Please see below our roundup of the weekend newspapers Dyson to step down at the end of the year Spirit chief executive Ian Dyson is expected to stand down by the end of the year. Dyson, 49, was brought in to run Punch Taverns in September 2010 and moved to demerge the leased and managed division, with Dyson himself taking the helm at the managed side. The former Marks & Spencers executive is thought to want to pursue a fresh challenge. Chief executive positions at Betfair and Thomas Cook are currently available in the leisure sector. Spirit deputy chief executive Mike Tye is expected to succeed Dyson. A former executive at Whitbread he joined the pub company in 2008 under Giles Thorley as managing director of the managed division. There have been question marks over how long Dyson would stay at the helm post-demerger, with speculation that there was a succession pact agreed with Tye. The Sunday Times M&C Report comment by group editor Paul Charity: Both Mike Tye and former colleague and boss of Punch leased Roger Whiteside applied for the chief executive position that was won by Ian Dyson. The company outsider was appointed with a particular brief to restructure the company. His chosen strategy allowed Whiteside to emerge as chief executive of a demerged Punch Taverns. Tye has been the architect of the renewed fortunes of the managed division, which had underperformed since it was acquired from its private equity owner in 2006. He was been incentivised by a personal performance-related package, which vested when Spirit demerged last month. It’s very likely that Tye will have been promised succession to the top job at Spirit as a way of keeping him with the business. Dyson’s key task is now complete, a fundamental re-alignment of Punch’s managed and leased pubs in a way that allows shareholders to ring-fence their stake in the part of the company with the stronger prospects, managed, while retaining a stake in the weaker part, leased, as option value. Groupon float at risk as revenues get re-stated Discount voucher operator Groupon has been forced to re-state its sales figures, a move that puts its anticipated float in further doubt. The company is now stripping out the takings that are shared with local traders. For the first half of 2011, reported sales of $1.22bn were reduced to $688m. The move mirrors the dotcom boom where companies like lastminute.com preferred to talk of “total transaction value” instead of actual revenues. The Sunday Times Gordon Ramsay opens Bread Street Kitchen Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is set to open his casual dining concept, Bread Street Kitchen, today. The first site is close to Jamie Oliver’s Barbacoa in the One New Change development near St Paul’s Cathedral in London. There has been a history of friction between the pair. Ramsay calls Oliver a “one-pot wonder” while Oliver says: “Here’s the thing: it’s only his wife and kids why everyone holds back. It’s the charm of that woman and those beautiful little kids. I don’t know how she puts up with him.” The Sunday Times M&B should now expect Lewis to sail away Sunday Telegraph columnist James Quinn argues that M&B shareholder Joe Lewis might be holding back on an offer for the company because of the downward trend in equity markets. Some have suggested that a Lewis offer of 230p a share could coincide with a M&B trading statement this week. Quinn says: “Although M&B’s share price has been somewhat insulated from the wider market volatility – closing at 251.6p on Friday – it is thought that Lewis does not want to put a price on the table now which may look foolish two weeks down the track. “What is more, the theory that he might raise his bid before the trading statement is also thought to be wide of the mark, given that he is believed to expect the numbers to make grim reading.” The Sunday Telegraph Good Pub Guide entry to cost £200 The Good Pub Guide is accused of losing its integrity by charging pubs £200 for the privilege of an entry. Pubs that have paid a fee - £99 for a basic pub and £199 for a grander establishment – will be allowed longer entries. A spokesman for publisher Ebury Press said: “Selection of pubs for inclusion remains exactly as before. No pub can gain an entry simply by paying a fee. Only pubs that have been selected anonymously, approved and then invited to join are included.” Mail on Sunday Luke Johnson set to invest in Little Devil Investor Luke Johnson is set to take a stake in Little Devil, a company that produces Bloodshot vodka, which claims to be the world’s first Bloody Mary liqueur. It’s made with seven-times distilled English wheat and the drink is flavoured with horseradish, Worcestershire sauce and black pepper – you just add tomato juice for an instant Bloody Mary. Mail on Sunday Lewis puts his bid on ice The billionaire trader Joe Lewis appear to have put his bid for Mitchells & Butlers on hold amid market turmoil and possible scrutiny by the Takeover Panel. Previously, Lewis’s camp had been dropping strong hints that an offer for the company at 230p a share was likely to be tabled last week. But market analysts are now suggesting that the turmoil in the markets persuaded Lewis to sit on his hands for the time being. The Takeover Panel has set a deadline of 17 October for a formal offer. There are also claims that the deal is linked to the Takeover Panel’s concerns about the relationship between Mr Lewis’s investment vehicle Piedmont and other big shareholders with whom the trader has ties. A source close to Piedmont told The Times: “There is no delay. We have until 17 October to table a formal offer.” The Times Schooner serves go on sale in pubs Beer served in Australian-style schooner glasses goes on sale this week in UK pubs as ministers hope to reduce binge-drinking. However, the Campaign for Real Ale has claimed the campaign will cause confusion among drinkers when it comes in. Heineken will send out 500,000 branded schooner glasses across the country in the coming weeks. Carlsberg will also introduce glasses for its Staropramen and Birra Porreti lagers. Lawson Mounstevens, a director of Heineken UK, said the industry is changing with the times: “Does Starbucks only serve one size of coffee? No it doesn’t?” Jon Howard, a Camra spokesman, said: “Although a two-thirds pint may give drinkers greater choice, we have seen no market research showing demand for this new measure.” The Telegraph Germans angry over Oktoberfest short measures A watchdog body in Germany has claimed drinkers at the Oktoberfest in Munich are being served short measures. The League Against Fraudulent Pouring has found the measures are up to a quarter short of their rightful servings. Thanks to the amount of froth contained in tankards. Members of the League visited 12 beer tents at the festival on the outskirts of Munich and bought 100 servings of beer. They found tankards, known as Mass, filled to around 90 per cent – one was found to be only 73 per cent full. The Telegraph Best Indian summer for 25 years The best Indian summer in 25 years is forecast to start this week. The UK is forecast to bask in temperatures of around 37C by midweek, similar to those of southern Spain. A heatwave much higher than the seasonal average could stretch into next weekend, the start of October. The weekend will see temperatures of around 22C in parts, although the North and West may experience gales late on Sunday. The Daily Mail Groupon director leaves for Google The voucher coupon website Groupon has lost its chief operating officer Margo Goergiadia who has left to run Google’s Americas division. Groupon’s chief executive officer Andrew Mason insisted the departure will not impact on the company’s operations. Groupon, which is based in Chicago, has delayed plans for a flotation in the wake of turmoil in the markets. Sunday Times Pigeon found nesting at Travelodge A guest at a Travelodge found a pigeon nesting under her bed. Rosie Shapter was shocked when she found the bird flapping in her bedroom. She shooed it to the window and found a bird’s nest, containing one large white egg, under her doubled bed. Travelodge insisted the room had been thoroughly cleaned and claimed the bird must have quickly built the nest after the cleaners had left. Travelodge added that information supplied by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds suggested the nest could have been made in just four hours if a window had been left open. The Daily Mail Line-of-sight key to food choice Scientists have discovered that we are three times more likely to eat the first edible thing we see at home than the fifth. So if a healthy salad is first in the line of vision we are much more likely to eat it for dinner than if it is stored at the back of the fridge. Brian Wansink, professor of nutritional science at Cornell University, said: “We found a really strong tendency towards the food which is visible. If you put your least healthy food at the front of the refrigerator or cupboard, that’s the one you are most likely to eat.” Daily Mail

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