With the festive season fast approaching, the Morning Advertiser is reminding landlords that there is profit potential in offering customers the chance to enjoy a bottle of celebratory ‘fizz’.

While sales of Champagne have suffered slightly in the recession, sparkling wines are now the best performing category in the on-trade, ahead of beer and cider.

Offering a good selection of sparkling wines like Cava and Prosecco on a bar menu provides a strong sales opportunity for landlords, especially in the run-up to the Christmas season.

Read the full article from the Morning Advertiser to find out more.

The pub industry could be in for an especially prosperous Easter thanks to the upcoming marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

As we’re sure everyone knows by now, the couple will marry on Friday 29 April, creating a unique 4-day bank holiday weekend, and pubs are bound to be busy as the nation goes about celebrating the royal wedding.

It’s also possible that the secretary may deregulate trading hours over this period as was done at the Golden Jubilee, allowing pubs to stay open for longer and boosting trade even further.

We’re encouraging Admiral landlords to start thinking about how they can maximise takings over this important weekend - preparing the pub for a screening of the wedding and putting together a special menu will ensure will draw in customers in their droves.  

Pubs could be missing out on sales by not offering its customers a big enough range of snacks, according to a new article from the Morning Advertiser.

Annual sales of snacks are currently growing by 4.5% per year, and landlords who offer customers a wealth of choice and tempting promotions - like ‘buy one get one free’ – could increase their profits significantly.

Once you’ve got your extra stock in, don’t forget that crisps and snacks need to be visible to customers; they should ideally be positioned above the bar and within 6ft of the till point to maximize sales.

Read more on how to boost your snack sales on the Morning Advertiser website and Admiral Taverns’ landlords should check their latest copy of AGENDA to find out what products we can offer.

A trio of Admiral landlords are looking to pass their much loved local on to a budding publican.

Stewart Ellams and Jamie and Jackie Williams have been running The Horseshoe Inn, Llanymynech, Powys on a temporary basis alongside their Achievement Award-winning pub, The White Horse in Churton, for several months (you can read about their award win in a previous blog).

Stewart says: “The Horseshoe Inn really is a great pub, and we’ll be sorry to leave. Unfortunately, we no longer feel we can continue to run both of our pubs simultaneously, and would like to pass the reigns at the Horseshoe to someone else with a real passion for pubs.”

The Horseshoe Inn is well positioned between Welshpool and Oswestry, in a roadside location right on the tourist route. The pub has a beer garden and children’s play area, and letting rooms that could be developed further.

If you’re interested in the pub, contact Admiral Taverns’ recruitment team. 

We’ve already offered up some tips on preparing a Christmas menu, but don’t forget how important it is to make your pub feel truly festive in every way this Christmas.

Where possible, use new Christmas decorations - if you have any tatty or worn decorations, bin them, as they’ll look dowdy rather than cheerful. If you have fairy lights, make sure they work properly and safely and, if you are having a Christmas tree, ensure it is erected properly without being a hazard to your customers.

Christmas can bring in lots of extra custom, too, so ensure that the pub is up to scratch in general – keep your toilets clean, think about adjusting your table layout to ensure customers can get to the bar easily, and keep the bar well stocked. 

Bar staff can get some top serving tips through a new online training portal.

The Training Team site from Bacardi Brown-Forman Brands (BBFB) includes video demonstrations, blogs, images and a calendar of industry events.

Users can book BBFB training courses through the site, and there will also be a weekly poll to measure bar tenders’ opinions on hot topics, webinars from master distillers, feature articles, weekly newsletters and a rolling drink of the week from leading bars across the UK.

This is a great, fun way for landlords to get their staff to brush up on their serving skills.

Take a look at the website – it’s free to register – and don’t forget to check the Training section of our website for info on other available courses with Admiral.

WaterAid is encouraging licensees to ask their customers to donate a pound every time they visit their facilities to mark World Toilet Day.

The charity, which provides clean water and sanitation to the world’s poorest communities, is hoping that pubs will join in with the initiative on Friday 19 November.

Money raised will go to helping the 2.6 billion people in the world who do not currently have safe sanitation, and we hope plenty of Admiral Taverns’ landlords will join in the fundraising efforts. To find out more or to make a donation visit The WaterAid website. 

Ian Wilson and Lynne Comley, landlords of Admiral Taverns’ pub The Black Horse in Princes Risborough, are celebrating after the pub made it into the Good Pub Guide for the third year running, and also secured a place in the Good Beer Guide 2010/2011.

Ian and Lynne, who have been at pub for 11 and 14 years respectively, have worked hard to establish a reputation for excellence.

We’d like to congratulate the pair for their hard work in building the profile of the Black Horse over the years and creating a thriving pub.

For more information on The Black Horse, visit the pub’s website; if you’d like to give running a pub a try, take a look at our pubs to let.

British Pub Week is well underway, and Admiral landlords up and down the country are getting into the spirit by running special themed nights.

This is a great opportunity for customers to show their support for their local and remind themselves exactly why it is that we’re a nation of pub lovers.

If you want to celebrate the Great British pub, then you can search for your nearest participating venue on the Use Your Local website.