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Bar magazine’s round-up of the week’s news
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Government shelves mandatory code plan
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson (pictured) has revealed that the government is to shelve plans to introduce a mandatory code on alcohol, according to today’s newspapers. In a letter sent to other members of a Cabinet sub-committee, he said a number of proposals would not now be implemented until after April 2011. The decision not to impose measures such as a curb on promotions has been cautiously welcomed by the on-trade although it does suggest the plans may be revived at a later stage.
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Consumers reduce spend on eating out
Consumers are still eating out in spite of the recession but they have reduced their average spend, according to new statistics from research company Horizons. It found that people are going to cheaper outlets and choosing those offering good money-off deals.
On average, consumers spent £189.61 on eating out in the high street during the first six months of 2009, compared with £200.26 in the first six months of 2008, which is a decrease of six per cent year-on-year.
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Deloitte warns on price promotions
Accountancy group Deloitte has warned operators of bars, pubs and restaurants that discount vouchers and other price promotions may simply cannibalise existing sales an
d reduce profit margins without improving volumes. Glyn Bunting, partner in the hospitality and leisure team at Deloitte, said that “as the economy begins to emerge from the recession, a key challenge for operators will be to wean consumers off these discount deals”.
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Tony Conigliaro’s bar wins award
69 Colebrooke Row, which was opened this summer by mixologist Tony Conigliaro, has been named London’s new bar of the year in the annual Time Out Eating and Drinking Awards. Runners-up were Callooh Callay, Portobello Star and Lost Angel. Best new design went to restaurant Bob Bob Ricard, while the Harwood Arms in Fulham was named best new gastropub.
Click here for a full list of winners and runners-up >>
Industry’s like-for-like sales continue to rise
The monthly Coffer Peach Business Tracker reports that like-for-like sales across key multiple bar and pub operators rose by 0.8 per cent in August. Total sales were up 4.9 per cent compared with August last year. The data, which is based on figures from the likes of Novus Leisure and Mitchells & Butlers, followed July’s like-for-like increase of one per cent, June’s rise of 0.4 per cent and May’s 0.6 per cent.
OFT rejects Scottish minimum price plan
The head of the Office of Fair Trading has rejected plans by the Scottish government to impose a minimum price for alcohol in the off-trade because it would damage competition. Holyrood’s current proposal is to introduce a minimum price of 40p per unit of alcohol in shops later this year. In a speech to the Oxford-based Regulatory Policy Institute, OFT chief executive John Fingleton said this would red
uce incentives for the drinks and retail sectors to innovate and cut costs.
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Adam McGurk wins hunt for Holly
Adam McGurk of Sosho in London won the nationwide search for a cocktail to tie in with the new stage play of Breakfast at Tiffany’s at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London. The competition to find the Holly Golightly cocktail was organised by Chambord, a sponsor of the show, and culminated in finals at the Valmont Club in Chelsea this week.
Bacardi Brown-Forman has also commissioned leading jeweller Donald Edge to design a $2 million bottle of Chambord, encrusted in diamonds, pearls and gold, to celebrate the opening of the play this month.
Luminar targets “divorced, single and dumped”
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ightclub operator Luminar has announced that it intends to reduce its dependence on the 18- to 24-year-old age group. The group believes that 82 per cent of its customers currently fall into this age bracket and it would like to reduce this to around 60 per cent by adding to customer numbers with a greater number of older people including the “divorced, single and dumped” market.
Pub operators go into administration
Moorgate Taverns, which owns 10 freehold pubs in Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire and along the south coast, has been placed into administration after it breached covenants and was unable to pay back over £7million of debt. Administrators from RSM Bentley Jennison & Co have been appointed to run the business, which is a subsidiary of multiple operator Pubs ‘n’ Bars.
Panther Bar Company, which owns 18 free-of-tie tenanted pubs in northern England, has been placed in administration by its banks. Administrators have
been appointed from Zolfo Cooper.
Maker’s Mark challenges Jose Cuervo over wax
Beam Global has filed a lawsuit against Jose Cuervo and Diageo in North America, claiming trademark infringement relating to the red wax seal on its Maker’s Mark bourbon bottles. It alleges that a red wax-like coating on bottles of Jose Cuervo Reserva de la Familia tequila amounts to an improper imitation of Maker’s Mark. Bill Samuels, president of Maker’s Mark, said: “Just like our iconic red wax on every Maker’s Mark bottle that is produced, the lawsuit speaks for itself. We have confidence our case will prevail.”
Mark Ludmon
Editor
http://twitter.com/barmagazine
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