Tuppen gets all Tolkeinesque
Enterprise CEO Ted Tuppen was on fighting good form at the Tenanted Pub Company Summit on Monday. Following Business Secretary Vince Cable to the podium he began by saying: “I thought that would be a harder act to follow,” before launching into a presentation that took delegates into Middle Earth. Referring to himself as the Dark Lord, Tuppen spoke of the first time he encountered his nemesis Greg Mulholland MP: “You know that bit in Lord of the Rings when everything seems to be going pretty well and then Gollum appears – you can’t quite put your finger on it but you know Gollum’s going to turn out to be a bit dodgy.”
Straight talking
Talking of Ted and the Tenanted Summit, Yummy Pub Co’s Tim Foster, who was a panellist on the day, has cut to the chase on the whole pubco/tenant debate on his latest blog. He says: “The big issue at the moment, self regulation or let the planks from Whitehall get involved. I’ve never sat on the fence, most people know that. We’re big enough and ugly enough to sort ourselves out, christ the majority of MP’s can’t even do their bloody expenses right and they think they can come and fix one of the most complex industries in the world with a magic fairy wand? Well no chaps, afraid not.” He goes on to praise Mr Tuppen and tells Vince Cable to step down and let some “new blood in”. The full blog entry can be found here.
On a roll
You would think that Burger & Lobster (B&L), the fast-growing concept launched by the owners of Goodman, the upscale Russian steakhouse chain, which was named best emerging concept at this year’s Retailers’ Retailer Awards, would have the does-was-it-says-on-the-tin format down to a tee, but Diary hears that it might take it one stage further. Rumours are circulating that the group is looking at developing a purely lobster focused concept, with “Lobster Roll” being mooted as a working title. It also believed to be looking in the Oxford Circus area for a fifth site for B&L.
Emerald Isle intelligence
It looks like our very own Government should be looking to their Irish counterparts for thought on the sale of alcohol. Irish health minister James Reilly has announced that he wants people to return to going to the pub if they want a drink rather than imbibing at home. He said the price of alcohol in pubs should come down while the prices in off licences should go up in order to encourage more sensible drinking. Now there’s an idea.
The life of Pie
Some good news for all pie lovers. Pieminister is opening a cafe in Manchester tomorrow as the first in an ambitious expansion plan. Having launched its first Pie and Cider restaurant in Bristol in March this year, it plans to open a further 20 restaurants over the next five years within major UK cities. The new sites will take the company to almost 30-strong by 2018. The new restaurants are open late into the evening, include bar areas and more dining space, unlike the original pie and mash shops.
Brumby on the money
Diary has always been a big fan of the morning news wire produced by analyst and industry commentator Mark Brumby of Langton Capital, especially the daily ‘name that song’ section. So Diary was interested to read this morning that the man who shares his daily musings with the trade is eschewing the free-to-air model and planning to charge £195 a year for his newsletters from next month. Brumby explained why he has been persuaded to reject advertiser-funded model: “Some readers maintained that advertising was intrusive and may compromise the e-mail’s content. It could lead to calls for the membership list to be shared with advertisers.” Brumby will hear no dissent from the team at your ad-free M&C Report.
