The annual National Pub & Bar Awards nominees have just been announced, and eight London pubs have made the list of 252 pubs and bars across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland vying for pub supremacy.
I was like, 'Well can I just call every pub in Ireland and conversationally ask them with AI?,' Cortland told Fortune. 'I pulled the thread, and I just kept pulling the thread, and here we are.'
Early in my career, I was going through a difficult chapter in work and life. Having moved down to London from Glasgow, I felt socially untethered, unsure of where I belonged. I yearned to feel part of a gang like I'd done back home, but I had no clue about how to find one. A bruising experience of redundancy hadn't helped matters.
NIQ's exclusive PubTrack solution has published its rankings of British consumers' favourite pub operators in 2025. The lists are based on a range of metrics from last year, including overall satisfaction and value for money, the quality of drinks and service, and intentions to revisit and recommend. The feedback provides accurate insights into guests' engagement with Britain's best-known pub names, helping operators and suppliers understand brand sentiment and benchmark performance against their competitors.
It had been trailed for a few months ahead, and I'd sworn off it; the living nightmare that was Brexit was only a few months old and Wetherspoon's Tim Martin was one of its most gracelessly triumphant fuglemen. He could keep his (incredibly cheap) pints and his (superhumanly fast) nuggets. I didn't cave piecemeal as soon as I set eyes on the Royal Victoria Pavilion, renovated, now the world's largest Wetherspoon's, I was overswept by its charm.
New rules making it much harder to close noisy pubs and clubs could be introduced under a radical plan to protect London's night-time economy. It wants councils to only investigate noise complaints if a minimum of 10 unrelated households complain, to prevent only a handful of vexatious neighbours being able to effectively force pubs and clubs to close early. The taskforce's report said London needs a more modern approach to managing sound in the city and changes to noise enforcement rules.
It can sometimes feel a bit of a bombardment with regards to new drinks products - there is a LOT being advertised on socials. So to cut through the noise, we always look at who's behind the products before anything else as it's a great way to determine what's not style over substance. The trend that's exciting us the most at the moment is a modern, solid quality approach; simple messaging, great packaging, and complex flavour.
A new listening bar has opened in Walthamstow, bringing Japanese-inspired interiors, a carefully curated sound system and a seriously strong drinks list to the neighbourhood. The Olfa Club offers 27 wines by the glass, with prices starting from a fiver, alongside a mineralised water menu, plus a record player for guests who want to bring their own vinyl or dip into the in-house selection.
Edinburgh and Glasgow have a busier nightlife than London, according to data on late-night journeys from Uber. The global ride-hailing app analysed millions of trips and takeaway deliveries from the UK's biggest cities, and found that Edinburgh had the highest proportion of journeys made between 10pm and 4am. The most popular late-night spot was Cabaret Voltaire. Glasgow had the next highest number of late-night trips, with most rides requested to and from Sub Club, the world-renowned basement venue that has been going since 1987.
