Celebrating 23 years of helping our clients grow their businesses

The Scottish & Newcastle Pub Company have come up with a novel way to boost business. Their new initiative  means that pub-goers will be able to order flowers, drop off their dry-cleaning or order takeaway pizza – all whilst enjoying a pint. I have visions of a whole ream of HABs (husbands and boyfriends) suddenly becoming a lot more enthusiastic about popping to the shops!

Being fond of my local pub, and keen that it, and others like it, are around for future generations to enjoy, I was please to learn that the UK’s first ever Minister for Pubs has been appointed.

John Healey will work with five other government ministers to draw up a plan to help pubs beat the recession.

Speaking in Caterer & Hotelkeeper of his appointment, Healey said: “Pubs are often at the heart of community life. And they are important meeting places for many people. While we can’t stop every pub from closing it’s right we do everything possible to back them. But they need help now so I am determined to have a deal on the table with a package of practical help in the next few weeks.”

The ViVAS team had more great coverage last week, with the regular campaign in The Publican, ‘Sell More Save More’ starting up again for its third year. A call for pubs to apply to be involved in the campaign saw strong comment from the general manager of ViVAS on the first of four pages.

It’s a sad day for British pubs today as The Sun reports that Punch Taverns have announced they are putting a further 450 of their pubs up for sale. Punch put 1,250 pubs into a “turn-around” division earlier this year, and have since sold a third of these, showing there’s no sign of economic recovery yet for the pub industry.

So if you’re not ready to wave goodbye to your local pub just yet, now’s the time to start showing your support, before it’s gone for good!