With Freshers Week on the horizon, we’re reminding our landlords with pubs near campuses that the students’ return could bring in lots of extra custom.

The Morning Advertiser has put together a great guide for landlords on attracting students without alienating other customers. Tips include offering real ale - surprisingly popular with the student market- goodie bags and coffee and running open mic nights to attract this lucrative customer base.

Read the article for more tips on preparing your pub for the influx.

With autumn fast approaching, our landlords need to start thinking about indoor based activities that will keep their customers coming back on a regular basis.

Play The Gamer, the UK's first national live console gaming league, offers landlords the opportunity to host gaming nights at their pub in order to boost drinks sales.

The gaming nights will be promoted in GAME stores, and could bring in a whole new customer base to your pub.

To find out more or sign up, visit the Play The Gamer website.

With the ninth annual British Food Fortnight getting underway from 18 September, we’re encouraging our landlords whose pubs serve food to think about getting involved.

For pubs that don’t have a local food offer, it’s a great time to start; for those that already do, the two week celebration of British cuisine is a good time to shout about it.

Think about running promotional offers or featuring special dishes made with local produce to boost sales, increase footfall and attract new customers.

Visit the Love British food website for more information and tips on making the most of British Food Fortnight.

Pub landlords can now get some top tips on running their businesses.

Nectar Business has joined forces with entrepreneur James Caan and government advice network Business Link to launch an online guide for small businesses.

It contains 25 top tips including advice, hints, tips and resources to help small firms, including pubs.Visitors to the site can also submit their own business tips to be in with a chance of winning 50,000 Nectar points.

View the guide to find out more.

Admiral Taverns landlord Egil Johansen of The Kenton in Hackney has been celebrating after receiving two award honours.

Egil has been given an Admiral Taverns Achievement Award for all his hard work at the pub and he was also named Best Newcomer of the London region in the Morning Advertiser’s Great British Pub Awards 2010.

Egil has given The Kenton a complete refit and created a welcoming and youthful feel at the pub. Customers can enjoy a varied calendar of events including movie nights, pub quizzes, jumble sales and club nights, and the back room of the pub is given over to exhibits from upcoming artists.

Egil is now set to go on to compete for the Best Newcomer in the UK at the Morning Advertiser award ceremony on 9th September – we wish him the best of luck. 

Creating an online presence can be very beneficial to your business. Whether it’s setting up a Facebook or Twitter page so your regulars can ‘follow’ you and find out what’s going on at the pub or signing up for services like the Sky PreviewLive, the internet is full of opportunities to promote your business.

Not only can getting yourself online keep your regulars up to date with the latest news, it can also attract customers from outside the immediate area by promoting your pub on a wider level

You’ll find lots of information on the latest online services that can boost business at your pub on our blog - if you’re not sure how to get your pub online, this is a good place to start.

We’ll also soon be introducing a new service to help our landlords create their own website quickly and simply. Keep an eye on the website for more details.

Admiral has been recognising the efforts of some of its successful landlords by presenting them with Admiral Taverns Achievement Awards.

Awards have recently gone out to Harry Stokes from the Saint Nicolas pub in Stevenage and Mick and Lorraine from the Abbey Hotel in Accrington.

Allfour landlords have been recognised by their BDMs for their commitment to excellence.

Harry,who has been at the Saint Nicholas for two years with his wife Glynis, was rewarded for his innovative approach to his business.  He set up a breakfast café in his former poolroom and it’s taken off with local residents as there’s nothing else like it in the local area.

Peter Smith, Harry’s BDM, said: “Harry and his wife are fantastic role models for anyone who’s ever wanted to run a pub. Their unique approach to running the St Nicholas has established the pub as the hub of the community.”

Mick and Lorraine from the Abbey were acknowledged for their charity efforts after raising thousands of pounds for a variety of local charities.

Mick said: “All the customers vote to choose a new preferred charity on a regular basis; we’ll be donating another cheque to Macmillan Cancer Support in September.

“We’re very proud of the positive changes we’ve made to the pub and our contribution to local charities over the years and are delighted to have received this award.”

To join Admiral's network of award-winning landlords, take a look at venues available in our pubs to let section. 

Gaming machines can generate vital extra income for your pub. However, landlords need to be aware that machines, which are often loaded with cash, could end up being targeted by criminals.

To help you avoid the pitfalls, we’ve put together a guide on how best to protect your machines.

Laying the ground work

There are several proactive steps you can take to try and protect yourself from gaming machine crime.

Always place your machine in a busy area of the pub rather than in an isolated alcove; this will go a long way to deter thieves as they’re unlikely to act if the machine is overlooked. Likewise, if CCTV is installed at your pub, make sure one of your cameras is trained on the fruit machine area.

Also be sure to empty your machine regularly; that way, if you do have a break in, the loss will be minimised.

Maintaining security

Keep your eyes out for suspicious looking groups congregating around a machine,particularly if they are wearing heavy clothing that could potentially be concealing devices to help them break into the machine or hidden pockets to help them get away with the proceeds.

Try and keep anyone you suspect in your eye line to monitor the situation – things to look out for in particular are stools or chairs being pushed up against the lower front door of the gaming machine, as well as the attract lights on the top door suddenly turning off.

Beware of customers alerting you to the fact that an object other than a coin has been inserted into the acceptors or claiming that the machine has swallowed the money – this could be a ploy to get you to open up the machine.

Call the police immediately if you think you’re witnessing a machine crime, and, if you don’t have CCTV, make written descriptions of the offenders and note any vehicle registrations you can as soon as possible.

This downloadable guide gives tips for making the most of your leisure machines

Keeping your kitchen safe is not only the law; it’s good business sense.

Readour top tips on keeping your kitchen clean and pointers on best practise.

No cross contamination

Cross-contamination is one of the most common causes of food poisoning and your prime concern should be avoiding problems in this area.

It is important to keep food covered to help protect it from harmful bacteria; this is especially important for cooked food and other ready-to-eat food. Always use containers or bags that have been designed to store food and ensure you have plenty of well organised storage space so that it’s easy to keep food separate.

Train your staff to ensure they are working in the kitchen in the right way (e.g. tying long hair back, removing jewellery, regularly washing their hands etc.). Cleaning cloths can harbour all sorts of bacteria so consider using single-use cloths if you aren’t already and always ensure your staff know best practise when it comes to using cleaning products.

Keep non-food related products (e.g. cleaning products) well away from your food preparation and storage areas and maintain good hygiene levels.

Keep things clean

Good hygiene goes a long way in the kitchen.

It’s best to draw up a cleaning and clearing schedule, including information on how your staff should clean, how often and who is responsible for what to avoid any confusion.

Make sure that hand basins are convenient with plenty of soap and disposable towels available for staff use and always be sure to set a good example to staff in your own hygiene practises.

Chill out

Chilling food properly helps to stop harmful bacteria from growing. It is recommended that fridges and chilled display equipment should be set at 5 degrees or below;you should check the temperature of your chilling equipment at least once a day.

When it comes to defrosting food, always allow enough time for food to properly thaw, either in the fridge or at room temperature (for ready to eat food only). Freezers should always be kept closed as much as possible to avoid food deteriorating.

What’s cooking?

It is essential to cook food properly to kill any harmful bacteria and also to handle ready-to-eat foods carefully.

Regularly review your cooking methods, particularly your reheating practises; you could always use a temperature probe to check that dishes are properly cooked or reheated.

For further advice of running a safe kitchen, contact our mypubfood team on 0844 800 6671 or via the website www.mypubfood.co.uk

Regulars at the Junction Inn in Huddersfield got a taste of life on camera through a competitionwith Racing UK.

Regular Andrew Ross won a tipping competition through the betting channel and one of the prizes wasfor the channel to host a live broadcast from his local pub. Staff and regularsgot to take part in the show as well as watching live races and placing bets.