The PubAgent Weekly
Marvin's Eye.
What is moving in UK pubs, why it matters and what I would do next. Facts first. Judgement clearly labelled.
Latest edition
19 to 25 October 2026
What pubs can afford to invest
Ahead of Wednesday's Budget, pub operators set out their tax concerns while company results show where investment and operating models are moving.
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Earlier editions
12 to 18 October 2026
A better September. The same hard questions.
Pubs sold more draught beer in September, but closures, tax pressure and the coming Budget still set the terms for winter trading.
28 September to 4 October 2026
More sales. Less profit at Wetherspoon.
This week's reports put sales, profit, costs and estate growth alongside each other. The useful work is local: check what each pub kept after its costs.
Reports from 24 September to 5 October 2026
The bar won the summer. The kitchen did not.
Mitchells & Butlers sold far more drink than food this summer. Shepherd Neame's pubs outran its brewery. Check which part of your trade did the work before you plan the winter.
22 to 28 September 2026
The trade is building its Budget case one number at a time
Mitchells & Butlers, the BBPA, Stonegate and the Insolvency Service all put a figure on the table this week. Read together, they show an industry with a stronger hand than the Treasury might assume, and one still pricing a bill it cannot yet see.
15 to 21 September 2026
The pub is being repriced from the front door to the freehold
Digital ID at the door, £300m estate talks, a £190m insolvency bill and a new energy shock all point the same way: assumptions that looked settled are being rewritten.
8 to 14 September 2026
The trade is redrawing who should operate what
Assets, operating models and routes to market are being rearranged at speed. The useful question is not who owns more, but who can make each part pay.
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