Badger beer has launched a digital competition that will send 54 winners on a camping weekend in Dorset. Competition winners will stay in Badger’s bespoke tent and they will be given two cases of beer and a voucher for a nearby Hall & Woodhouse pub. The competition goes live on May 6 via the brand’s website and social media pages and there trips to six…

Surrey brewery Hogs Back has appointed Hall & Woodhouse to distribute its broad range of beer brands in the off-trade. Hall & Woodhouse will now supply the likes of Hogstar craft lager, Hazy Hog cider and flagship brand TEA (Traditional English Ale), alongside a burgeoning range of smaller brands. They include Gardeners Tipple, Farnham White – brewed with Farnham White Bine hops from Hogs Back’s…

Independent wine merchants can taste wines from small producers encapsulating what modern Portugal does best when they visit SITT next week. The tasting takes place at the Lancashire Country Cricket Club in Manchester on February 27 and RHS Lindley Hall in London on March 1. It is a crucial tasting for both new and seasoned trade professionals, across the independent on- and off-trade sectors, and …

James Hall & Co, the Spar wholesalers for the north of England, has acquired the 30-strong chain, North East Convenience Stores (NECS). James Hall is a Lancashire-based family-owned business, which was founded in Southport in 1863. It now serves more than 600 stores in the North of England. NECS is also family-owned and is headed up by brothers Naveen and Sanjeev Vadhera. The pair will…

Sales of own-label premium bottled ale grew by almost a third in 2013 – but a leading brewer says retailer exclusives are not attracting new consumers into the market. Badger brewer Hall & Woodhouse says in the 2014 edition of its Premium Ale Insight Report that 32% growth in value sales pushed private- label to 4.8% share of the premium ale bottled market, but this…