General

There’s so much gloom and doom around right now, with the cost-of-living crisis creating an environment that has prompted many people to simply stay at home and crack open some cans of beer and cocktails rather than venturing outdoors for something more socially nourishing. Against this backdrop, I’m so pleased to have made the journey…

Pubs have been hitting the headlines yet again with closures accelerating as wet-led venues face the prospect of the £8 pint and food-led businesses struggle to secure ingredients at anything like affordable prices. But there remains a sweet spot in the market – pubs with dining and accommodation – and the Brakspear-owned Honeycomb Houses has…

Over the years my attendance at trade events in Olympia has traditionally ended with the rewardof a couple of pints of well kept beer in the welcoming Warwick Arms on the very unwelcomingWarwick Road. And so it was the same journey I took last week, but this time I was met with themajority of the…

Returning to the Butcher’s Hook & Cleaver pub in Smithfield Market in the City of London last week for a business lunch brought back many happy memories as it served as the venue where my wife and I held our wedding reception almost 20 years ago to the day. Sitting in almost the same spot…

Beer is increasingly doing good for society and the work of The Good Beer Co for both The Big Jubilee Lunch and Thank You Day, set for June 5, will take things to another level through the nationwide availability of the specially brewed Thank Brew beer. The company initially began working closely with Fergus Fitzgerald,…

When working in the City of London some years back, my lunchtimes typically involved a short stroll down Fenchurch Street to the East India Arms for a few pints of Young’s Ordinary Bitter. I was certainly not the only person with this near-daily routine, because the small one-bar pub would be packed from before noon…