Posts by Glynn Davis
Book Review – ‘The Firkin Saga’ by David Bruce
Back in 2001 I was enjoying breakfast with pub wizard David Bruce at Simpson’s on the Strand when he told me about his latest venture the Capital Pub Company that was fundraising at the time. But he deterred me from investing a few quid in it because as an impoverished journalist I would not benefit…
Read MoreSmaller brewers need relief
Visiting Battersea Beer festival in 1987-88 was a revelation for all drinkers present that year because it was the first time a truly golden ale had been produced in the UK. Exmoor Gold from Exmoor Ales in Somerset created a buzz in south west London because it was a lip-smacking departure from the ubiquitous brown…
Read MoreDesert Island Pubs – David Wood, business development consultant, FRP Advisory
David Wood, business development consultant, FRP Advisory 1. Earliest Memory of a Pub It would have been somewhere near Tenby in South Wales, circa 1969. I’d have been about 13, and on a family holiday. Stood outside with half a pint of shandy and a packet of crisps. I can vaguely recall the smell of…
Read MoreRise of the silver servers
When the shuttered Four Sisters pub reopened as The Pocket in Islington with an expansive beer list, I made the short tube trip south for a visit during its opening week. During this early evening jaunt when the pub was particularly quiet, I enquired how things were going to the couple of 20-something’s serving behind…
Read MoreDesert Island Pubs – Mark Crowther, chairman of Portobello Pub co., The Pub People Company and Heron & Brearley
Mark Crowther, chairman of Portobello Pub co. and The Pub People Company 1. Earliest memory of a pub you can recall? Although I grew up in Cambridge my parents would regularly take us on holiday around the UK. As a child I remember taking the sea tractor across to Burgh Island in south Devon where…
Read MoreTime to scale back on food in pubs
When the smoking ban came into force in 2007, one of the biggest impacts was the widespread move by pub operators to introduce food into pubs that had previously never ventured further into the realm of selling solids than offering crisps and peanuts. It was a revolutionary period that made the once smoky, boozy environments…
Read MoreDesert Island Pubs – Adam Mayers
Adam Mayers, managing director, Hydes 1. Earliest memory of a pub you can recall? My earliest memory of a pub is visiting the Wellington on Tranch road in Pontypool. Known under the nickname the “Sally” and now renamed as that. I remember drinking Coke from a glass bottle and may have even had chicken and chips…
Read MoreRooms for improvement
Settling into the bar of the Royal Forest pub on the edge of Epping Forest on a gloriously sunny Friday evening ahead of a meal in its restaurant would have been a real treat in itself for my family, but we also had the added enjoyment of being only feet away from our comfortable rooms…
Read MoreDesert Island Pubs – Richard Ferrier
Richard Ferrier, CEO, Heartwood Collection 1. Earliest memory of a pub you can recall? My earliest memory of a pub is sipping a J2O and eating Scampi Fries on the wall outside the ‘Captain’s Wife’ in Sully near Cardiff where I grew up. We would walk the dog along the seafront looking out over the…
Read MoreSpot the beer
It is not long ago that beer in cans was regarded as substandard to that sold in bottles but that changed with the craft beer revolution when the top new brewers recognised the value of cans and have largely chosen the material over glass ever since. Cans are increasingly being used to house a range…
Read More