WHAT’S IN A NAME (AGAIN)?
Young’s, who still have the rights to their beer brands despite not brewing them, announced in early August that Bitter will henceforth be called ‘London Original’. Given that it is not brewed in London and isn’t original, this is lost on me. I am a member of South West London branch, Young’s traditional heartland, and the change has not gone down well. As my branch chairman, Mark Bravery, observes, this appears to be more evidence of the edging out of ‘bitter’ as a beer name. Special now becomes ‘London Special’.
Curiously, at the Great British Beer Festival, a banner appeared saying ‘Fuller’s London Pride – the Original Original’. I don’t understand that either, although I’ll admit to taking one of the t-shirts that they were handing out.
Following its purchase earlier this year, Young’s have reopened the Manor Arms in Streatham after an ‘extensive refurbishment’.
BEER IS STILL BEST
Apparently 2 August was International Beer Day. As part of the publicity for it, data analysts CGA issued a survey, as reported in the Morning Advertiser, saying that beer still represents 48% of drink sales in Britain. This is despite sales of cask beer having fallen by nearly 10% over the last year. This is balanced out by craft beer sales rising by over 20% over the last two years. It would be interesting to know what definitions they used. Still, it means that the brewing industry is doing well.
HEINEKEN PUB SALE
According to a report in the Evening Standard (27 August), Admiral Taverns are the most likely buyers of the 150 pubs which Heineken put up for sale in July. The price is reported to be around £60 million. The deal would give Admiral an estate of over 800 pubs.
FULLER’S NEWS
Fuller’s were in a strong financial position when they sold their brewing operation. For the year ended 30 March, sales increased by 4.9% in their managed pubs and hotels and 1% in the tenanted estate. The company’s overall revenue increased by 7% to £431.1 million although profits are likely to remain the same as last year. Interestingly, they are putting more pubs out to tenancy which, according to Chairman Michael Turner, ‘remains an essential part of our business model’.
WETHERSPOON’S NEWS
At the end of July, year-to-date sales were up by 7.4%. According to the Morning Advertiser however, Chairman Tim Martin has decided that there will be no further openings in the current financial year. The year had already seen five openings and nine closures.
Mr Martin hit the headlines recently by announcing that the price of a pint was being reduced by 20p in all of its 879 pubs. It does however only apply to one beer, Greene King Ruddles Best, which will be available for between £1.39 and £2.89, depending where the pub is and which price band it is in. This arises from Mr Martin’s stance on leaving the European Union. Presumably he buys in Ruddles Best at a price that allows him to do this. I wonder what GK’s new owners will think.
JDW are however still investing in pubs. The Moon & Stars in Romford closed in August and is scheduled to reopen in November after a £1.1 million refurbishment which will see a complete interior redecoration and improved toilets. The main new feature however will be a roof garden. An additional 15 full and part time jobs will be created.
MARSTON’S TACKLE DEBT
In order to deal with their £200 million of net debt, Marston’s are proroguing their planned investment of £70 million in new-build pubs. Although sales are currently flat, the company believes that it can clear the remaining debt from income generated by its pub and brewing operations, meaning that the raising of £120 million from pub disposals as originally planned may not be necessary.
CITY PUB GROUP
Clive Watson’s company now has nearly 50 pubs, including 17 in London. He describes the company as ‘predominantly a wet-led operator, albeit one that serves good food’. As he told the Mail On-line, they ‘target cathedral cities where, in most cases, there is a large student population, lots of tourists coming along and lots of local businesses. But I don’t like to be on the high street, I never have done. We prefer to be in slightly off-pitch locations, though still near to the footfall. Slightly off the beaten path has a couple of advantages. Firstly, there are no extortionate rents, while it is also more difficult for a rival operator to set up shop next door’. The formula appears to work. Sales in 2018 rose 22% to £45.7 million with profits increasing 28% to £7.9 million and prospects for the current year also looking good. Given that the hospitality industry is notorious for the way staff are treated, CPG does not use zero hours contracts and all pub staff are on are on a weekly bonus scheme. There is an extra £1 an hour if the pub meets its target, rising to £1.50 if it is exceeded. As Mr Watson says, “At the end of the day, you can have the best pub in the world, in the best location with the best design, but if you don’t have the right staff, you’ll be found out eventually.”
LUNAR CYCLE
The Lunar Pub Company recently opened their first outlet, the Hunter’s Moon, on the Fulham Road between the Royal Marsden Hospital and that long lost favourite, the Queen’s Elm. The pub, which features ‘rustic-chic’ décor, is, as you might expect from the area, food-led. The company plans to open a further two sites over the next two years.
BARONS PUB COMPANY
This is another relatively new chain to look out for. They recently acquired two pubs, in Ripley and Woking, Surrey so now have ten up-market pubs out to the West of London. They hope to increase this to fifteen in five years or so.
ODDS AND ENDS
Camden Town Brewery have been appointed exclusive beer suppliers to Arsenal Football Club and their beer will be available at all three bars at the Emirates Stadium.
Shepherd Neame has reached a deal with Thailand’s Boon Rawd Brewery to become the sole UK distributor of Singha beer. The beer will continue to be imported. Shep’s will not be brewing it.
Compiled by Tony Hedger