Permit Room

This November, UK restaurant group Dishoom will open Permit Room in Brighton – a standalone bar taking its influence from the permit rooms, beer bars and drinking holes of Bombay’s post prohibition-era of the 1960s and 1970s. The all-day bar-café will be heavily focused on the drinks offer, with a brand new cocktail and drinks list featuring alongside an all-new menu of ‘moreish drinking food’. Permit Room’s new home in the Brighton Lanes also harks back to Bombay’s original permit rooms in tucked away side roads, many of which are still open today.

Millennial fallout threatens premiumisation

A major shift in premiumisation trends is about to occur, new analysis from the IWSR has concluded, as millennials and those who enjoyed greater discretionary spend during the pandemic feel the strain of a new period of economic instability and stagnation.

The era of economic moderation is here, as inflation finally bites

Premiumisation was an ongoing trend in wines and spirits during the first half of 2022 as consumers leaned into little luxuries, new data has revealed. However, as we teeter on the brink of global recession, it is increasingly clear that consumers are holding back on their drinks purchases – a trend that could be particularly acute in the UK, where both intensifying economic gloom and rising inflation is threatening to ‘derail premiumisation’.

Looking ahead: Elise Mérigaud, La Dame de Pic

With the first half of 2022 already history, Harpers asked key trade figures to highlight the current challenges, ongoing trends and opportunities.

Multiplying out

In the first of a regular look at the multiples, Andrew Catchpole sizes up the general health of the sector.

Consumer interest in no and low products surging

One in three UK drinkers now regularly choose low or no alcohol brands, according to a new survey commissioned by the Portman Group.

Diageo urges drinkers to ‘Know When to Stop’ at Christmas

Smirnoff and Johnnie Walker maker Diageo has launched a new global responsible drinking campaign aimed at urging people to know when to say enough’s enough this Christmas.

Premium spirits: Paying the price of lockdown

Pubs and restaurants to bounce back “with a vengeance” in 2022-2024

A total of £3.1bn growth is expected for the UK eating and drinking out market from 2022-24, new data has forecasted, with pubs and restaurants set to claim a £1.3bn share.

Portman research predicts “cautious return” to pubs post lockdown

Pubgoers look set to tailor some of their pre-pandemic drinking behaviours once restrictions ease, the Portman Group has said, with many planning to drink less when they return to the on-trade post-lockdown.

Jerry Lockspeiser: When wine meets running

The wine trade’s more physically active members will be familiar with the Marathon du Médoc, probably the wine world’s best-known attempt to reconcile the irreconcilable – running 42.2km (26.2 miles) while drinking lots of wine. Twenty-three glasses of Bordeaux’s best to be precise.

Guy Woodward: Reasons to be cheerful(ish)

Four things I’m excited about in 2021…

Wine drinking occasions up in lockdowns

Wine drinkers across key consumption markets have been turning more often to the beverage during the pandemic. This is spurred by new lockdown occasions and more drinking outside of mealtimes, according to a new Wine Consumer Trends in the Covid-19 Era report released by Wine Intelligence.

Profile: John Timothy, The Portman Group

Health rose to the top of the agenda at the beginning of 2020 in a way we’ve never seen before. Jo Gilbert speaks to the face of alcohol responsibility in the UK about meeting this challenge

Portman Group rebuts Royal College of Psychiatrists report

The Portman Group has hit back at a report from the Royal College of Psychiatrists which sparked widespread alarm at the impact of Covid-19 on alcohol consumption.

Portman Group hits back at ‘radical’ report's suggestions, including MUP for England

The Portman Group has hit back at a new report which recommends the introduction of several ‘radical’ new measures for combating alcohol harm in the UK.

Portman Group labels Drinking in the Dark report “utter nonsense”

The Portman Group has issued a strong rebuttal to a new report from the Alcohol Health Alliance (AHA) which calls alcohol labelling in the UK “inadequate”.

Slow return for consumer confidence

Consumer confidence with regard to eating and drinking out dipped in the UK in July as the reality of an altered hospitality landscape sank in.

Al fresco summer plans expected to skyrocket cocktails-to-go

Canned drinks and grab-and-go cocktails to go are expected to be given a major boost this summer thanks to a new vogue in outdoor drinking.

Alcohol sales knocked back until 2022

Despite the shift from on-trade to home drinking, lockdown could still leave a sobering £7bn hole in UK alcohol sales this year.