Are we really in a terrible state?

http://www.matthewtaylorsblog.com/politics/are-we-really-in-a-terrible-state/

Ahem, in MY Society it’s interesting to hear the boss speaking his mind out loud.

MY Society NEEDS to be challenging, dynamic, irritating, active, agitating, leading, pushing wider society’s agenda – which is decades behind where it must be – if we are to stop traditional capitalism from driving humanity to the brink of utter extinction which plainly is exactly what we are collectively allowing.

When Guido Fawkes’ cage is rattled and he starts nitpicking around things afoot at RSA it’s a sure sign that something right is going on here. He points out that ‘ordinary Fellows’ are unnerved by Matthew Taylor and the ‘management’ is taking it places they don’t like. Fawkes quotes Kevin Cahill, Chair of the South West Region, challenging Taylor ahead of last year’s AGM:

“We have a perfect mandate and a simple mission, there is nothing in our mandate about reforming society or changing humanity, those are the wild utopian missions of the person in charge.“

RSA’s original charter to “embolden enterprise, enlarge science, refine art, improve our manufactures and extend our commerce” is neither a mandate nor in any way a simple mission. It’s an extraordinarily wide ranging Statement of Intent which could hardly be more apt for today’s circumstances.

Try to imagine a more ambitious or demanding foundation statement for a fledgling Society to lay as the cornerstone upon which its future would be built. More than 250 years on it stands as vital and fresh as the day it was written and will, if boldly enacted now, present society with solutions that are urgently needed to prevent society from consuming itself out of existence.

SOMEONE needs to be demanding Utopia because without achieving it we will be pointless unremarked history in our universe. Overall we’ve been too busy selling family silver, building straw houses and feathering our personal nests to be bothered to notice we are leaving nothing for our future.

We HAVE to radically change the way we do EVERYTHING and it CAN be done but it won’t as long as we consider that it’s MY Society rather than OURS.

Heineken: beer and cider down in UK

http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/ViewArticle?R=91492

With RBS owning and wanting to sell off to Private Equity 900 of the S&NPC estate which essentially is a pale imitation of Enterprise and Punch except they own almost none of the bricks and mortar and get their 'value' out of 'managing' assets on behalf of the bank - and the management contract on a patchily incoherently managed, downward spiralling income tied estate, up for review in the near future which is mired with costly dilapidations nightmares from decades of under investment and atrociously incompetent building management, - it's entirely possible the estate will be down to 400 pubs a year or so from now.

Still, rolling out free wifi should be a good foil to the likely inevitable churn of events.

Wi-Fi boost for Heineken stricken stockists

http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/article/91481

Came across this at The Thomas A Beckett in Old Kent Road: http://bit.ly/ovotif it works very well... wonder if they'll get round to seeing any of their TIED pubs as being Heineken stockists. They don't put a penny into them any other way. Just suck it all out and give it to RBS as far as I can see... who want to sell their pubs off of course, because the estate is doing so well under Heineken's dynamic management style. The most radical thing S&NPC (Heineken Pubs UK) has done recently is hire an ex Punch Taverns gun slinger to be a regional boss. Great move that is. Groovy and forward thinking eh?

Dear Keith

Thanks for calling today. Look forward to meeting you and Eddie 11am Wednesday 7 September at The Sun and Doves

It's at

61 - 63 Coldharbour Lane, Camberwell, London, SE5 9NS. It's on the corner of Caldecot Road at the other end of Coldharbour from Brixton. TomTom locates it at the wrong end. There is pay and display parking around - on Coldharbour and on Caldecot Road. You MUST NOT let a ticket go over or you will be ticketed or towed - towing is as likely as a fine. They are total twats around here.

I'll compile some visual stuff I like and don't for you to have a look at. I think you might have seen the logo already. I'm interested in Chinese and Russian revolutionary propaganda imagery. In the meantime here are my thoughts.

Outline brief: If the future's not Green, there's no Future.

The message I want to get across is of a successful pub company doing everything differently from the way pubcos do it now, even the brewing pubcos like Greene King behave appallingly when it comes to leasing out pubs through the beer tie (Adnams and Holts are not so bad I am told). This message is: this business will be creating profit and sustainability by doing everything ethically - by Profits Through Ethics - but with the message there cannot be a blade of wheat, a delicate green shoot held tremorously in the palms of pretty manicured fingers, a thread of sackcloth or even a hint of a sandal anywhere. It's got to be an intelligent, strong, direct, revolutionary message that comes across boldly without appearing communist and totalitarian. It has to talk about inclusivity, working together and sharing, without seeming like it's about to be run by a long haired flare wearing rosary counting committee. It's a slightly dangerous, erudite, intellectually focused, good looking, Militant Lesbian in a well cut Business Suit who can kick ass with style, cook as good as Hugh Fearnely-Whittingstall, swill it down with a bourbon and a glass of lightly sparkling elderflower cordial on the side.

The message is about getting across that PPP has a broad overview of what's happening to the world and society and understands that a paradigm shift HAS to take place in the way we do business - or else there will be no 'WE' as we understand ourselves. That the tragedy that is happening all over Britain with pub closures, and the damage this is doing to our sense of place, tradition, culture, heritage and community is providing a once in a lifetime opportunity to buy pubs cheaply in large numbers, turn them completely round and make then into attractive busy, financially successful vibrant community resources - hubs.

We have to make people who come to the website, and see a video, think: 'This makes so much sense! It cannot fail! Why didn't I think of it! This is EXACTLY what I want to happen to my pub. I WANT to buy into it - NOW - where do I sign? Oh, I wonder what I might get back for investing?'

Coincidentally this BBC programme went out last night. It pretty well covers everything PPP is being designed to do - involving the community at every level but PPP will be better resourced and bring a LOT more experience to turnaround projects. http://bbc.in/n523Ao

Hope this is not over much. Will get looking for visuals.

I did see this. I don't like this: http://www.designwine.co.uk/Company/DesignWine_Manifesto

I copied in Nicky, my business partner, so she knows what's happeining. Best

Hi Sarah; I hope you get this. Just watching your piece on Honeystreet. I'd appreciate it if you can find time for a chat about setting up The People's Pub Partnership., the pub company I'm working on setting up right now.

Something serious is needed to put a brake on what's happening with pub closures all over Britain - it's damaging communities everywhere and our whole society is losing its heritage because of the way pub companies have irresponsibly destroyed the pub market through greed and bad management.

The People's Partnership's designed to do to pubs, through a structured, well funded business, exactly what your programme covered so well with the Barge Inn.

The idea is to drive a renaissance in pubs across the UK with a worker owned company that is professionally focused and well resourced to deliver great results for communities that are losing their greatest social assets.

John Lewis and CAMRA are giving me their support. I have a senior banker from Santander and CEO of a national catering supply chain logistics company mentoring development of the plan. Press local to me want to cover it (but it's too soon) and the Guardian are interested in taking it up - when it's moved closer to raising capital - which will be done in part through a crowd funding IPO run through the PPP website. Brewdog have done something like this recently

It will have a radical impact on the pub industry and communities - just like Honeystreet has benefited. It will be beacon to highlight how business can be done responsibly, successfully, profitably AND sustainably.

I'm hoping to find a production company to cover this - it really will be something worth recording. But there's been a lot of coverage on community pubs recently and the impression I have from a couple of companies it they're all pubbed up.

I've had a tied lease on The Sun and Doves, in Camberwell, SE5, since 1995 and am one of the people who set up the Fair Pint Campaign - which is how I come to have CAMRA's support. My background is in West End catering, Landscaping and photography. And I set up a local community forum. And had kids.

There's a little more outline on it at my linked in profile: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/edit?trk=hb_tab_pro_top

And on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ThePeoplesPubPartnership

And it's following you on Twitter

Look forward to your thoughts. Best. Mark.

Milk vending machine a great hit at pub

http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/ViewArticle?R=91456

If Peter Wilkinson can find the time he should try to get some heads knocked together at high level about this experience - on the face of it it's ridiculous that a local authority should put obstacles in the way of an individual's efforts to provide a better service to the community his pub serves. He could get a petition going among villagers and visitors from further afield stating that they want better services which could be provided by the pub but are being denied by poor quality thinking at local authority level.

Peter should lobby his MP to look at this with regard to where the local authority is coming from and ask them to contact Bob Neil and CAMRA about this evident lack of joined up thinking. There's a whole lot of other organisations with some direct interest in this sort of thing who could look at this critically such as the Plunkett Foundation and Pub is the Hub.

Is Staffordshire a signatory to the Sustainable Communities Act? Do they know anything about anything to do with community? The Big Society?

Make a noise!

Tuppen in plea to pubcos

http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/ViewArticle?R=91405

Recommended reading for anyone who has an interest in tied leases - from prospective and existing tenants to Members of Parliament involved in Select Committee proceedings:

Check out the various pub companies' website bumpf on what they do in working together with tenants, the services and support they provide. It's quite interesting.

The S&NPC website is a good example of how to get into business the easy way. Presumably Ted is talking about this kind of thing: http://www.snpubs.co.uk/ Have a look for their recommendations to take third party advice. Look at the interviews with new tenants.

"Your search for your ideal pub starts here... With S&NPC you're in good company.

If you have ever wanted to run your own pub, Scottish & Newcastle Pub Company could be your perfect pub partner.

For over 200 years we have been creating great British pubs and we never forget a great pub starts with a great operator.

With S&NPC you run your pub your way but you also have the backing of one of the world’s largest brewing operations who can supply the brands, the training and everything else you need to achieve your ambitions in the pub industry."

It's a bed of roses innit.

Their CSR statement's a laugh as well. And when you read their 'Environmental Statement' you might even choke on your coffee!

Tuppen in plea to pubcos

What Tuppen's really saying to his fellow pubcos here is:

"Look guys, we're all in this together, the tie is on the ropes, people on the outside are getting the picture, we've got to tighten up our act and sing from the same hymn sheet. We've got to be seen to be telling prospective tenants not to touch any tied lease with a bargepole or else we'll be accused of misrepresentation. We've got to get it so there's no misunderstandings and business failure is all down to the tenants. Can't say we didn't warn you: YOU signed the lease - YOU'RE going bankrupt; It's all down to YOUR stupidity."

Pubs minister pledges to work behind bar

http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/forum.ma/thread-for-post/101277

Harriet Harman and Tessa Jowell are considering doing a couple of hours at my pub to support the cause. They were hoping to get that London Living Wage for their shift, which is about £8.30 an hour, off the top of my head, but I told them paying two members of staff that sort of money for four hours would be regarded as highly irresponsible by my pub company, Scottish & Newcastle because THEY really know how to run a business and have been telling me for years that I pay my staff too much and that I have too many of them on shift (all the time) and THAT is why I cannot afford their £65,000 rent on top of my £29,000 business rates and my £15,000 charges for gas and leccy.

We were right in the middle of the 'disturbances' last week by the way - slap between Peckham and Brixton where we got a bit of broken glass, NOT next door to the tube station in Knightsbridge, which is where S&NPC's rent control panel seems to think we are.

Lessee lands rent cut via arbitration

http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/ViewArticle?R=91413

Enterprise, like all mechanistically minded pubcos, will never agree they are at fault in any part of any situation - unless they are found to be at fault by a court when they will assert that there was some technical, historical reason, for being found wanting that they have already taken into account which no longer applies and, actually, they are heroes for having spotted it BEFORE the long arm of the law did.

SO, when they LOSE in arbitration (an occurrence about as common as finding hair on hen's teeth) they will always come out with some inane petulant rebuttal like: "It would have been cheaper for the tenant to do PIRRS" - implying in some way that the tenant was stupid for not doing it the Enterprise Way - which, as we all know most likely, would have left the tenant with their trousers down.

That's what happens when you've had it all your own way for far too long - you believe, in fact you KNOW, black is white and beer WILL flow up hill for you. And when these foolish fanciful fandangos are proved otherwise, it wasn't your fault.

While London was almost burning last week, Jay Rayner did the Crooked Well — and well they did — in the Guardian. And in ES The Sun and Doves got best pub in London for its quiz from an interview with Simon Bird.

Off to see the Wall of Love.

A lot has been going on recently. And a lot of people have a lot to say about it. I've been out of circulation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14513517?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Starkey's a remote idiot - people like Starkey having a voice as social commentators is one of the problems of the 'English' experience. They are imbued with an importance that comes not from what they say but from what they sound like - he sounds intellectual and clever where, really, he's just a pompous self opinionated arrogant git with extraordinarily limited insight

Motown's Blog: Walworth Road - Only Fools no Horses

Motown's Blog: Walworth Road - Only Fools no Horses: "I'm no writer. I'm not particularly good at it and it doesn't come easy to me, but after my journey home from work today (8th August 2011), ..."

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Bruce Dodds
What is going on in your City. Mate,??? It sounds like it's out of control from the news reports we are hearing. :(

I'm glad you mentioned this Bruce, it's a good question. I like this question and I think it needs to be answered as openly and transparently as possible. To say the situation appears to be out of control I suggest is possibly taking it further than it really needs to be taken and unfortunately I can't offer any incisive viewpoint at this stage because I am not in a position to do that as I am in Northumberland with my folks as these events are unfurling right now and it would seem premature to say anything decisive without referring to my colleagues who would normally be dealing with this shit as it happens - as I'm never around anyway. And the fact is you probably know a lot more about it than I do since I don't watch tv. I have, of course, spoken to my friends and colleagues who are directly affected by the civil unrest and they tell me it's all about kids who want plasma tv's and multi functional remote controls so they can watch the world from their beds without moving. They want these things without working for them because they have no hope, they are bored, they have no jobs, they have no future, and they can see no way to become like PDiddy or Simon Cowell without just stealin' in their 'Hood.

Faucet Inn acquires Ramsay’s The Warrington

http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/ViewArticle?R=91314

Too much cash and not enough spit and sawdust is Ramsay's problem. The Narrow is a characterless, soulless, empty void of a vacuous venue. Its only charm is it has the river near by.

Enterprise Inns: continued improvement in trading

http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/ViewArticle?R=91318

This really should read more like:

Enterprise Inns: "clutching at straws" ('Where DID my share value go?')

Take it for granted that the trading statements of pubcos, and to be fair all plc's, are always designed to put as much polish as possible on figures no matter how dire, or rosy, they are at base.

Then bear in mind that Enterprise are mindful of the fact that even with their call for evidence closed the Business Innovation etc Select Committee has yet to pass judgement on the tied pub sector and may yet be influenced by news suggesting that the pubco 'business model' provides stability for pubs.

Looking at it like this Enterprise is squeezing optimism out of a black hole like Steven Hawking postulates radiation leaking out of the event horizon.

David Morgan points out the fundamental reality above: any improvements in income - however promising (and 1 percent is not) - are more than wiped out by increasing, upward spiralling, costs. Just watch those energy costs going sky high. Like all pubco's, Enterprise's retailer income is being squeezed, margins are only going down and this is not going to change in the foreseeable future as the economy depresses even further.

The cuts have not got near the bone yet and this parlous situation is only going to get worse, no matter how the figures are interpreted, no matter what upbeat statements are made, it's down, down, down - just like Enterprise's share price actually.

MP and CAMRA hail pub plans change

http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/ViewArticle?R=91331

CAMRA and Greg Mulholland have lobbied hard for this good news and Bob Neil probably deserves a pat on the back for it too but the basic problem remains: The tenure of the majority of pubs being held by short term interest pub companies whose only motivation is the extraction of the maximum possible cash and value from whatever assets they have leaves community pubs chronically underinvested in and dilapidated while they offer a poor range of products sold at unrealistically high prices.

Pubcos continue to extract profits by overworking their assets - while the assets are locked into a spiral of declining income and material neglect created by their tenure, unable to service the unrealistic costs imposed by their freeholders.

There is a paradox at this level; Pubs whose change of use comes under threat because planning laws do not protect them from change of use are under primarily threat because they are not viable as pubs - BECAUSE of the way they have been operated - by freeloading unregulated pubcos.

If these pubs were taken on and managed by responsible owners, invested in properly and run professionally while providing a good range of attractively priced products they would not fall foul of weak planning in the first place.

Pub closures at 25 a week, sales declining

http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/ViewArticle?R=91295

Who is Harry Hawksby talking to here? His customers? Publicans? Provate equity investors? The general public? What ARE these stats FOR? They stats are all over the place anyway Pub closures DOWN? Who really believes that - the figures come from inside the industry. Anyone keep an eye on selling agents' particulars? More pubs coming onto the market at ever lower prices doesn't tally with consumer spending in decline, far more cuts on the way, erratic weather, wholesale beer prices and general fixed costs going up and margins falling ever lower. Pub groups going into administration, pub companies breaking up their estates and slowly collapsing. No glass half full here, no optimism, the investors' “notable growth” is optimistic - it's growth for them as they juice more cash out of a diminishing bunch of fruit. That's not growth for pubs, it's growth for investors. This bit is the teller: "as the market continues to improve we could see an acceleration of public houses being offered for sale as the banks and institutions begin to exit properties which are currently being run in administration." They're in administration. They are being exited.

Hands up all those who love the beer tie?

http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/forum.ma/SaveReplyToPostPost/0

I cant stretch my arm far enough to make my point; Robert, you've really got your feet under the table now - tapping away with ever more fluency, exposing the nonsense that is the beer tie and the headless, Managing Director, chickens who operate their pubs under its protection.

The tie was an aberration when the Beer Orders came into force giving a bunch of suited spivs and shysters the opportunity to get hold of it to wring the profit out of the nation's pubs.

Without the tie these pubco fiefdoms would never have risen and the spivs would not be the men they are; worried about their pocket linings getting thin and their multi million share options being worth less than toilet paper - because of their own mismanagement of their own playing field.

Had the tie been abolished, as it should have been around 1998, the landscape of Britain would not be littered with broken, dilapidated pubs that used to be vibrant community hubs which are now sold 'suitable for alternative use STPP'. The nation's heritage would be healthier and wealthier and there would be a cafe society in our pubs instead of in corporate American imports and Italian spoofs. And the beer revolution that's just taking off right about now, would have been running along nicely at least a decade ago.

OH! By the way - don't you remember Simon Townsend - the country's authority on forensic detail of tenants' mass inability to run their own businesses well - telling Greg Mulholland and the Save the Pub Group, in June I think it was, that there is absolutely no relationship between the rents Enterprise charge and the level of debt the company carries. Nothing at all, nada. Absolutely no connection between income and debt. NO. None.