{"id":631,"date":"2019-11-21T01:43:17","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T01:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=631"},"modified":"2019-11-21T01:43:18","modified_gmt":"2019-11-21T01:43:18","slug":"trade-news-november-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2019\/11\/21\/trade-news-november-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Trade News – November 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

GREENE KING SOLD <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

T<\/strong>he result of the shareholders\u2019 vote on the \u00a32.7 billion take-over\nwas announced on 9 October. Not surprisingly, given the 50% increase in the\nshare price when the deal was first proposed, 99.4% voted in favour. My guess\nis that the remaining 0.6% was the CAMRA Members\u2019 Investment Club. There\nappears to be no scope for intervention by the regulatory authorities. GK has\nnow been delisted from the London Stock Exchange. Curiously, GK have decided to\nrejoin the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) with chief executive Nick\nMackenzie immediately joining the BBPA\u2019s board. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Pub Group, Toby\nPerkins MP, told the Daily Telegraph <\/em>that he will request a meeting with CK Asset to \u2018scrutinise their\nplans\u2019. He said, \u201cIf there is any sense that\nthis is an asset strip rather than a business looking to expand Greene King\u2019s\nestate, then we would put considerable pressure on local authorities not to allow\nthese assets to be sold<\/em>.\u201d It\u2019s a\nnoble sentiment but I\u2019m not quite sure how a local authority could stop a sale.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first issue facing the new owners is a possible strike\nfollowing the Unite union calling a ballot after rejecting a 2% pay increase and\ndescribing the company\u2019s approach to pay negotiations as \u2018insulting\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, efforts are being made to improve the quality of GK\nIPA. According to the Morning Advertiser<\/em>, the amount of hops in the whirlpool has been doubled to make the\nbeer more robust. Significantly, service quality is also being addressed, with\na new cool storage depot to keep casks chilled until delivery, enhanced\ntraining and a new cellar management system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ADMIRAL TAVERNS EXPAND <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I<\/strong> mentioned in the last edition that Admiral Taverns were favourites to acquire 150 pubs from Heineken\u2019s Star Pubs & Bars. This has been completed. Ben Wilkinson, CAMRA\u2019s National Director responsible for pub campaigning, commented, \u201cFar too often, we see large, regulated pub companies offload unwanted sites to property companies or retail businesses with little interest in their long term future. So it is good to see in this case an operator with experience of the tenanted model emerging as buyer \u2013 and crucially, that the tenants of these pubs will continue to have the legal protections of the Pubs Code. It is heartening to see Admiral\u2019s initial commitment to integrate these pubs into their estate and their welcoming words to their incoming licensees.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Admiral subsequently acquired a further 137 pubs from Marston\u2019s\nfor a reported \u00a345 million, bringing their estate to over 1,000. They are\nhowever expected to sell on some pubs from both tranches, not necessarily as\ngoing concerns. None of the 137 Marston\u2019s pubs are in Greater London. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MARSTON\u2019S CONTINUE TO SELL <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

T<\/strong>he Marston\u2019s sale is understood to be part of their programme to\nreduce their debt by \u00a3200 million over the next four years. Expect more sales.\nMarston\u2019s chief executive, Ralph Findlay, reported in City AM<\/em>, said, \u201cWe are encouraged by the level of market interest that this\nportfolio of pubs has attracted. This further underpins our confidence in\nachieving the accelerated \u00a370 million disposal proceeds target that we have set\nourselves for the current year<\/em>.\u201d The company currently owns 1,537 pubs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In passing, it is interesting to note that Star Pubs & Bars\nhave disposed of well over 200 pubs this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

STONEGATE\/EI DEAL UNDER INVESTIGATION <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

T<\/strong>he Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating the\nplanned takeover of the Ei Group by Stonegate Pub Company. This follows the\nEuropean Commission\u2019s decision to refer the case to the United Kingdom\nunder Article 4(4) of the EC Merger Regulations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

FULLER\u2019S (PUBS) NEWS <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

F<\/strong>uller\u2019s have bought the Trinity next to Borough Station. It is\nunderstood that they will take over when the current lease expires. It is\ncurrently operated by Parched Pubs, whom I don\u2019t recall mentioning before. They\nstill have four well known south London\npubs on their books. The Mason\u2019s Arms near Battersea Park Station has now\nreopened after a refurbishment and, according to the press release, is painted\na \u2018stand-out shade of turquoise\u2019. Fuller\u2019s have treated themselves to an early\nChristmas present in the form of Cotswold Inns & Hotels Ltd for around \u00a340\nmillion. To quote the press release, \u2018the acquisition comprises a collection of\nseven high quality, freehold country inns and hotels and eight freehold staff\ncottages in the Cotswolds, together with two vibrant leasehold bars in\nBirmingham\u2019s city centre\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG\u2019S NEWS <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

T<\/strong>o celebrate their 188th birthday, Young\u2019s gave away free pints of\n\u2018Original\u2019 on 19 and 20 September at selected pubs, so long as you downloaded\ntheir \u2018app\u2019. The celebrations also included appearances by horse drawn drays.\nThe event also saw the introduction of two new beers: Cityscape, a 4.2% ABV\ngolden ale and Head On, also 4.2% ABV, described as an Indian Pale Lager. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were rumours when it closed in March that Young\u2019s had sold\nthe Waterman\u2019s Arms in Water Lane,\n Richmond. Happily, this is not\nso. They were carrying out works to the building to improve its layout. The\npub, which is believed to date back to at least 1660 and was rebuilt in 1898,\nis scheduled to reopen around the time that we go to print. As previewed in the\nlast edition, the Ram Inn in Wandsworth has now reopened. See the Pub News\ncolumn for more information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PUBS OF DISTINCTION SELL UP <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

T<\/strong>he company have decided to leave the pub business and have put\ntheir three free-of-tie pubs up for sale. The pubs in question are the Dean\nSwift (ex Bricklayers) near Tower Bridge, the Old Red Cow near Smithfield Market and\nthe Constitution in Camden.\nChristies are marketing the pubs as a job lot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CHANGES AT SHEPHERD NEAME <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>iles Templeman is retiring as chairman of Faversham based brewers and\npub operators Shepherd Neame after 15 years. He will stand down after the\ncompany\u2019s 2020 AGM. He will be replaced by Richard Oldfield who, in turn, will\nbe replaced as a non-executive director by Kevin Georgel who is the chief\nexecutive designate of St Austell Brewery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shep\u2019s seasonal beer for\nDecember will be Rudolph\u2019s Reward, a \u2018Festive Light Ale\u2019 at 4.5% ABV. It is\nbrewed with Target and East Kent Golding hops, pale and crystal malts and is\nflavoured with mulling spices added at the end of the brew. They are also\nselling their Christmas Ale (7% ABV) in limited edition 500ml bottles in a presentation\npack decorated with vintage, Dickensian-style labelling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MITCHELLS & BUTLER <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

M <\/strong>&B have reported that like-for-like sales increased by 3.6% during\nthe 51 weeks ended 21 September. According to the Evening\nStandard<\/em>, reflecting on the Greene King\ndeal, M&B, which operates some 1,800 pubs including the All Bar One and\nToby Carvery chains, is seen as a takeover target. M&B also own the\nHarvester chain and it is understood that real ale is being discontinued in\nsmaller outlets where sales are not sufficient to guarantee quality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

RAM TAM GOES DARK <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A<\/strong>nother name change. Timothy Taylors have announced that Ram Tam will\nhenceforth be known as Landlord Dark. It has long been rumoured to be Landlord\nwith added caramel so perhaps the new name is more accurate, if not so\nromantic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compiled by Tony Hedger<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GREENE KING SOLD The result of the shareholders\u2019 vote on the \u00a32.7 billion take-over was announced on 9 October. Not surprisingly, given the 50% increase in the share price when… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-631","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\/631","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=631"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":633,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631\/revisions\/633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}