Britain a leading tennis nation?

With the recent success of the Tour finals held at the O2 arena earlier this month and the continued ascent of Andy Murray on the surface British Tennis is in a healthy state.

This of course fails to mentioned the fact that we have the privalage to host the holy grail of tennis every year, the Wimbeldon championships.

Still the ATP national rankings paint a very different story. Team GB is placed in 36th place in the latest list, one place below Kazakhstan.

Compare this with the other Grand Slam hosts the US, France and Australia who come in at 2nd, 10th and 15th respectivley.

This poses the question does Great Britain deserve to host such illustrious tournaments?

Northwich Victoria shock high flying Charlton

Blue Square North side Northwich Victoria defeated League One’s Charlton Athletic 1-0 at the Victoria Stadium earlier this afternoon.

The match that pitted a team ranked over 80 higher in the league against the part timers from Wincham had the feel of a possible upset from the outset. Almost instantly it was clear that this would not be a routine victory for the league one side. The hard work and dogged determination of the Northwich side saw them pose the greater threat.

Twice the Charlton defence cleared Matt Bailey’s headers off the line as the defender provided a constant threat from set pieces. In truth Charlton were fortunate to return to the dressing room at half time on equal terms following a mad goal mouth scramble just minutes before the whistle.
The second half start in acrimonious fashion as striker Izale McLeod elbowed his Northwitch counterpart whilst the referee’s back was turned. It was clear that Charlton manager Phil Parkinson had told his men to match their opponents determination and desire as the league one side began to gain an uncomfortable ascendancy.

Yet just when the matched seemed to be shifting in Charlton’s favour an 81st minute poke home from 18 year old substitute Wayne Riley sent the home crowd into raptures.
For the last 10 minutes the atmosphere there was a mixture of tension and anticipation bubbling around the stadium.

Their reward for their giant killing efforts is another home time against Lincoln city a match that they must feel is winnable after today’s result.

My Pick of the second round match ups:

Kettering Town vs Leeds United
Northwitch Vic vs Lincoln City
AFC Bournemouth vs Notts County

Just the Job for Jake

With businesses struggling to make a profit and unemployment levels rising across the country people looking to break into the job market could be forgiven for losing heart.

However the message from one teenager in Swindon is to keep at it.

After nearly two years out of work, 19 year old Jake Skelton landed a Job at the Jurys Inn hotel on Fleming way. “As long as you stick it out you’ll always find your reward.” Jake said.

“I’ve told some of my mates, once you’ve got a job and you earn the money that’s coming in it makes you feel a lot better.”

Six weeks on from starting as a night porter Jake has already noticed a difference, “Now I feel a hell of a lot better.” He said.

“I can go out to the pub with my mates, I go bowling and can socialise with my family. Last weekend I even rented a boat out.”

Before being given the job at Jurys Inn, Jake went through a two week pre-employment training course, run by the New Deal team at Swindon Job Centre Plus. “We had tutors from Swindon College as well as people from Jury’s.” Jake said.

“They taught us team bonding and how important it is to have fun at work- and it really works. I really enjoy my job.” he added.

Carly Fender, HR Manager at Jurys Inn also thinks that it is important to train new staff members with a wide range of skills.

“They visited the kitchens at Swindon College and prepared food and served it to us. Everyone on the course was guaranteed an interview but not a job.” She said.

The training scheme is part of a government drive to get people without experience into work, a hurdle that Jake himself frequently came up against.

“I applied for hundreds of jobs but I needed experience to get them and no one’s willing to give you a go. I got the odd temping job at warehouses, but it was only for a week or two at a time.” Jake said.

But Jake insisted that there is help available and described how staff at Job Centre Plus “arranged for some funding so that I could buy myself a new suit from Burton’s for my interview.”

Jake added: “There is a silver lining to everything. You’ve just got to have hope in it really.”

The closure of the Sun Inn

The Sun Inn in Lydiard Millicent was just one of the pubs across the country that was forced to close it's doors earlier this year.

We look at how the closure of Lydiard Millicent's only village has affected local residents and how other pubs in the area are working to draw in the punters.

All tied up?

In recent weeks the role of large pub companies (or pubcos) was thrust into the spotlight following an investigation by the Business and Enterprise Select Committee


Committee member Brian Binley MP said: “We had a lot of complaints about relationships between certain pubcos and their tenants so we felt it was right and proper to look into the matter.”


The pub tie is an agreement, between landlords and pub companies, allowing tenants to run a pub without owning the property while being tied in to certain Beers and products from the pubco.


The tie itself has been in use for nearly 200 years, but it is only since the 1989 Beer Act that pub companies, acting as middle men between landlords and breweries, have flourished.


Fellow BEC member Lembit Opik MP said: “The thing must be brought to a head; if nothing is done then pubs will continue to decline.


“The single biggest change needs to be a level playing field for the tenants of tied pubs. They pay a lot for their beer, often more than if they were free hold and they lose a lot of their income on the arrangements made between the landlord and pubco.”


The BEC report itself has recommended that the tie be investigated further by the standards commission, a body with strong legislative powers.


Mr Opik said: “The standards committee have the teeth to make a significant intervention if that is what is called for. This could lead to the biggest change in the pub environment since 1989.”


Following the BEC report landlords have come together to form the Fair Pint Campaign and call for the abolishment of the tie.


Co-founder Michael Bell said: “The cost of tied beer is now almost twice as much as you would pay at a standard wholesaler.”


A lot of pretty good pubs have gone to the wall that should not have done.”


However pub companies have hit back following the report, in a statement Enterprise Inns one of Britain’s largest pub companies said: “We are currently spending c£1.4m per month on rental support and special discounts and have also frozen prices on five key brands across the estate, costing us an additional £700,000 per month.


“From a tied licensee’s perspective, the ‘compensation’ for paying more for beer is that he/she pays much less rent and may receive a vast array of additional support services.”


Yet Mr Bell feels that they could do more; “They are not doing enough for landlords at all, the situation is very bad. The rent is about as highly rented as it should be and yet we are still paying over the odds for beer.”


Director of McManus pubs Paul McManus agrees: “I think the pub tie is not fair, the pubcos were just having a revolving door of a manager. They must know that with some pubs that business model doesn’t work.


“They were letting people buy into this tenancy agreement, maybe some people would sell their house to raise the money and then it wouldn’t work they would kick them out and get the next person in.”


However other areas of the industry feel that other factors are to blame. The British Beer and Pub Association who represent pub companies feel that it is the tax on beer that is driving prices up rather than the tie.


BBPA Communications manager Neil Williams said: “we certainly feel that the recent problems the industry has suffered are not due to the pub tie. They are due to other factors, high taxation, rapidly increasing regulation and very, very difficult economic circumstances.”


Wetherspoon’s Media Manager Eddie Gershon said: “People are hurting and taxation on beer is very very high, we would defiantly call for a reduction on that.We know it’s cheaper to buy drink in a supermarket or to go to Calais and buy it but when you go to a pub you go for a social experience and that is what we have got to sell.”


However BEC member Mr Opik disagrees, arguing that a review of taxation is not as important as reviewing the tie: “There may be an investigation to be had there in the future but is not nearly as pressing as getting the pubcos sorted out.


The pubcos are very angry about the report and they have become very defensive about it, but somebody had to say something and the tenants didn’t have the power to do it.”


Iain Loe from the Campaign for Real Ale summerised: "In an ideal world we would like to see more freehouses run although we do see the value of the tie.


"Many of the family breweries in Britain do run their pubs very responsibly they give help to their tenants or lessees."


The pub tie is set to go before the Competition commission in the next few months and may yet herald a new chapter for the British pub sector.

A landlady's tale

Patsy Lowe is just one of the thousands of landlords across the country working hard to keep pubs open and thinks they need to focus on being the centre of their local communities.

We ask what life is really like as a village landlady.

A day at Piddle Brewery

Despite the rapid increase in pub closures over the last few years the popularity of 'real ale' is going from strength to strength.

We take you on a journey through the Brewing process at a visit to Piddle brewery in Dorset.