Bus Scheme to help Village Pubs in Essex

A scheme aimed at halting the decline of rural pubs in north Essex will begin next month. reports BBC News.

A rural pub bus will take people to village pubs in the Colchester district once a month between May and November.

It is the first of its kind in Essex and could be rolled out to other areas if it proves a success.

It will be run by the local branch of CAMRA and the Colchester Community Voluntary Service, with funding from the Rural Community Council of Essex.

Over the summer period the minibus will visit a total of 22 villages which are not easily accessible without a car.

Enter the Great British Pub Awards 2011

The search is now on for the UK’s top pubs in the Publican’s Morning Advertiser’s Great British Pub Awards 2011.

There are 16 categories for licensees to enter including two new to this year’s awards, organised by BigHospitality's sister publication — Best Smoking Area and Best Sports Pub.

Other categories include Best Entertainment Pub, Best Gastropub Pub, Best Community Pub and Best Tenanted/Leased Pub.

All finalists will be invited to a glittering awards ceremony in London on Thursday 8 September.

Winning a Great British Pub Award is a great way to boost morale and showcase your achievements.

Greene King Report Sales Growth

British pubs and brewery group Greene King reported accelerating sales growth on Wednesday and said it had benefited from good weather attracting drinkers into its pubs over the last few weeks.

The 212-year-old Suffolk-based firm, which runs nearly 2,500 pubs and restaurants across Britain, said sales at pubs open more than a year had grown by 8.2 percent over the 16 weeks to April 24. For the 51 weeks to April 24, comparable sales were up 4.7 percent.

UK Pubs For Sale: Freehold Pubs For Sale: Red Wine Drinkers Could Provide the Key to Saving ...

UK Pubs For Sale: Freehold Pubs For Sale: Red Wine Drinkers Could Provide the Key to Saving ...: "Red wine drinkers spend £17.68 each time they go out, more than any other type of drinker,according to new research published by the Wilson ..."

Royal Wedding And Easter Weekends to Boost Sales by £1.4 Billion

April's two four-day bank holiday weekends, coupled with glorious weather throughout much of the country, will drive a £1.2 billion spending spree, the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) has said, reports the Mystery Dining Company.

The 11-day period, which celebrates Easter and the royal wedding, has brought about a rise in people drinking, eating out and shopping, as more than one in five Britons take the entire period off work.

The BBPA said an additional £600 million will be spent in bars with a further £620 million boosting the retail, travel and tourism sectors.

A recent survey conducted by The Mystery Dining Company, completed by more than 400 respondents, revealed that 20 per cent of participants indicated that a visit to the pub over the course of the coming weekend would be more likely than normal.

Indeed, many pubs and restaurants are offering special promotions to attract customers over the royal wedding period - see our recent article here.

At the Cross Keys public house in Nottinghamshire, for example, drinkers will benefit from drinks at 1981 prices – the year of Charles' and Diana's wedding.

After buying their first drink at full price, patrons will then get a royal wedding token giving them their second drink at the price it was in 1981.

Landlord Roy Wood told the Morning Advertiser: "Everyone is doing themed pies and drinks, so I thought of a way of linking it with the year of Diana's wedding."

Big Society Saving the Local Pub

Community co-operatives are bringing some of Britain's flagging local pubs back from the brink of extinction.

The Independent reported this weekend (Saturday April 9th) that residents of Ennerdale Bridge, in the Lake District, came together to come up with a plan to stop the closure of their local pub, The Fox & Hounds.

It closed at the end of last year, and looked set to join the large number of pubs that are closing in the UK.

Last month, the British Beer and Pub Association said pubs are closing at the rate of 25 per week. This may be slower that the 40 per week that were shutting down in 2009, but there were nearly 1,300 fewer pubs in Britain by the end of 2010.

Not so in Ennerdale Bridge. Villagers met in February to moot the idea of buying the pub outright – having only ten days to get together the cash before the pub's owners spoke to other suitors.

Support gathered quickly – from the 130 people that attended the meeting and said they would pledge cash, a further 50 people joined the co-operative, putting in amounts ranging from £100 to £4,000 each.

Dewsbury Pub for Sale, West Yorkshire

West Yorkshire Pub For Sale

Imperial
Bradford Road
Dewsbury
West Yorkshire
WF13

Ground floor footplate: 1531 sq/ft*

£ 110,000 + VAT

Freehold Pub for Sale, Dewsbury

Alfreton Pub for Sale, Derbyshire

Freehold Pub for Sale Derbyshire

Blue Bell
Leamington Drive
South Normanton, Alfreton
Derbyshire
DE55

Gross Site Area: 21752 sq/ft*

£ 175,000 + VAT

Located on a prominent corner position in densely populated residential development off the Alfreton Road.2-storey brick building under a pitched tiled roof. There is a beer garden and car park on site with private owner's parking and separate single garage.

Ground floor comprises Lounge and separate bar, games room and cellar. There is 4 bedroom owner's accommodation to the upper parts.

Approx ground floor foot plate: 2,893 sq ft*

The property represents excellent value for continued licensed use / owner occupation. There is also enormous potential for redevelopment (residential / commercial / mixed use) subject to gaining the appropriate Local Authority consents.

Bluebell Pub for Sale Alfreton, Derbyshire

Suffolk Pub for Sale

Pub and Development Land for Sale, Suffolk

Plough
Mill Road
Lakenheath, Brandon
Suffolk
IP27

Gross Site Area: 12927 sq/ft*

£ 175,000 + VAT Freehold

Public house/development land for sale with full vacant possession. Unconditional offers are invited for our clients unencumbered interest.

Located approximately 5 miles southwest of Brandon and 10 miles west of Thetford. On site there is car park, beer garden and 3 garages.
2-storey, L-shaped detached brick building. Pitched tiled roof with a single-storey extension at rear.
Ground floor comprises Lounge bar and separate public bar.
There is also 5-bedroom owner's accommodation.

Approx ground floor foot plate: 2,880 sq ft*

Plough Pub for Sale, Suffolk

Punch Taverns Demerger Trading Results

Punch Taverns is expected this week to point to continued robust trading at its managed pubs as support for its controversial plan to demerge the business from the struggling tenanted division.

New chief executive Ian Dyson angered bondholders of the heavily indebted group last month by unveiling plans to split the business in two by the end of the summer, spinning off Spirit, the group's managed pubs business, into a separately-listed company.

Dyson, the former finance director at Marks & Spencer, who took over at the Punch helm last September, also revealed that he wants to sell more than 2,200 sites at Britain's second biggest pubs group, which is struggling under £3.5 billion of debt.

Punch, which announces its interim trading results on Tuesday, revealed in a recent trading update that Spirit's like-for-like sales shot up 8.6 per cent in its second trading quarter.

That compared with a 6 per cent sales fall in the tenanted business.

Freehold Pub for Sale Sheerness, Kent

Pub for Sale, Sheerness

Prince of Waterloo
Minster Road
Minster on Sea, Sheerness
Kent
ME12

Gross Site Area: 7176 sq/ft*

£ 160,000 + VAT

Public house/development land for sale with full vacant possession. Unconditional offers are invited for our clients unencumbered interest.

Located in is an attractive village on the North Kent coast in popular residential area. Location also attracts visitors to the holiday parks at Leysdown on Sea.

Detached 2-storey brick building under a pitched tiled roof. There is an enclosed rear trade garden and
adjacent car park. There is also a detached garage.
Ground floor comprises main lounge bar.
4-bedroom owner's accommodation on the first floor.

Prince of Waterloo Pub for Sale Sheerness, Kent

Australian Licensing Commission Wont Ban Full Strength Beers

The Licensing Commission won't ban full strength beers in Alice Springs' pubs during lunch hours because it would generate "considerable community resentment."

The Alice Springs Alcohol Reference Panel had been set up because of concerns about the town's 'animal bars.'

Last year the media reported some pubs were allowing patrons to drink heavily from 10am only to push them out at 2pm when bottle shops opened.

In response the panel recommended beer with an alcohol content of more than 3.5 per cent be banned between 11.30am and 2pm for patrons who weren't eating a meal.

Torquay Pub for Sale, Devon

Devon Pub for Sale, Torquay

Royal Standard
Hele Road
Torquay
Devon
TQ2

Ground floor footplate: 2445 sq/ft*

£ 275,000 + VAT
Freehold


Public house/development land for sale with full vacant possession. Unconditional offers are invited for our clients unencumbered interest.

Approx gross site area: 2,610 sq ft*

The property represents excellent value for continued licensed use / owner occupation. There is also enormous potential for redevelopment (residential / commercial / mixed use) subject to gaining the appropriate Local Authority consents.

The existing use class of the property is A4 'Drinking Establishments'. Planning consent is not required to change the current use to A1 (shops), A2 (financial and professional services) or A3 (restaurants and cafes).

Rateable Value: £8,350

Royal Standard Pub for Sale, Devon

Wigan Pub For Sale, Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester Pub for Sale, Wigan

Anderton Arms
Ince Green Lane
Ince, Wigan
Greater Manchester
WN2

Gross Site Area: 3304 sq/ft*

£ 150,000

Freehold Pub for Sale Wigan WN2

Clacton-on-Sea Pub for Sale

Eldorado Pub for Sale Clacton-on-Sea

The Eldorado
Broadway
Clacton-on-Sea, Essex
CO15

Ground floor footplate: 2830 sq/ft*

£ 395,000

Freehold Pub for Sale, Clacton on Sea

London Property Agents News

• Landlord and Tenant News: EPCs 'are not seen as a priority'


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• First Time Property Buyers News: First time buyers 'could access more finance in 2011'


• Landlord and Tenant News: Energy Performance Certificates 'have little influence on homebuyers'


• London Housing Market News: Investors in London 'will see rising prices'

Bristol Pub for Sale, Somerset

Freehold Pub for Sale Bristol

Armoury Tavern
Stapleton Road
Bristol
Somerset
BS5

Ground floor footplate: 920 sq/ft*

£ 225,000 + VAT
Freehold

Armoury Tavern Pub for Sale, Bristol