Monday 12/10/15
Propelinfonews.com: Veeno opens fifth site, eyes 80: Veeno has opened its fifth site, this time located in Nottingham’s Middle Pavement – the business launched in Manchester in 2013. As well as wine, cocktails and Italian beers, there is a food menu with platters of Italian meats, cheeses and breads and desserts. The company plans to expand to 80 sites in the next four years. Led by Nino Caruso and Andrea Zecchino, it has venues in Manchester, Leeds, York and Liverpool. Veeno wants to roll-out the concept to at least ten major cities in 2016 – including Bristol, Birmingham and Edinburgh – and expand to a total of 80 by 2019. Zecchino told the Manchester Evening News last month: “We have worked hard in the past months to create an organisation that can support the growth into the future.”
Propelinfonews.com: Wetherspoon set for St Ives approval: JD Wetherspoon is set to get the go-ahead for its new pub in St Ives, Cambridgeshire – despite objections from local councillors and residents. Huntingdonshire District Council’s development management panel is being recommended to approve the plan to convert the former Warehouse Clearance shop in Market Hill. St Ives Town Council has come out against the scheme and 56 out of 67 representations received by the district council opposed the pub. There were concerns that the conversion would lead to the loss of a major retail unit, that a large pub chain was not needed in the town and that there were already too many pubs.
Propelinfonews.com: Nottingham shop owner opens Japanese street food cafe: Nottingham shop owner Yan Liu ha opened a Japanese street food cafe called All Things Sweet next to his supermarket in Hockley. The venue sits side by side with Yan’s other business, the Oriental Mart supermarket in Heathcoat Street. Part of the shop has been converted to create a mini kitchen where customers can order from a menu of a dozen dishes, without a sushi roll in sight. It’s fast, tasty and cheap with prices ranging from £1.25 to £3.25. Liu said: “Japanese food is very meticulous but the ingredients are very simple. I’ve always had an interest for cooking and wanted to express my ideas through a small pop-up cafe. All this menu is homemade. I want to let people know that Japanese food isn’t just about sushi. There are so many different types of food in Japan using simple, healthy ingredients.”
Tuesday 13/10/15
Propelinfonews.com: Nottingham Brewery expands with two new sites: Nottingham Brewery, based in Radford, is now running the Ned Ludd in Friar Lane and will be reopening the refurbished Bricklayer’s Arms in Ruddington this week – renamed the Frame Breakers in tribute to the area’s Luddite heritage. Operations director Andy Heath, said: “The new name brings to mind the activities of the Luddites and their legendary leader, Ned Ludd, which obviously ties in with our city centre venue. The Frame Breakers name also pays homage to the world-renowned Framework Knitters Museum in Ruddington – setting the scene for the strong links we’d like to create between both pubs, the village and the museum.” The Ned Ludd has now reopened with a selection of Nottingham Brewery “craft” and cask ales behind the bar, including the popular Rock, Legend and EPA brews. The Frame Breakers is expected to reopen at 5pm tomorrow (Wednesday, 14 October) with a brighter interior and a range of Nottingham Brewery products, including seven hand-pulled ales. Benjamin Zuchold, the pub’s general manager, said: “The Frame Breakers will offer something a little different to other pubs in Ruddington. We’re putting in a cider wall with five draught ciders on tap and will be stocking a range of spirits from local companies.”
Morning Advertiser: Brewing giants AB InBev and SABMiller agree takeover terms
By James Wallin, M&C Allegra, 13-Oct-2015
The board of SABMiller has accepted a £68bn takeover bid by AB InBev. Read More
Wednesday 14/10/15
Propelinfonews.com: East Anglian-based Grain Brewery opens third pub: East Anglian-based Grain Brewery has launched its third pub – and its first site in Suffolk. The brewery, which is located near Alburgh on the Suffolk/Norfolk border, has reopened The Spread Eagle in Ipswich, which closed in March when former landlady Sheryl Meshirer decided to move to New York. The pub in Fore Street offers real ale and craft beer and is being run by Lou Weeden, who was previously at The Plough in Norwich – one of the two pubs in the city the brewery already owns. Geoff Wright, who established the brewery alongside Phil Halls in 2006, told the Ipswich Star: “We knew we wanted to get a new pub and Ipswich was an obvious choice – it’s really developing quickly in the town and close to the brewery. We are going to spend the next five years investing in the building for the future. We are really proud of British pubs and East Anglian pubs, and it concerned me when pubs started shutting down quickly, so we are trying to put a modern pub with the tradition and heritage, that’s the ethos.”
Morningadvertiser: Illegal broadcaster fined £4k as Sky visits 700 pubs a week
By Oli Gross, 13-Oct-2015
A licensee has been fined £4,481 for airing Sky Sports without a license as pubs are reminded they face unlimited fines for broadcasting. Read More
Thursday 15/10/15
Propelinfonews.com: JD Wetherspoon eyes Lutterworth police station conversion: JD Wetherspoon has submitted plans to convert the former town police station in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, (population: 9,353) to a pub. The building is located at the corner of Gilmorton Road and Leicester Road and holds grade II-listed status. The complex it is part of was constructed back in 1843 and housed both the magistrates’ court and police station at one time. Karen Pritchard, heritage and design consultant, stated in her impact assessment: “This is a vacant site within the town centre and conservation area, that has lost its original use. The proposal is to alter the use and to bring all the buildings back into one coherent function for the public to enjoy.” Harborough District Council’s planning committee will make a final decision about the proposal at a later date.
Greenwisebusiness.co.uk: UK SMEs are wasting over £82m on surplus energy, study finds: Small and medium-sized commercial office businesses in the UK are overspending by over £82 million per annum on their energy bills as a result of inefficient technology and old equipment, according to new analysis. The Energy Efficiency Financing (EEF) scheme, a joint initiative between the Carbon Trust and Siemens Financial, looked at the energy expenditure of selected key industries to estimate their annual energy overspend. It concluded potential energy savings of over £414 million could be achieved per year by the UK’s service sector SMEs (of which over £82 million is represented by small and medium-sized commercial office businesses), were they to invest in more energy-efficient equipment. The findings are based on proprietary data and official sources and looked at each sector’s use of lighting, heating and hot water, cooling and ventilation, and other areas of energy consumption. Read More
Propelinfonews.com: Greene King lines up new-build Hungry Horse pub in Ely: Greene King is lining up a new-build Hungry Horse pub/restaurant in Ely, Cambridgeshire. The company has applied to East Cambridgeshire District Council for a premises licence for a site being built at the new £16m Ely Leisure Village in Downham Road. It is asking for permission to sell alcohol every day between 10am and midnight. The scheme, being developed by Turnstone Estates includes a number of restaurants including The Restaurant Group brand Frankie & Benny’s, McDonald’s and KFC as well as a Cineworld cinema. A Turnstone Estates spokesman told the Ely News: “We are making great progress in the lettings for the Ely Leisure Village. We will be able to make a full announcement soon confirming which restaurants will be coming to the city.”
Morningadvertiser: Living wage will cause “difficult staffing decisions”
By Oli Gross, 14-Oct-2015
Many pubs will have to make tough decisions concerning staffing and jobs because of escalating pay levels and the introduction of the new national living wage (NLW). Read More
Friday 16/10/15
Propelinfonews.com: £315,000 crowdfunding campaign to save Suffolk pub passes 50% mark: A £315,000 campaign on crowdfunding platform Crowdfunder to save the Duke of Marlborough pub in Somersham, Suffolk, has passed the 50% mark. So far, 152 investors have pledged £167,320, with 30 days left. The campaign aims to sell more than £300,000 worth of shares in order to buy, reopen and run the pub as a “community and great food pub”. Campaign leader Sarah Caston said: “This is great news. But we still need all the support we can get to reopen the doors of this jewel in Suffolk’s crown! We’re convinced it will be a success, so now is the time for people to take action. All you have to do is go on the www.savetheduke.net website or www.crowdfunder.co.uk website and make your pledge. It takes just a few minutes – and will make all the difference.” The Duke of Marlborough closed ten months ago when its owners retired. According to the Plunkett Foundation, 35 of the 52,000 pubs in Britain are co-operative pubs.
Propelinfonews.com: Adnams opens new Cellar & Kitchen store in Bury St Edmunds: Suffolk-based brewer and retailer Adnams has opened a new Cellar & Kitchen store in Bury St Edmunds. The company has opened the venue in a historic building in Cornhill and it is the second outlet to include a cafe. The store sells Adnams’ beers, wines and spirits alongside kitchenware and gifts. Adnams retail head Neil Griffin told Off Licence News: “Bury St Edmunds was a natural choice for us when we set about opening a new store in the west of the county. We’re really excited to be here and it is an area we have earmarked for a long time. Located in the heart of the bustling market town, there is a great array of independent shops, as well as high street chains, nearby. The new store will offer everything you would expect from an Adnams shop, with the addition of a cafe, which serves local produce, simply prepared along with recommended drinks pairings.” Adnams now has 12 Cellar & Kitchen stores in Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex and Lincolnshire.