Charles Wells to invest €3m in France estate: Bedford-based brewer and retailer Charles Wells has announced it will invest €3m a year during the next three years into growing its French estate of managed pubs. The news follows a hugely successful World Cup trading period in France – which saw an 83% uplift on the same sales period last year – with 176,000 pints sold over the month, including 20,180 pints on the day of the final, which France won. Charles Wells France currently has a portfolio of 13 managed pubs, having grown steadily since 1997. The first pub was The Bombardier in Paris and has since spread to further locations in Paris as well as Bordeaux, Toulouse, Montpellier, Lyon and Lille. The most recent launch was The Jolly Sailor on the quayside in La Rochelle, which opened in June. The 200 square metre site can host 164 covers and is staffed by a team of 20. The next investment will be the fourth Charles Wells pub in Bordeaux, which is set to open in the autumn. The business plans to open three pubs a year. Each venue is different but boasts a “real taste of England” by offering a quintessentially English pub experience. The pubs serve a wide range of traditional draught and bottled beer and cider, with 90% exported from the UK, including Charles Wells’ John Bull and Charlie Wells Triple Hopped IPA and Dry Hopped lager. The food menu is a very British affair featuring dishes such as fish and chips, and sausage and mash. There are British staff in most of the pubs. Chief executive Justin Phillimore said: “We are proud of the portfolio of Charles Wells pubs we’ve built in France, each one has its own personality but captures the traditional English pub atmosphere perfectly. Our local customers love our distinctive beer range and the comfortable pub atmosphere, where there is always something going on whether our bilingual quiz nights, themed parties or karaoke. The concept is a big success in France and the fact our customers chose an English pub to watch and celebrate French success at the World Cup is testament to that.”

Camerons unveils Tooth & Claw concept: Camerons Brewery has unveiled details of the latest development at its historic Lion Brewery site. The north east brewer has installed a nano-brewery and bar within the main brewery site to develop a range of new beers using various staff across the brewer’s 500-plus workforce. The nano-brewery, which has capacity to brew 70 litre runs, has been named Tooth & Claw Brewing and currently has 30 members of staff involved. Tooth & Claw is a collective of Camerons employees dedicated to producing a range of innovative beer styles. Made up of passionate craft beer fans and brewing experts, the team has creative freedom to produce a selection of beers. Using the small pilot brewery the aim is to brew more than 40 different styles a year. A selection of the best will be scaled up in 16 hectolitre brews and sold as limited edition runs in bottle shops and pubs, predominately in the north east. For the logo, the team used the north east coastline as inspiration. The shape of the lion’s head is based on the outline of the coast in Hartlepool, where the brewery is located. Chris Deakin, director of brewing operations at Camerons, said: “One of the first things I noticed on joining Camerons was the commitment and passion of the people, with plenty of enthusiastic craft beer aficionados to boot, so I decided to give them a place to create. We installed a 70-litre nano-brewery using kit from Ss Brewtech. From there, the development team was born with volunteers from different areas of the main brewery involved with creating beers. Within the space of a few weeks we’ve created a brewery and some awesome new beers. I’ve always worked on the basis you give people the opportunity, the freedom to decide, autonomy and belief, and great stuff happens.” The first two beers that have gone into production have been Gyle #002 Peach Cream Pale, which was developed by lab technician Matthew Coates, and Gyle #004 Breakfast Stout, which was created by development brewer Simon Whittington. Both beers have been packaged in keg and bottle and will be sold across the Head of Steam pub group and independent bottle shops across the north east.

Women’s Entrepreneur Conference five weeks away: Propel has partnered with Elliotts chief executive Ann Elliott to launch the sector’s first conference featuring an all-female line-up of company leaders. The event, which is open for bookings, takes place on Tuesday, 4 September at One Moorgate Place, London. Speakers will be Wahaca founder Thomasina Miers (“How to ascertain if your business idea is genius or madness”); Mowgli founder Nisha Katona (“From barrister to bunny chow: why risk it all for restaurants?”); Sophie Bathgate, of Sophie’s Steakhouse (“What I would do differently next time”); Artizian founder Alison Frith (“How to market a startup”); Cheshire Cat Pubs & Bars founder Mary Mclaughlin (“Growing an idea from startup to sustainable”); Eve Bugler, founder of BabaBoom (“How to keep the joy when it’s all on your shoulders”); Jane O’Riordan, founder of The Dynamo (“The importance of patience”); Sally Jackson, owner of The Pink Pig Farm (“The ten hardest lessons I’ve learned”); Christine Winton, of Siam Eatery(“Can you have work-life balance when you start a business?”); Vanessa Hall, co-founder of Jack & Alice (“The importance of staying true to your values when you start and expand your business”); and Laura Harper-Hinton, co-founder of Caravan (“Why people are key to your success”). The event will also see an award given to the Wireless Social Female Entrepreneur of the Year. Elliott said: “Female entrepreneurs are making an enormous contribution to the hospitality sector – but we need even more of them. The conference is intended as a showcase of some of the sector’s best female entrepreneurs and to encourage even more of them to take the plunge.” Propel managing director Paul Charity added: “If our sector is to truly serve its market, we need more companies led by women at senior levels. We hope companies send their brightest female talent to the conference to pick up inspiration and develop their entrepreneurial talent. We also believe it’s a great opportunity for male colleagues to gain insights into female entrepreneurial skills.” Tickets are £195 plus VAT for Propel Premium subscribers, £245 plus VAT for operators and £395 plus VAT for suppliers and can be booked by emailing anne.steele@propelinfo.com or calling her on 01444 817691.