not understand the threats to the sector as well as their licensees. In an article for Propel Opinion … view

Young’s report like-for-likes up 6% in first half: London pub operator Young’s has reported sales up 8% with 6% like-for-likes in the 26 weeks ended 30 September - like-for-likes have grown 4.6% in the first seven weeks of the company … view

Eight in ten hospitality operators use Twitter and Facebook: A survey by Propel Info in partnership with iTradeNetwork has found that more than eight out of ten hospitality operators use Twitter and Facebook to promote their businesses. T … view

Enterprise cuts business failures among its publicans by 21%; Tuppen reports “lot of opportunities” to be considered post retirement: Enterprise Inns has cut business failures among its publicans by 21%, from 734 in 2012 to 579 in 201 … view

Ted Tuppen farewell remarks – “I have a great team in place”: Enterprise chief executive Ted Tuppen has made his farewell remarks to City analysts, stressing his confidence in the current position of the company and his team. He tol … view

Pizza Rossa smashes crowd-funding target: Pizza Rossa, the start-up that aims to operate a chain of quick-service pizzerias, has smashed its crowd-funding target through Crowdcube, with £440,000 raised from 122 investors. The company had … view

Luke Johnson – profits at Gail’s Artisan Bakery have trebled and is set to make £6.5m profit this year: Sector investor Luke Johnson has reported that profits at Gail’s Artisan Bakery have trebled since his private equity firm, Ris … view

Spirit brews special beer for Taylor Walker chain: Spirit Pub Company has commissioned a special beer for its Taylor Walker chain of upmarket pubs which has links with the original Taylor Walker brewery. The beer, called 1730 Special Pale … view

Propel and Professor Christian Edger launch multi-site management masterclass: Propel has partnered Professor Christian Edger to launch an industry first – a multi-site management masterclass. A leading authority, Professor Edger is the … view

Gourmet Burger Kitchen reports profit increase: Gourmet Burger Kitchen, the better burger offer owned by Nando’s, has reported a 4.1% rise in turnover to £40,653,00 in the year to 24 February. The company achieved a 57.5% increase in p … view

City Pub reports profit ahead of £10m EIS fundraising: City Pub Company, the new EIS vehicle led by Clive Watson and David Bruce, has reported a jump in profit ahead of the next £10m round of fund-raising, due to be launched within a fo … view

Crowdcube – a third of our funded companies in food and drink sector: The crowd-funding website Crowdcube has raised £11m so far this year, with 23 of the 70 companies that have raised funding through Crowdcube, or one third, coming fr … view

Christie + Co releases list of Bramwell sites for sale: A list of 35 Bramwell Pub Company sites now on the market has been released by agent Christie & Co, with three-year turnover figures. The sites are: Gravity, High Cross Buildings, Hi … view

Marston’s chairman – ‘we are a chronically overtaxed sector’: Marston’s new chairman Roger Devlin has argued that the sector is chronically over-taxed. He told the Business in Sport and Leisure conference: “We are a chronicall … view

LT Pub Management partners iNTERTAIN in procurement review: The sector’s leading out-sourced management and back office services company, LT Pub Management, has partnered Walkabout operator iNTERTAIN to oversee the key early stages of i … view

Authors: Paul Charity, Martyn Cornell, Ann Elliott and Francis Patton/Guy Lincolnview

Orchid - Pizza Kitchen & Bar could be expanded to 800 sites; we’re staying independent: Orchid Pub Company’s Pizza Kitchen Bar concept, which has been described as a “genre-buster” for the way it combines a high quality pizza offe … view

Marco Pierre White – young people seem to have lost my generation’s work ethic: Chef-turned-entrepreneur Marco Pierre White has questioned whether young kitchen staff nowadays share his generation’s work ethic. He told Propel: “I … view

Burningnight Group seeks funding to expand – from the right partner: Burningnight Group, the operator of the three-strong Bierkeller multi-bar complex, is looking for funding to expand but wants to find the right “like-minded” fundi … view

Patisserie Valerie signs deal to open within Next shops: Patisserie Valerie has signed a deal to open within Next stores in a trial involving three sites. It is the first time that Patisserie Valerie has taken a concession within a retail … view

Tim Martin – scrapping personal licence system would be a mistake: JD Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin has voiced his opposition to the scrapping of a national system of personal licences as is proposed. Martin told Propel: “It does not … view

Jamie Rollo – the risk of a serious credit event at Enterprise Inns has disappeared: Morgan Stanley leisure analyst Jamie Rollo has argued that the threat of a serious credit event at Enterprise Inns has disappeared. He stated: “At Qu … view

Trade buyers and private equity mull Orchid acquisition: A range of private equity and trade buyers are mulling bids for Orchid Pub Company. The Sunday Times has this morning reported that Spirit Pub Company is among the trade buyers cons … view

LT Pub Management hired to run Bramwell: Industry sources report that LT Pub Management, the sector’s leading out-sourced management company, has been appointed by administrator Zolfo Cooper to run the Bramwell Pub Company after it was … view