Cambcuisine wins Good Pub Guide Pub of the Year: Cambcuisine, the company owned by former Scottish & Newcastle business development manager Oliver Thain and chef Richard Bradley, has won the coveted Good Pub Guide 2013 award for Pub of the Year for their first ever pub – The Cock in Hemingford Grey, Cambridgeshire. The pair has gone on to open four more sites since opening The Cock in 2001– their most recent opening is the The Tickell Arms, Whittlesford, five miles south of Cambridge. They also operate The Boathouse in Eley, and two Chop House restaurants in Cambridge and an outside catering arm, The Cambridge Dining Company. Of The Cock, Thain said: “People often say it is like walking into a second home. We try and offer consistency and a friendly service. Above all we try very hard and work very hard.” Meanwhile, the Good Pub Guide has reported that licensees are more upbeat about their prospects as increasing numbers of people go to their local rather than a restaurant for a meal. Co-editor Fiona Stapley said: “Most strikingly, the mood among publicans themselves is changing. Although it is extremely hard work, for the first time in over ten years most landlords and landladies have been more upbeat. People are choosing to spend weekends away in country pubs and customers like to eat out in pubs as opposed to restaurants because the atmosphere is more informal - and the food is just as good, if not better.” The Guide’s authors said they received fewer complaints about service in pubs, adding that in their anonymous inspections they found an “unfailingly good” welcome. The price of a pint varied from £3.50 in London and £3.00 in the Midlands and the north to £2.56 in Staffordshire, according to the guide.

British Liver Trust – minimum price per unit of alcohol should be 65p: The chief executive of the British Liver Trust Andrew Langford has argued that 65p is a more realistic per unit minimum price for alcohol. Langford, who points out that the average age of someone dying from alcohol-related liver disease is now 59 and decreasing, said: “Along with others, we’re asking for a minimum of 50p per unit, and if I’m really honest, for the British Liver Trust that’s incredibly conservative. We think to have a true impact it would need to be far more in the region of 65p, but because of the stranglehold the industry has that really would be pie-in-the-sky at the moment.”

Greene King reports like-for-likes up 5.1 per cent: Greene King has reported managed division like-for-like sales up 5.1 per cent after 18 weeks to 2 September, “despite the poor weather this summer”. The company stated: “The Olympics had a minimal net impact on the overall retail performance. In London, the City and the West End were generally quiet while in the suburbs, including Realpubs and Capital Pub Company sites, trading was noticeably stronger.” Like-for-like food sales growth was 5.2 per cent, drink sales growth was 5.0 per cent and like-for-like room sales growth was 4.9 per cent. In the Pub Partners tenanted division, average EBITDA per pub was up 3.5 per cent, while like-for-like EBITDA in the core estate was down 0.5 per cent. The company added: “We believe underlying trading trends across the business have been maintained through the summer, despite the disappointing weather. This is encouraging for the rest of the year, although we expect consumer confidence to remain subdued. However, we remain confident that our retail growth strategy, combined with our focus on delivering excellent value, service and quality to our customers, will continue to deliver earnings and dividend growth for our shareholders.”

Spirit managed division beats the weather to post 4.1 per cent like-for-likes; £500m drop in estate valuation: Managed operator Spirit Pub Company has reported like-for-like sales growth of 4.1 per cent in its fourth quarter, the 12 weeks up to 18 August. Its leased division, however, saw like-for-like income down by 5.4 per cent as performance was affected by re-basing of rents on the fifth anniversary of sites being converted to leased. An open market valuation of the estate has seen its value drop by £500m to £1.3bn. Chief executive Mike Tye, said: “We have finished the year strongly despite challenging trading conditions created by the poor summer weather and the disruption caused by the Olympic Games. Our managed estate performance remains significantly ahead of the market and we continue to implement measures in our leased estate to improve performance. Whilst the consumer environment remains tough, we continue to perform in line with expectations and are making good progress towards realising the full potential of our business.”

Collyer – M&B restructure needs to provide stability and quickly: Deutsche Bank leisure analyst Geof Collyer has argued that the current restructuring of Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) “needs to provide the company with stability and quickly”. He said: “The dramatic upheaval at M&B may well in time prove to be just what the group needed, but the changes are still a work-in-progress and are yet to come through in improved operating numbers. We have seen many retail businesses stumble and without top level hands-on management, operational performance can fall apart, even for the strongest business model. Whilst we do not see the M&B business falling apart, we have seen the group slip from the top tier of operating performance, so the restructuring needs to provide some stability and quickly. One would imagine having a permanent chief executive was a prerequisite to recruiting new people or encouraging existing talent to stay.” Collyer also argued that M&B still has scope to take market share despite being the UK’s largest operator. He said: “The eating out market is huge and very fragmented - around £70bn a year of revenues and a competitive set of around 250,000 outlets. We estimate that at least 75 per cent of M&B’s total sales are driven by the desire to eat out. M&B is the largest player in the UK eating out market, with sales over 40 per cent higher than McDonald’s, the number two player, and its EBITA is around 60 per cent greater, yet we also estimate that its overall market share is just 2.5 per cent, based on our 2012 forecasts and ONS data, so the group has huge scope to take share from less well capitalised players whether the overall market stalls or not.”

Bel & the Dragon owner looking for up to ten sites: Longshot, the operator of the four-strong Bel & the Dragon estate, is looking to acquire up to ten sites in the next two to three years. Owner Joel Cadbury told The Financial Times: “In the country, if the food and wine are good, people will drive miles to get there without blinking. But you do need rooms as well.” Cadbury said the company is looking for another six to ten “run-down sites” to invest in over the next two to three years.

New frozen yoghurt brand launches in Richmond: An entrepreneur who owns an independent frozen yoghurt company has chosen to open his first outlet in Richmond. Ismail Ahmed has opened the The Farmery in Richmond High Street. The product, which is 95 calories per small portion, is made from milk sourced from a Welsh farm and Ahmed said it was a healthier alternative to ice cream. He added: “We really liked the idea of having a guilt-free treat. We wanted to create a product that was all natural.”

Whitbread unveils new finance director: Whitbread has unveiled Nicholas Cadbury as its new group finance director. He will succeed Christopher Rogers who has become managing director of Costa Coffee. Cadbury will become a member of the Whitbread PLC Board and will join the company on a date to be announced in due course. Cadbury is currently chief financial officer of Premier Farnell, which he joined in 2011. Previously, he was at Dixons Retail in a variety of management roles, including chief financial officer from 2008 - 2011.

US “breastaurant” trend comes to Durham: The US “breastaurant” trend, which tends to feature scantily-clad all female waiting staff, has come to Durham with the opening of Boxers Sports Bar. The bar has an all-female waitressing team who wear short tennis skirts and sports bras and after 7pm the barmen strip down to boxing shorts. It has been opened by Joel Bond, who converted a 3,000 square foot Japanese restaurant, spending £100,000 on a refurbishment. The bar serves US diner-style food and Bond hopes to open more venues in the north east in the coming 12 months.

Papa John’s offer franchisee incentives: US pizza restaurant franchisor Papa John’s is offering time-limited incentives for franchises who commit to open sites. The package of incentives is available to franchisees who sign agreements for new units between now and 30 November, 2013. Rewards include waiving the $25,000 franchise fee, a royalty waiver for up to the first 18 months, a $3,000 credit with the company’s PJ Food Service purchasing co-op, and $50,000 worth of equipment, including two pizza ovens that can be purchased for $50 after three years.

City Pub Company hits planning snag in Henley: City Pub Company, led by Clive Watson and David Bruce, has hit a small planning hurdle in relation to turn the old police station into a pub with a micro-brewery. The 2,700 square foot pub would offer a mixture of traditional and contemporary styles with a seated booth in a former cell and a semi-visible kitchen. The brewery would be behind a glass wall to create a focal point with a production target of more than 2,000 pints a week. However, Henley Town Council voted by seven votes to two to turn it down. South Oxfordshire District Council will have the final say, with the town council’s vote only advisory. 

Krispy Kreme to open 50th site in Gateshead on Thursday: Krispy Kreme is to open its 50th UK site in Gateshead this Thursday (6 September) at the MetrOasis development. The company, which aims to open three more stores before the end of the year, aims to double its UK estate in the next three years. The company has also hired Alison Reeves as its new customer insights and communications manager.

Costa Coffee seeks sixth outlet in Purley: Independent traders in Purley have accused Costa Coffee of “taking over and killing” Purley's shopping district – as it is set to open its sixth outlet in the town. Traders say five outlets – three of which have opened within the last few months – are already too many. The move to open a sixth has led some to dub the town the “Costa Del Purley”. James Zhang owner of Café Nino who saw business plummet two-thirds when Costa opened opposite his shop, said: “They are taking over and killing trade. Someone needs to stop them.”

Business partners take on third pub: Ben Saweyer and Nick Rotgans have taken over their third pub, The Half Moon at Cuxham. The pair also run The Dew Drop in Hurley and The Sun in Bethnal Green and have joined forces with chef Simon Bonwick for the latest site. Sawyer said: “I have a record of going into pubs that have had a chequered history. When we opened The Sun we were the 17th tenants in two years. We want to create food of a very high standard and service of an equally high standard while keeping the pub very warm and friendly. We want people to feel just as welcome coming in for a pint by the fire as sitting down for a three-course meal.” 

Controversial nightclub owner goes into administration: The company, Coral Inns, that owns the controversial Rain nightclub in Belfast, has been placed into administration. The nightclub has caused controversy by withdrawing from a voluntary agreement among city centre pubs and clubs to close at 2am.

D&D Restaurants opens first hotel: D&D Restaurants, founded by Sir Terence Conran, has opened its first hotel – the 80-bedroom South Place located between Moorgate and Liverpool Street. Dining options include 3 South Place, an all-day British diner on the ground floor, and The Angler seafood restaurant - set to open on 17 September - on the seventh floor. Overseeing food is executive chef Tony Fleming who was previously at One Aldwych.

Prezzo to open 20th Chimichanga in Amersham: Prezzo is converting a Café Uno site on Amersham’s Broadway to its Chimichanga Mexican brand. Chief executive Jonathan Kaye said: “I’m confident that people will be impressed with the transformation of the building and that the restaurant will prove popular with people of all ages.” Last week, Propel Info reported that Prezzo is open a Chimichanga in New Brighton’s Marine Point. Meanwhile, the former Prezzo on Warwick High Street is to be converted to an independent new bar and restaurant called High Pavement. The venue, which is undergoing a £500,000 refurbishment, will open at the end of this month.

Faversham could be home to UK’s oldest and youngest breweries: Faversham in Kent could soon be home to Britain's newest brewer as well as its oldest. Mad Cat Brewery is hoping to transform empty cold stores at Brogdale Farm, home of the National Fruit Collections, into a micro-brewery, selling beer onsite and supplying pubs in north Kent. Shepherd Neame lays claim to being the UK’s oldest brewery, which was established more than 300 years ago in 1698.

Award-winning Brighton café to open second site: Café Coho, the award-winning Brighton coffee shop, is to open a second venue in the city. The concept, awarded the “Brighton’s best-loved café” gong in a local competition, is opening on Queens Road on Friday 14 September. The first site, opened two years ago, is on Ship Street in Brighton’s South Lanes.

Collyer – JD Wetherspoon faces two challenges: Deutsche Bank leisure analyst Geof Collyer has argued that Wetherspoon faces two challenges - margin maintenance and linking sales growth to profit growth. Collyer said: “As a prelude to renegotiating all of its debt in 2010, Wetherspoon had managed to stabilise its up-until-then highly volatile operating margins. Having got them to ten per cent, management’s view was that there was no reason why the group should have any first half-second half volatility in its margin. Unfortunately, the stability only seems to have lasted for that first year. Over the past decade, we estimate that the group’s purchasing skills and changing mix have managed to improve the gross margin by just over 100 basis points, so it is the actions below this line that have caused the pain. Over this period, Wetherspoon has struggled not just with movement in the annual operating margin but also with the intra year margin. Sometimes this will be a timing issue: beer excise duty goes up in its third quarter; the UK National Minimum Wage goes up in October each year, which is the end of the group’s first quarter; or it has been the timing of new utility contracts that have also tended to kick in around the September/October time. But a lot of the variation has been the shifting patterns of marketing initiatives, which have been used to drive sales as the main weapon to cover costs pressures. In recent years, the group has reduced the annual swing on margins into a relatively narrower range, (from a historical perspective), but with cost pressures all round at the moment and volumes under pressure, the temptation to offset these with more aggressive marketing could increase volatility in both margins and hence cash flows and profits. Even though the group’s management tends to focus more on cash flows than accounting margins, investors and the banks that have financed the group do like to see some sense of stabilisation here.” Collyer also argued that Wetherspoon needs to re-establish the link between sales growth and profit improvement. “Despite JDW handpicking all of its sites, the trend over the past decade for its like-for-like profits does not look a good one, delivering declines in seven years out of the last nine, and with the 2012 financial year set to make it eight out of ten. This might imply that the average quality of pubs built has deteriorated. Cost pressures have impacted Wetherspoon harder than most of the other major managed pub estates, due to its greater operational gearing. We think that the group needs to try and re-establish the link between like-for-like sales growth and profits’ growth, which in turn should place less stress on the rollout programme as the primary driver for growth. Otherwise one could be forgiven for believing that increasing scale is required to offset costs that cannot be contained.”

Brakspear buys two pubs from Enterprise; reports pre-tax profit hit £2.6m: Henley-based Brakspear has bought two pubs from Enterprise Inns - The Star and Eagle in Goudhurst, Kent, a pub restaurant with letting rooms, and The William Bray, a contemporary bar and restaurant in the picturesque village of Shere, Surrey. Price is undisclosed but if it’s in line with the average value of Enterprise top-end disposals - £1.2m – then Brakspear will have paid around £2.4m. The two acquisitions mean Brakspear has bought five pubs this summer, bringing the total estate to 146 pubs. Meanwhile, Brakspear’s parent company JT Davies has reported a five per uplift in turnover to £15.3 million in the year ending 31 December 2011, helping operating profit to increase 14 per cent to £4.1m. Pre-tax profits grew to £2.6m from £1.67m in 2010. The figures reflect improved performance across the Brakspear estate thanks to significant investment in pub refurbishments and in bolstering support for tenants through a new mystery customer scheme and enhanced support from BDMs and from the marketing and finance functions at head office. Savings achieved through a streamlining of Brakspear’s management and head office functions were reinvested into pub improvements, and into the purchase of the new sites. Chief executive Tom Davies said: “2011 was a year of laying foundations for the growth that we are pushing forward this year. We believe we already have the best tenanted-only estate in the business and now we are bringing more great pubs with talented retailers into it through our acquisition programme. We’re looking forward to working with our new business partners and to strengthening the support we offer to them and to our existing estate, to ensure that all pubs trading under the Brakspear name deliver healthy returns to everyone involved.”

Butcombe Brewery reports improved turnover and profit: Butcombe Brewery, the brewer and retailer headed by Guy Newell, has reported turnover rose by just over £4m to £18,384,735 for the year to 28 February 2012 compared to £14,138,503 the year before. Pre-tax profit was £1,354,173 compared to £1,306,384 the year before. During the year, the company acquired the share capital of Butcombe Inns for £900,000 and the share capital of Triple Rock for £1,121,125. The two newly acquired operations added turnover of £2,427,345. Butcombe stated in Companies House accounts: “The company delivered an acceptable trading performance in extremely difficult economic conditions, increased brewery volumes and tight control of costs within our pubs resulted in improved profitability despite continued margin pressure.” Interim ordinary dividends of £160,815 were paid during the year.