Pubs and Bars

The Pubs and Bars section on Catering Today covers the business developments, market trends, and operational challenges shaping the UK’s pub and bar sector. It reports on acquisitions, brand expansions, drinks innovation, and regulatory updates, alongside insights into staffing, sustainability, and consumer behaviour. With expert commentary and commercial analysis, Catering Today provides industry professionals with the intelligence needed to navigate a competitive and fast-evolving on-trade environment.

Mar- 2022 -

21 March

Star Pubs & Bars launches Jubilee Weekend support package for licensees

Star Pubs and Bars has announced a raft of support for all its managed operator pubs including free point-of-sale (POS) kits with a retail value of over £200, to take advantage of what it calls “one of the biggest trading opportunities of the summer”. Consumer research carried out for Star…
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18 March

Feb deliveries and takeaways double pre-Covid levels but growth slows

Britain’s managed restaurant and pub groups’ delivery and takeaway sales continue to run at more than twice the level seen before Covid-19 – but trading has dipped from the peaks of early 2021. That is according to the latest CGA and Slerp Hospitality at Home Tracker, which found that groups’…
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7 March

Nightcap to open The Cocktail Club in Cardiff

Nightcap, the owner of The Cocktail Club, the Adventure Bar Group and the Barrio Familia group of bars, has announced a further opening for The Cocktail Club in Cardiff in early May. The latest The Cocktail Club, which is located at 75 St Mary Street, Cardiff, CF10 1FA covers an…
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7 March

Revolution Bars bolsters senior team with new hires

Revolution Bars Group, the operator of Revolution, Revolución de Cuba, Playhouse and Founders and Co, has bolstered its senior team with two new hires. The move will see its executive team move to a female majority for the first time ever, “outlining its ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion with…
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1 March

Revolution bars returns to profitability in H1

The Revolution Bars Group has announced its pre-tax profits for the 26 weeks ended 1 January 2022 (H1 FY22) hit £4.3m, up from a loss of £17.7m in the comparative FY21 period, and up from a loss of £1.6m for the same period in FY20. Additionally, the group returned to…
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Feb- 2022 -

28 February

Storms ‘batter’ UK drinks sales, CGA finds

Average drinks sales by value for managed pubs, bars and restaurants were down 18% in the week to last Saturday, 19 February, compared to the same period in 2020, as a result of both storm Dudley and Eunice meaning many consumers decided not to venture out. Friday 18 February, when…
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22 February

Nightcap extends bar openings

Nightcap, the owner of The Cocktail Club, the Adventure Bar Group and the Barrio Familia group of bars, has announced a number of additional planned openings in 2022 set to further expand its UK estate. In early April 2022 the group will open The Cocktail Club in Exeter. The bar…
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22 February

Shepherd Neame appoints new pub MD

Shepherd Neame has appointed Jonathon Swaine as its new managing director of pubs. The brewery described Swaine as an “experienced, proven operator” in the hospitality and pub sector. Prior to the last three years as managing director of Retail at the Rank Group Plc, he has spent the majority of…
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21 February

Star to double its managed operator pubs in Scotland

Star Pubs and Bars has announced it is to double the size of its Scottish managed operator Just Add Talent (JAT) estate. The company currently has six JAT pubs in Scotland. Subject to recruiting new operators, it will create a further seven managed operator pubs during 2022. JAT is aimed…
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16 February

The Standard to launch cocktail bar Sweeties

The Standard has announced it will launch Sweeties, a new 10th floor cocktail bar and “late-night spot.” Occupying the eastern length of the building, Sweetie’s interiors, designed by long-time Standard collaborator Shawn Hausman, evoke an early 1970s Hollywood opulence. Ochre velvet sofas, ruched leather banquettes, mirrored tables, and a six-foot…
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