{"id":4655,"date":"2024-07-30T10:11:43","date_gmt":"2024-07-30T10:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=4655"},"modified":"2025-05-21T08:22:13","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T08:22:13","slug":"trade-news-july-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2024\/07\/30\/trade-news-july-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Trade News &#8211; July 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Antic pubs administration<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pubs operated by the Antic Collective are not owned by Antic themselves but by a series of separate limited companies. On 12 July, four of these companies, Elflock, Babel Silk, Brocade and De Gremio, were placed into administration. Between them they own the freeholds or leaseholds of 13 of the 23 pubs that Antic operate across London. They are:-<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Antelope, Tooting<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Balham Bowls Club, Balham<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Clapton Hart, Clapton<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Coopers, Crystal Palace<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dogstar, Brixton<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>East Dulwich Tavern<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Elephant and Castle <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Graveney &amp; Meadow, Tooting<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Gremio de Brixton, Brixton<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hagen &amp; Hyde, Balham<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Red Lion, Leytonstone<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tooting Tram and Social, Tooting<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sun, Camberwell<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Babel Silk also own three sites which are currently closed. The Propel Newsletter reported that some of the pubs had still not fully recovered from the effects of the pandemic and that both Elfcock and Brocade had recently been served with winding up petitions by creditors. Antic was previously funded by the private equity firm Downing but, apparently, this arrangement has ended although there is no suggestion that this played any part in the companies failing. The administrators regard the pubs as \u2018going concerns\u2019 and are placing them on the market, describing them as \u2018representing a fantastic opportunity for investors and trade purchasers alike\u2019. Most importantly, the pubs will continue to trade in the meantime. Watch this space\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Marston\u2019s sell up<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Readers will recall that, back in 2020, Marston\u2019s (which, to be precise, was just the trading name of Wolverhampton &amp; Dudley Breweries) and Carlsberg UK came to an arrangement whereby both companies\u2019 breweries would be vested in a new, independent company called Carlsberg Marston\u2019s Brewing Company (CMBC), which they would own jointly (60% Carlsberg and 40% Marston\u2019s). This left Marston\u2019s to operate simply as a pub company, although there was a long term supply agreement put in place for CMBC to brew and supply Marston\u2019s with what had previously been their beers. It was reported at the time that Marston\u2019s had debts of \u00a31.39 billion. The deal was, in due course, approved by the Competition and Markets Authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Marston\u2019s have now decided to sell their share in CMBC to Carlsberg UK for \u00a3206m. The sale was described as a disposal of Marston\u2019s \u2018non-core brewing assets\u2019, although my understanding is that, whichever brewery site was used, all beers have been brewed by CMBC since 2020. This latest deal is simply the sale of Marston\u2019s shareholding in CMBC. All the same, whether in actuality or spiritually, the deal marks the end of 150 years of brewing heritage, which started with Banks\u2019s in 1875. Moreover, control of these breweries and brands now passes fully to a multinational brewer. This provoked a lot of reaction, with a number of commentators deploring the event. It could be argued however that the real damage has long since been done with the closure of the Jennings, Eagle, Wychwood and Ringwood breweries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Carlsberg UK are also in the process of acquiring the soft drinks maker Britvic and it is understood that all of their UK operations will shortly be consolidated into one company called Carlsberg Britvic (CB), which, for them, is logical. There is already serious concern about their \u2018Fresh Beer\u2019 concept, which CAMRA continues to question, and this must now extend to CB\u2019s commitment to cask-conditioned beer generally, although the supply agreement with Marston\u2019s remains in place. CMBC have also been brewing Draught Bass under licence for AB InBev and the beer\u2019s many devotees are similarly apprehensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Fuller\u2019s sell pubs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the end of May, Fuller\u2019s announced that they were selling 37 wet led pubs to Chester based Admiral Taverns. Most of them are in Hampshire and Sussex and appear mostly to be pubs which Fuller\u2019s acquired when they took over Gales Brewery in 2006. The price was quoted as \u00a318.3 million. It brings Admiral\u2019s portfolio to 1,420 mainly \u2018community\u2019 pubs. Only four of the pubs are in London. They are the <a href=\"https:\/\/www1.camra.org.uk\/pubs\/cocoanut-kingston-179748\">Cocoanut<\/a> in Kingston-Upon-Thames, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www1.camra.org.uk\/pubs\/little-windsor-sutton-141444\">Little Windsor<\/a> in Sutton, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www1.camra.org.uk\/pubs\/royal-standard-croydon-141586\">Royal Standard<\/a> in Croydon  and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www1.camra.org.uk\/pubs\/six-bells-brentford-121720\">Six Bells<\/a> in Brentford. I have already seen a Facebook post praising the change of beer range at the Royal Standard. The deal reflects what the respective companies want from their pubs.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image-14.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4656\" srcset=\"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image-14.png 800w, https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image-14-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image-14-768x576.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Chris Jowsey, CEO of Admiral Taverns commented: \u201cI\u2019m delighted to welcome our new licensees to the Admiral team, and we\u2019re excited by the opportunity to develop these pubs in partnership together. Recent years have seen Admiral build a strong track record in delivering profitable growth across our estate, underpinned by continuous targeted investment to unlock new opportunities, supporting community pubs to thrive. These 37 pubs are an excellent acquisition for our business, increasing our reach in the South-East of the UK.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He continued &#8220;As 2024 Community Pub Operator of the Year, we look forward to working with licensees to develop their brand range and consumer offer to people in their local neighbourhood. Our focus on helping licensees to maximise the revenue potential of their pub will help them to build their business, whilst providing a vibrant social amenity for their community. Together, we look forward to growing the profitability of these pubs and ensuring they continue to develop as successful small businesses.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wetherspoon\u2019s news<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I pick up on a lot of articles about beer and pubs from local papers up and down the country. I find it odd that many seem to be obsessed with JDW\u2019s closure of pubs. What makes it worse is that they rarely mention that the pubs in question have reopened under different operators, let alone that JDW themselves are opening new pubs. On that subject, the Lion &amp; Unicorn at Waterloo Station, next to the large BrewDog outlet, will be opening soon. I\u2019m also pleased to report that JDW have received both planning permission and a premises licence to convert the original entrance to Fulham Broadway Underground station into a pub. Given that the site is Grade II listed, the conversion works will however take some time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not for the first time, JDW have found themselves in an odd situation. A pub in Abergele, Denbighshire, decided to call itself \u2018Wetherspoons Ltd\u2019 even though it has no link to the company. This version of the name had, it seems, not previously been registered at Companies House and so the publican took his opportunity. The lawyers are now involved\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Kicking off<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The new football season will be on us shortly. Shepherd Neame have increased the number of \u2018pouring rights\u2019 arrangements that they have with football clubs and now supply beer to newly-promoted Bromley, Gillingham, Millwall and Leyton Orient. There is an interesting story attached to the arrangement with the \u2018Os\u2019 which I shall report on in the next edition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sheps also continue to support local charities, with the Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS) becoming their Charity of the Year for 2024\/25. They raised \u00a330,000 for their previous charity of the year which was FareShare, who collect food that would otherwise go to waste and redistribute it for social good. FareShare have connections with the Felix Project and, in April, ten Sheps employees helped out at Felix\u2019s depot in Poplar for a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Up early<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To celebrate the Summer Solstice on 20 June this year, Adnams arranged a special tour of the iconic Southwold lighthouse. The only problem was that, to appreciate this special sunrise, the tour started at 4.15am!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Antic pubs administration Pubs operated by the Antic Collective are not owned by Antic themselves but by a series of separate limited companies. On 12 July, four of these companies,&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4656,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4655"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4657,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4655\/revisions\/4657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}