Does the cup have your name on it?

CARLING set out on the road to Hampden last week when it kicked off a tour that will see brewer Molson Coors take the...

Students are the toast of 49 Club

THE 49 Wine & Spirit Club has helped more trade staff to achieve wine education and licensing qualifications. The club presented two of its latest...

Ale aims to give power to the people

Standards were high this summer as McEwan's and SLTN again travelled across Scotland to find the country's best community pub JUDGING the SLTN-McEwan’s Community Pub...

The wine guy

FOR something that is fairly common, the understanding of faulty wine in the trade is a bit sketchy. Do your staff know the difference between corked and oxidised wine – two of the most common faults? I’d say that the vast majority of the great British public don’t either but in, my opinion, they don’t have to!

Beer group sponsors new guide

THE Campaign for Real Ale has released its latest Good Beer Guide, cementing its relationship with the Society of Independent Brewers in the process....

Boutique show returns to capital

BARTENDERS who aspire to open their own outlet will be able to pick up some hints and tips in Edinburgh next month. A seminar highlighting...

Coors says beer is pub champion

As survey finds a fifth of licensees considered quitting in the last six months... MOLSON Coors last week insisted that the future can still be...

Charity demands volume controls

BAR and nightclub operators could be forced to submit figures for the volume of alcohol sold on their premises, if Scotland’s biggest alcohol charity gets its way. Alcohol Focus Scotland (AFS) wants all on and off-trade outlets to disclose annual volume figures, showing a break down by drinks category, which would then be used to calculate licence fees.

SBPA issues excise warning

PUBS in Scotland could be forced to put the price of a pint up by as much as 50p – if the Scottish Government is successful in wresting control of excise duty from Westminster. The proposal is included in a raft of changes the SNP wants to make to the Scotland Bill, currently being deliberated by a dedicated cross-party committee at Holyrood.

Levy will ease rates inequality

PLANS by the Scottish Government to hit the country’s biggest alcohol and tobacco retailers with a public health levy will go some way to addressing the “inequality” of the business rates system, a major on-trade group claimed last week. Finance minister John Swinney sparked controversy when he revealed the Scottish Spending Review 2011 would see large retailers charged a business rates supplement from April next year.

Columns

Jack Cummins
LEGAL
Niall Hassard
ONLY DRAMS
Andrew Dowson
Neil Morrison
ASK THE OPERATOR
Neil Morrison
THE GRAPEVINE
Luke Richardson