{"id":780,"date":"2020-01-22T19:27:42","date_gmt":"2020-01-22T19:27:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=780"},"modified":"2020-01-22T19:27:43","modified_gmt":"2020-01-22T19:27:43","slug":"trade-news-jan-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2020\/01\/22\/trade-news-jan-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Trade news – Jan 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ADMIRAL PURCHASE FROM MARSTON\u2019S AGREED <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nacquisition of 137 pubs from Marston\u2019s for \u00a344.9 million has been agreed by the\nboard of Admiral Taverns. This takes their estate over the 1,000 mark. It is\nmade up of a mixture of tenanted, leased <\/em>and\nretail-agreement sites across England\nand Wales.\nThe Chief Executive of Admiral, Chris Jowsey told the Morning\nAdvertiser<\/em>, \u201cOn\nbehalf of the entire team here at Admiral, I am delighted to be able to\nofficially welcome our new licensees and colleagues into the business. We are\nfirm champions of the leased and tenanted model, and through this latest\nacquisition have been able to acquire an excellent portfolio of pubs, for which\nwe are confident we can unlock new growth opportunities through our award-winning\nand highly supportive approach. Our integration programme is well under way and\nwe look forward to developing these new working partnerships<\/em>.\u201d\nGiven what I report in our PCA Update (see page 28), I can imagine that the\ntenants involved will also be happy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

In\nthe 26 weeks ended 28 September, Fuller\u2019s saw revenue increase by 6% to \u00a3174.8\nmillion. Like for like sales in their managed sector grew 2.7% and by 3% for\ntenanted pubs. This indicates a potential profit of \u00a317.9 million and, of course,\nthey are sitting on their \u00a3164.5 million profit from the sale of the brewery\nand beer business. \u00a369 million has already been returned to shareholders. The\ntransition arrangement between Fuller\u2019s and Asahi should be completed in May\nand a long term supply contract has already been agreed. Chief Executive Simon\nEmeny commented, \u201cThe first half of this year has seen\nthe biggest transformation in Fuller\u2019s history. It has been a time of\nunprecedented change and not without its challenges but we have made good\nprogress and we have a clear view and plan for the next steps in our journey\nfrom vertically integrated brewer and retailer to focused premium pubs and\nhotels business<\/em>. There are plans for a second Parcel\nOffice, this time at Liverpool\n Street and, in the spring, the company will be\nleaving the Griffin Brewery for new offices elsewhere in Chiswick. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happily, the pub company is continuing\nwith its pub awards, the Griffin Trophy. The overall winner was the Half Moon\nin Herne Hill (10 Half Moon\n Lane, SE24 9HU). The\nwinning pub receives a \u00a35,000 holiday for the manager, a staff party and an\nengraved plaque, as well as the trophy itself for a year. The winner of the\n\u2018Best City\/London Pub\u2019 was the Victoria in\nPaddington (10A Strathearn Place, W2 2NH) while the \u2018Best Town\/Local Pub\u2019 was the Prince Albert (30\n Hampton Rd, TW2 5QB). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

GK\u2019s\nXX Mild makes the occasional appearance in London. Recently there were concerns that it\nwas being discontinued but at a recent meeting with CAMRA\u2019s representative, GK\ngave an assurance that they will continue to brew it. Its availability will\nhowever be \u2018demand led\u2019, so there will be times when it is not available. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2020 sees the 1,000th anniversary of\nthe founding of the Abbey of St Edmund by King Canute. It was the shrine of\nKing Edmund, the original Patron Saint of England and King of East Anglia who\nwas martyred by the Danes in 869. There will, quite rightly, be celebrations,\nof which GK is a major sponsor. One highlight will be a gathering of 500\nBenedictine abbots from all over the world and GK\u2019s plan is for them to be\nphotographed each drinking a pint of Abbot. The abbey fell into ruins after it\nwas dissolved by Henry VIII in 1539. St James\u2019s Church, dating from 1135, then\nbecame St Edmundsbury Cathedral. The celebrations will end on St Edmund\u2019s\nsaint\u2019s day, 20 November. For more information go to https:\/\/www.visit-burystedmunds.co.uk\/abbey-1000.\n<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the sublime to the well . . . See\nwhat you think. Just before Christmas, GK launched a new pale ale called Ice\nBreaker (4.5% ABV). According to GK, it is a \u2018refreshing, unfiltered pale ale\nbursting with fruity hop character which is triple hopped with Simcoe and Citra\nand it delivers waves of guava, passion fruit and citrus flavours\u2019. It is\navailable in keg and bottle. The reason that I mention it is the most\nextraordinary marketing stunt that GK used in the launch. They erected a five\nfoot high igloo outside the Anchor on Bankside. People were invited to actually\nuse it as accommodation overnight. It was equipped with sleeping bags, hand\nwarmers, scarves and gloves and could sleep two adults. Its most remarkable\nfeature however was that it was made of over 1,000 litres of Ice Breaker, so\nthe occupants could taste the beer by licking the walls. GK\u2019s managing\ndirector, Brewing & Brands, Matt Starbuck, commented, \u201cThis\nis the first ale igloo we\u2019ve launched to date, and if it\u2019s successful, we might\neven roll it out to our pubs up and down the country; it could be the ideal\novernight stay for people who don\u2019t fancy getting a taxi home at closing time<\/em>!\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HAWTHORN LEISURE <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parent\ncompany NewRiver has acquired Bravo Inns Limited for \u00a317.9 million. They have\ngiven the 44 wet-led pubs to their Hawthorn Leisure subsidiary to manage as a\nseparate entity. Most of the pubs involved are in north\n west England.\nHawthorn now has an estate of around 660 pubs, which is about a quarter of the\npubs that NewRiver owns in total. Income from the Hawthorn pubs for the six\nmonths to 30 September rose to \u00a313.6 million, a 27% increase on the previous\nyear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MARSTON\u2019S <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\nthe year ended 28 September, revenue grew by 2.9% to \u00a31.17 million but pre-tax\nprofits were predicted to fall by \u00a33 million to \u00a3101 million. This will not\nhelp the company\u2019s debt reduction programme, of which the above mentioned sale\nto Admiral was part. Chief executive Ralph Findlay told the Morning\nAdvertiser<\/em>, \u201cOur\nprincipal focus remains to reduce our net debt by \u00a3200 million by 2023 \u2013 or\nearlier \u2013 and the measures we are taking now will result in a high quality\nbusiness which is cash generative after dividends and capital expenditure<\/em>.\u201d\nCuriously, Marston\u2019s have received a boost from substantially increased sales\nin 2019 of Young\u2019s beer brands which they acquired when they purchased Charles\nWells\u2019 brewing operation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

I\u2019m pleased to report that following an incident when a customer who \u2018didn\u2019t appear to be disabled\u2019 was told off by staff for using its accessible toilet, JDW have decided to support the Not Every Disability is Visible <\/em>campaign being run by the charity Crohn\u2019s & Colitis UK. According to C&CUK, as reported in the Morning Advertiser, 43% of people suffering from Crohn\u2019s or Colitis said they felt prevented from going to pubs because they fear discrimination when trying to use the accessible toilets. JDW are installing new signs on their accessible toilets. Let\u2019s hope that other pub operators follow suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Tim Martin does not own the JDW chain outright (he holds 32% of\nthe shares) and before Christmas, he had some trouble with some other shareholders.\nHis position as executive chairman was challenged on the grounds of corporate\ngovernance. A shareholder advisory firm, Pirc, recommended that shareholders\nvote against because he had been in post too long, all of the 40 years of the\ncompany\u2019s existence to be exact, but the dispute might have had its origins in\nMr Martin\u2019s spending on \u2018Brexit\u2019 materials. He was re-elected with 98% of the\nvote. Mr Martin told the Morning\nAdvertiser <\/em>with characteristic\nbluntness, \u201cI think common sense\nprevailed. Pirc were trying to uphold an academic theory that says a nine-year\nlimit is best. But, excuse my language, it\u2019s b******s. Experience counts and is\nvery important. Whether you\u2019ve been on a board for 10 years or 40 years, if the\ncompany is doing well and you\u2019re doing your job then you shouldn\u2019t be asked to\nleave just because of how long you\u2019ve been on the board.<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company is set to grow. Investments totalling some \u00a3200\nmillion are planned for the next four years with new outlets opening in eight\nsmall towns and seven larger ones. Some of these will be in the Republic of Ireland and some will be hotels. No\ndoubt there will also be some closures. The company currently operates 875 pubs\nand 58 hotels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we went to press, it was reported in the Evening Standard <\/em>that JDW had obtained planning permission to turn a Grade\nII-listed site at 222 Strand (WC2R 1BA), described as \u2018the most elegant bank in\nLondon\u2019 into a pub. The property was built as a restaurant serving the Royal\nCourts of Justice, closing in 1886. It then became a Lloyds bank which closed\nin 2017. JDW will occupy the basement, ground and mezzanine floors while the\nupper floors will remain as legal offices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

The Green Man on Putney Heath (SW15 3NG) has closed for a\nrefurbishment until April. The works include building a rear extension and new\ntoilets. The Boathouse by the river at Putney is also being refurbished. Two\nother projects, Enderby House and the Spread Eagle, are mentioned in the Pub\nNews column. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

WADWORTH PLAN NEW BREWERY <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Welham, the Chief Executive of Wadworth & Co, says that\ntheir imposing redbrick Northgate brewery is, sadly, coming to the end of its\nuseful life. A new-build brewery is planned to replace the existing site, which\ndates from 1885. The project, which will take three to four years, is only at\nthe early planning stage and no new site has been identified yet. Wadworth will\nhowever stay in Wiltshire. Mr Welham told the Morning Advertiser <\/em>that the new plant will be more flexible than the existing brewery\nwhich will \u2018help the company meet changing market demands and secure the\nlong-term development of the company\u2019. Brewing will continue at Northgate in\nthe meantime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

KEEPING THE ROOF ON <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further to my comments about community pubs in the News & Views\ncolumn, one such, the King\u2019s Head (The Low House) in Laxfield, Suffolk (IP13 8DW) has\nbeen granted \u00a39,700 by the National Lottery Heritage Fund for badly-needed\nrepairs to its thatched roof. The pub, bought by the community from Adnams in\nMay 2018, dates from the 16th century. It is one of the country\u2019s few remaining\ntaprooms (there is no bar) and its interior, unchanged for around a century, is\nlisted by CAMRA as being of national importance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

STAR PERFORMERS <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2020 edition of the Michelin Guide lists 19 gastropubs that have\nbeen awarded Michelin stars. This is an increase of two on last year.\nSurprisingly, only one of these is in London:\nthe Harwood Arms in Fulham (Walham\n Grove, SW6 1QP).\nIt does serve cask ale although, understandably, the emphasis is on the food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

THAI-ED HOUSE? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the subject of food, the Rosa\u2019s Thai Caf\u00e9 chain, which has 14\noutlets in London, has commissioned a house beer, Rosa\u2019s Thai PA (4.6% ABV),\nfrom the Mad Cat Brewery in Faversham, Kent. The beer, which is vegan friendly,\nis brewed with lemongrass and lime imported from Thailand. It will make a change\nfrom the usual offerings such as Cobra or Tiger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

BREWDOG OPEN IN IRELAND\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BrewDog have opened their first outlet in Ireland, located in Dublin\u2019s south docklands area. It is a large\nred building with porthole-style windows resembling a ship, costing \u20ac1.6\nmillion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

REAL ALE WAY\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a micropub which opened in Hayes in July 2018. I missed it at the time. The same people have now opened a second outlet, this time in Westerham. Beers are usually sourced from Kent breweries, although there will be the odd guest. They also stock wines and gins from the Garden of England.
Compiled by Tony Hedger<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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