This week’s exclusive Diary includes: An impressive start for Admiral’s Georgel; it’s all in the name for Enterprise on food; all eyes on EIS; and nights out with Novus
Impressive start
First impressions count and it seems that Kevin Georgel, managing director of tenanted pub group Admiral Taverns, has made a very good one at the award-winning Dartmoor Brewery. Georgel joined the board of the brewery at the start of this year as a non-executive director to help it capitalise on the increasing popularity of its award-winning beers as it looks to expand beyond its Devonshire heartland. However, Diary hears that he has impressed his new colleagues so much since he joined that they have now asked him to become non-executive chairman.
Blazing squad
Mitchells & Butlers has Crown Carveries and Toby Carvery, Spirit has got a carvery option at some of its Fayre & Square sites, while Brains is trialling Coopers Carvery. So it is safe to say that carveries are more popular than ever in these cash-strapped times. It is not surprising to hear then that Enterprise Inns has trademarked the name Classic Carveries, with Diary wondering if this will fall under the group’s desire to develop trading concepts with a greater focus on food. A further name Blazing Grills that has been picked up suggests that the tenanted group has also seen the early positive traction that Spirit is gaining with its Flaming Grill brand.
Anything you can do..
Recent months have seen a resurgence in Enterprise Investment Schemes (EIS) in the pub trade. Foundation Inns founders Gavin Drew and Ian Grundy, Clive Watson and David Bruce of Capital, and Convivial London Pubs chief executive Kris Gumbrell are among those looking to build substantial estates using the tax-efficient investment scheme. Now it appears that the pub trade isn’t the only sector eyeing EIS opportunities, with the British Hospitality Association (BHA) this week announcing plans to lobby the Government to let hotels take advantage of the measure. BHA pointed out that hotels were originally able to qualify under the scheme until they were disqualified in 1998 by the Labour Government.
Age old problem
Ever wondered what the impact of alcohol could have on how old you looked? Well wonder no more, there’s now an app for that. A smartphone app showing how alcohol can quicken the ageing process has been launched to help encourage women to stay within the recommended alcohol limits. The Scottish Government’s Alcohol Behaviour Change campaign includes the Drinking Time Machine app, which shows the possible physical results of regularly drinking too much. It ages the user’s image as a way of showing the potential effect of alcohol. A sobering thought.
It pays to be premium
Diary had the pleasure of accompanying the folks at bar operator Novus Leisure for a tour of their estate in London last week. Novus has been focusing on replacing value lines with more profitable products at the Balls Brothers sites it acquired last year, and here are a few that struck Diary’s eye during a visit to the ex-Balls Bros site Minster Exchange in the City. Bottles of Budweiser are being sold for £5 a pop, or £6 over the Christmas period. A double vodka and tonic went for a cool £12 over the festive season. An extravagant seafood platter, to be shared by several, sets you back £55. The strategy is obviously paying off; sales at the four Balls Brothers sites refurbished by Novus by the end of last year were up 50% for the six weeks to 1 January.
Just 319 days to go...
No rest for the wicked at Novus. We’re barely into February but the company has already received 2,600 bookings for Christmas 2012, from 22,000 enquiries. It’s no fluke either, and Novus is nothing if not prepared. New Year hangovers were still a fresh memory for many when Novus held its first meeting for the next Christmas period, just one week into 2012. And apparently the first Christmas menus for 2012 were sent off in the midst of the previous year’s celebrations, in December. The preparation clearly pays off. Novus’ like-for-like sales in the six weeks to 1 January were up 18%, which even against soft comparatives with the snow-hit winter of 2010, is pretty impressive.
This is the one
Finally, Diary wants to highlight two pieces of innovation on show at Novus’ West End bar Foundation. Number one: cocktails served in teapots (complete with biscuits). Number two: buckets as urinals. Actually, maybe that should be number one...
