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Pubco News PUBMASTER Have bought 1,200 pubs from troubled Normura International`s inn Partnership,formerly the UK`S largest pub group, for £523m.This gives Pubmaster a total of 3,200 pubs. in association with venture capitalists Cinven,Legal&General, and Morgan Stanley, have purchased 4,189 pubs from Nomura for£2bn. These formed the backboneof Nomura`s Unique and Voyager tenanted pub chains. Enterprise are now vying with Punch as the UK`S Largest pub owning group.This affects a number of pubs in our area, including Good Beer Guide listed pubs. REGENT INNS Are to sell most of their non-branded pubs so that they can concentrate on thier Walkabout Australian theme pubs,PALs late night sophisticated bars and Bar Risa/Jongleurs comedy clubs. WETHERSPOONS Are hoping to open another 80 new pubs during 2002, taking their pub estate past 600 mark. Increasing short-term debt has led to further speculation in the City that Scottis & Newcastle will be selling thier remaining 1,450 pubs and concentrating on brewing and other interests. RADIO-CONTROLLED KEGS Scottish Courage have sold their entire fleet of 1.9 million beer kegs to a US-based firm, Trenstar, for £47 million. The contract also includes an outsourcing arrangement for Trenstar to provide a keg monitoring and logistics service to Scottish Courage for 15 years using radio-monitoring technology to track shelf-life,location and keg levels in pubs. Trenstar is also in negotiation with severl other major UK&European brewers to establish an industry wide,centralised beer keg pool to save money on storage, transport and inventory management. BAR STAFF TO WEAR EARMUFFS? Danish Euro MP Helle Thorning Schmidt has put forward a proposal to the European Parliament which would make the wearing of earmuffs compulsory for all who work behind bars in pubs and clubs. Just how customers will be able to order drinks, she does not explain.Mrs. Thorning-Schmidt, the daughter-in-law of EC vice president Neil Kinnock the former Labour leader, has also proposed reducing the maximum noise level at which earmuffs must be worn in any workplace from the curreny 90 decibels to 83 decibels. She also advocates a total ban on any noise above 87 decibels in any work or public place. This level is easily reached in many bars. Mark Hastings of the British Beer & pub Association saud "Not since the Puritans has anyone tried to ban music and dancing in this way.Evan playing in an orchestra or singing in a choir could fall foul of her regulation." The first vote on her proposals was due to take place in March. If it`s passed we`ll all just have to brush up on sign language before ordering drinks at the bar. Back To Issue Thirteen Back To Inn Touch |
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