Psychologists in Scandinavia have been researching how people in bars rate their own attractiveness as the evening progresses – regardless of how drunk they feel
Name: Sexy time.
Age: Not important, this is all about attractiveness.
Continue reading...Forget bowling nights and bar-hopping – the thud of metal in wood is the new way of letting off steam
On a blustery Thursday evening, the sound of deep thuds and high shrieks can be heard along the canal in east London’s Hackney Wick. They emanate from axe-throwing venue Skeeters, named after the famous native American axe and knife thrower. It might sound unnerving, but head inside and the fairy lights – plus colleagues enjoying a work social – soon put you at ease.
“It’s been a stressful year at work so it seemed like a good work social,” says Gemma Sutton, a 27-year-old product designer who tonight tried axe throwing for the first time. “It was fun. Most things you do as work socials involve going to a bar – it was nice to do something a bit different.”
Continue reading...Breweries have been cheering as demand has gone through the roof, even before pubs can reopen their bars and snugs
Glasses were raised in pub gardens across the country on Saturday as revellers wrapped in thick jackets and jumpers made the most of the spring sunshine – and the beer.
Publicans and brewery owners are quietly worried about how to keep up with customers’ overwhelming thirst for beer, wine and spirits in the face of supply chain issues and staff recruitment problems.
Continue reading...Labour leftwingers and Tory libertarians oppose them, while Keir Starmer’s position appears flexible
One of the most significant political controversies of the coronavirus period is likely to be over the idea of Covid “passports” – app-based, biometric certificates that would allow people entry to potentially crowded spaces. While they are sometimes referred to as “vaccine passports”, these would not just show vaccination status. Other ways people could prove they were safe to mingle would be a sufficiently recent test showing significant Covid antibodies, or a very recent negative test for the virus.
These are distinct from the idea of a proof of vaccination to be allowed to enter overseas countries, which is less contentious.
Continue reading...The snacks were deemed by ministers last week to be sufficient to order alongside alcohol in tier 2-area pubs
Suppliers of scotch eggs have reported a surge in demand after ministers said they classed as a “substantial meal”, thereby allowing people to order alcohol alongside them in pubs.
The food wholesaler Brakes, which works with 50,000 pubs across the UK, has seen a 10-fold increase in demand for the pork and breadcrumb-covered eggs since the lockdown in England ended last week.
Continue reading...Covid measures are designed to help businesses forced to close their doors over the winter
Hospitality businesses in the north of England have said they will struggle to survive on the new support package unveiled by the chancellor if they are forced into weeks of local lockdowns.
Carol Ross, the landlady of the Roscoe Head pub in Liverpool, said the new jobs support package- which includes the government paying 67% of employee salaries if businesses are forced to shut down and a further £3,000 a month in cash grants towards other costs – was not enough.
Continue reading...PM announces 10pm closing for pubs, a ban on indoor team sports and new weddings curbs
The UK is at a “perilous turning point” and must act, Boris Johnson has told MPs, announcing new restrictions for England including slashing the size of wedding celebrations and bans on indoor team sports, as well as a return to home working.
Speaking in the Commons on Tuesday, Johnson announced a ban on indoor team sports, such as five-a-side football, and said plans for a partial return of sports fans to stadiums from 1 October had been “paused”. Wedding celebrations will be limited to just 15 guests, half of what was previously permitted, though funerals will be allowed to go ahead with up to 30 mourners.
Continue reading...At least 6,000 people say they caught coronavirus in Ischgl, dubbed ‘Ibiza on ice’, and their class action is gaining pace. Those who were there recall a terrifying week
In the first week of March, Charlie Jackson had an argument with his wife. The recruitment agent, 53, from Pangbourne in Berkshire, was due to catch a flight to Innsbruck for a three-day “boys’ holiday”, skiing in the Tirolean Alps. Jackson’s wife, Carol, felt Ischgl, the resort booked by the group, was a bit too close to the parts of northern Italy that had recently been shut down to contain the spread of a mystery flu-like illness. But Jackson threw caution to the wind: he had already spent more than £1,000 on the trip.
Ischgl, one of the most popular ski resorts in Europe, is what Jackson calls “a boyish kind of place”. He and his friends had been visiting the town in the Paznaun valley, Austria, for the past nine years. The snow is reliably powdery from November to May. The compact nature of the place means you don’t need a car to get around. The facilities are well-run: Ischgl has 45 state-of-the-art ski lifts, three of which take you directly from the edge of town to the mountain.
Continue reading...Tracker finds sales about 40% down on same period last year among venues that reopened
People have not embraced an easing of lockdown restrictions in England’s pubs, bars and restaurants, according to figures that showed a drop in sales of about 40% among venues that opened their doors at the beginning of the month.
Pubs that were open in the week beginning 6 July posted a 39% decline in sales compared with the same period last year, while bars were down 43% and restaurants down 40%.
Continue reading...Pubs, restaurants, hairdressers, cinemas and theme parks reopen, and weddings and baptisms take place as the lockdown eases
Continue reading...Coronavirus crisis could prove final straw for some businesses in hospitality sector, poll finds
More than 30,000 pubs, bars and restaurants may remain permanently closed because the coronavirus shutdown has sent a wrecking ball through the UK’s hospitality trade.
The grim prediction follows a week in which the Casual Dining Group, which owns the Bella Italia and Café Rouge restaurant chains, warned it was headed into administration – casting doubt over the future of its 250 restaurants.
Continue reading...Camra awards Wonston Arms pub of the year after landlord left job in marketing to save it
A small pub in Hampshire saved from closure by the community four years ago has been named pub of the year, with the landlord saying he was “flabbergasted his little pub has beaten off the big boys”.
The Wonston Arms, which looked likely to be lost to developers, won the prize at the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) awards 2019.
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