‘Hundreds of outdoor drinkers’: City AM’s Pub of the Week is The Wren on Watling Street February 18, 2026 If you’re looking for a man in finance, go to TikTok, where videos streamed millions of times tell you to go to Watling Street. It’s the skinny lane with St Paul’s Cathedral at the end and four pubs along it, where in the summer hundreds tightly pack with al fresco pints. Ye Olde Watling, where [...]
Third of young Brits brew business ideas at the pub February 18, 2026 A third of young Brits have come up with a business idea over a pint at their local boozer, new research has revealed. Brits are finding unlikely entrepreneurial inspiration in pubs as 18 per cent of all people in the UK have had a light-bulb business moment here, according to new polling by GoDaddy. This [...]
Hospitality crisis pushed thousands of firms to shut in 2025 February 17, 2026 Thousands of hospitality industries were forced to call time last year, as soaring operating costs took their toll. The owners of 3,353 accommodation, food and drink firms entered insolvency proceedings in the twelve months to December 2025, according to the Buchler Phillips hospitality index. These insolvencies spell out the impact of food inflation and climbing [...]
Brewdog calls time as advisers brought in to assess bidders February 14, 2026 Independent craft beer brewer, Brewdog, has called in advisers to oversee a sale that could trigger a break-up of one of Scotland’s well-known businesses. The board of Brewdog, which brands include Punk IPA and Elvis Juice, has appointed restructuring experts Alix Partners to attract interest from potential bidders, first reported by Sky News. Sources said [...]
Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham criticise pub tax raid February 12, 2026 Two prominent potential leadership challengers to Sir Keir Starmer have attacked the government’s tax regime for putting hospitality businesses, and particularly pubs, under serious pressure. Angela Rayner acknowledged that the hike to the minimum wage has put pressure on hospitality businesses, and said that the government needs to “start relieving” the sector. Starmer’s former deputy [...]
Landlords ‘underestimated’ scale of business rates overhaul February 11, 2026 The architect of Labour’s business rates overhaul has blamed the political backlash to the controversial policy on landlords and industry chiefs not fully understanding that a pandemic-related subsidy was coming to an end. Treasury minister Dan Tomlinson told MPs that business owners were taken off-guard by the scale of their tax rise because they weren’t [...]
Wetherspoon boss backs Reform pub package – and defends dog policy February 9, 2026 Sir Tim Martin, chairman of JD Wetherspoon, has called on hospitality firms to back Reform’s proposed pub support package, arguing it would “utterly transform” the landscape for pubs. In a stock exchange release, Martin said Reform’s proposals would offer pubs “tax parity” with supermarkets. “By eliminating the tax differential between supermarkets and the hospitality industry, [...]
The real Guinness Six Nations showdown is happening in the pub February 7, 2026 As the Guinness Six Nations kicks off, Britain will do what it does best: argue about referees, over-analyse scrums, and drink a respectable amount of beer. And while the games unfold on the pitch, another contest will play out in pubs, feeds and group chats across the country. For beer brands, live sport remains one [...]
Pub of the week: Toast Award-winner The Rising Sun on Carter Lane February 4, 2026 Nobody loves a pub as much as City AM. Over the years we have campaigned for them, we have reported on their plight, and we have honoured them in our Toast the City Awards. Now we’re launching a new regular feature celebrating the best drinking holes in the Square Mile and beyond. While the exact [...]
Farage’s Reform UK backtracks on key benefits policy to support pubs February 3, 2026 Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has ditched its backing of Labour to support the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap as it set out policies to back pubs facing rising costs. In May last year, Farage said the party backed lifting the two-child benefit cap as part of a string of proposals to boost birth rates [...]