Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

With just a few hours remaining before the deadline for tickets, the Jazz at Llandeilo festival is on course to be a complete sell-out. “Demand for tickets has been massive,” said Festival Organiser Simon Buckley. “What’s been amazing is the demand for tickets from all over the UK – and we’ve also had ticket applications from abroad. “This is the fourth year for Jazz at Llandeilo and the event is now a firm fixture on the musical calendar. “2015 is set to be bigger and, better and with more than 30 bands on three stages, there will be music for everyone. “Based on a line up of Jazz, Blues, and local bands, Jazz at Llandeilo is now fast becoming one of the top West Wales summer music festivals. “The world famous Andy Fairweather Low and The Low Riders (pictured above) are the headline act this year. Andy has only just returned back home to Wales after concerts with Eric Clapton at Madison Square Garden in New York and the Royal Albert Hall in London. “Last weekend, he did an acous...

He’s known as the ‘Guitarist to the Stars’. Andy Fairweather Low is one of the UK’s best-known guitarists – and he’s coming to Jazz@Llandeilo 2015. Fairweather Low is the first big name on the bill for the fourth annual jazz festival in Llandeilo (July3-5). The festival, centred around the Evan-Evans brewery ‘tap’ pub, The White Horse Inn, continues to grow every year. “It is now a fixture on the jazz music festival calendar for the UK and is hugely popular with festival-goers and musicians,” said James Buckley, of the Evan-Evans brewery. Fairweather Low has established a reputation as a peerless musician both at home and abroad, having worked with some of legendary figures in the music industry, including The Who and Eric Clapton. He has a truly unique voice and a reputation as a master-craftsman on guitar. Born in Ystrad Mynach, he originally came to fame as vocalist and leader of the pop group Amen Corner. They had four successive Top 10 hits in the Uk singles chart, inc...

International award winning brewer Evan-Evans has made a formal complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman about the conduct of one of the town councillors in Llandeilo. The complaint involves the conduct of Councillor Julia Jones, who lives in Ammanford. Simon Buckley, for Evan-Evans, said: "Being a town councillor is a thankless job, but those that seek public office have to abide by the rules of public office. "Evan-Evans, in November, applied for an extension of hours at its award-winning pub in Llandeilo the White Horse. "Councillor Jones, instead of declaring a vested interest as she owns a property next door to the pub, sought through her office as town councillor to influence the council by taking part in the debate, and seconding the vote recommending opposition to the licensing application. "It is quite clear that Councillor Jones had a vested interest in objecting to the license, despite the police and licensing authorities offering no objection. ...

The Carmarthen Journal Iechyd Da beer column by Llandeilo brewer Simon Buckley, of the award-winning Evan-Evans Brewery. Snow on the hills, and freezing winds, for many time to snuggle up with a large mug of tea, and not to venture out. Humbug! With the nights beginning to draw out and the rain having stopped, now is the time to get out and brush off the cobwebs with some brisk country walks and visits to those rural pubs that are a vital part of our rural economy. This month we were told, as though we did not know it, that wine has over taken beer for the first time as the nation's favorite tipple. The whole concept of drinking at home and the convenience of slipping to the fridge for your evening sharpener is something that has become so ingrained in our lives that there can only be one loser, and that is the great British pub. There are many fine pubs in very special locations, places that are unique, architecturally unchanged, and frankly are the hidden gems of Wales. ...

The price of petrol will be dropping to just 105.7p per litre tomorrow, as supermarket chain Asda cuts fuel costs across the country. Asda's decision to introduce a national price cap at the pumps means that 105.7ppl is the highest any of its 245 filling stations will charge for unleaded petrol, while diesel will be capped at 112.7ppl. Fuel prices have been cut by 19ppl for unleaded petrol and 15ppl for diesel at Asda fuelling stations since the end of September. The prices to be introduced tomorrow will be the lowest seen in five years. West Wales business have reacted as follows - Simon Buckley, chief executive of the award-winning Llandeilo-based Evan Evans brewery said – "The brewing industry is always affected by the feel good factor, whether it's people going to the pub, or simply buying beer for consumption at home. Fuel prices are always a drain on consumer spending, so my view is every little helps, now all we need to go with this is dry late winter weather and 2...

The latest 'Iechyd Da' Carmarthen Journal beer column by award-winning brewer Simon Buckley, chief executive of Llandeilo-based Evan-Evans Brewery -  Wimbledon, Henley, Llandeilo Jazz, it’s got to be summer! This is the time of year to enjoy ‘Golden Beers’ that are light or golden in colour, and that have the fragrance and freshness of a warm summer’s day. So what should you be looking for? Light, golden beers, in a nutshell. Summer beers should be served cooler. Not freezing cold, so you get frostbite from holding the glass, but two to three degrees below normal. This enhances the flavours and makes the beers even more refreshing. Temperature is not everything. A good refreshing summer beer will be brewed with a combination of Pale Ale malt and some Torrified Wheat to give it a tight white head. Then, depending on what you are trying to create, possibly some Pilsner lager malt. This will give it a light almost continental style of flavour. Gentle malt flavours supported ...

The Welsh Assembly Government today debated the support that the Government in Cardiff gives to local, festivals and events that drive tourism and support the rural economy. William Powell, Lib Dem AM for Mid Wales, questioned the level of support that was available for a rural festival. Mr Powell made reference to the Llandeilo Jazz Festival (Jazz@Llandeilo), which is now in its third year and going from strength to strength. Mr Powell paid tribute to the local people and businesses - notably the Evan-Evans Brewery- who worked tirelessly to stage the festival. The AM then called for more to be done to put 'best-practice' guidelines in place for summer festivals. He said that the Government should ensure that such cultural events – especially those primarily funded and run by private individuals and communities – were able to access the advice and support they needed, so that best practice could be shared across Wales. Simon Buckley, the organiser of Jazz@Llandeilo a...

With the sun blazing and the countdown on to the start of Jazz@Llandeilo 2014, the town is gearing up for what will be the third annual jazz festival (July 4-6). With two main venues - the Angel Hotel and the new outdoor arena at the rear of the White Horse Inn - the festival is set to attract jazz lovers from all over Wales. Continuing the international theme of previous years, the festival will feature traditional New Orleans style jazz from the French band Zauto Stompers. Returning for the third year will be Cardiff singing legend Li Harding and her trio. This year The Jiveoholics are back following their debut in 2012, along with 20 other bands, and more than 70 performers from all over Wales. This year, there is a greater emphasis on providing opportunities for local musicians to play on the village green and for buskers to come and play in the side streets of town. Festival organiser Simon Buckley, chief executive of the Llandeilo-based Evan-Evans brewery, said: “Whatever the...

Llandeilo-based brewer Simon Buckley (Evan-Evans Group) has written the following letter to newspapers in Wales -  Should we believe in Welsh Government?   On June 5-7, The Millennium Stadium hosted one of the most important drinks events in the Welsh drinks industry calendar. The new ‘W-Ales Beer Festival’ was a superb showcase for everything that is good and great in the Welsh brewing industry, but where were our politicians? Alun Davies has made much about driving an identity for the Welsh drinks Industry, but not one of the ministers responsible for Food or Drink came to wave the flag at this prestigious event. Kirsty Williams, William Powell and Byron Davies were all seen to support the event, but not a sign of the Plaid AMs, nor the army of Labour AMs who have brewers in their constituencies. Jeff Cuthbert, who ran the cross-party beer group came and supported the event, but he now has no say in our industry’s future. In reality, the ministers, wheth...

The first ever 'W-Ales Beer Festival' held at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, is being hailed a huge success by Wales’s leading specialist brewer Evan-Evans. With more than 6,000 visitors, the festival was a great shop window for the very best in Welsh brewing. Simon Buckley, Chief Executive of the Evan-Evans Group, said: "The 'W-Ales Beer Festival' was a great event. "Obviously, this being the first year there are things that can be done to improve the event, but hats off to the Millennium team. It was a great event - and what a triumph to let the sun in by having the roof open. What other venue in Cardiff can do that? "The festival was a huge success for us; we launched our new London beer brand Porter Street Brewery, which received rave reviews. "We had 10 great beers on show from all our brands. "We had more than 2000 beer drinkers visit our stand in three days. "We sold out of cask ale by the end of Saturday. "The opportunit...

The Evan-Evans Group is moving into the London cask ale market with the launch today of the Porter Street Brewing Company. Porter Street brewery will be a London-based group company, specialising in brewing high quality craft beers for the specialist London market. The London cask ale markets is still growing, and is an ideal market for an experienced brewer like Evan-Evans to take its market share. Evan-Evans Group Chief Executive Simon Buckley said: "We have been planning the launch of a new London brewery for the last six months and today we launch this unique brewing company, with the very first tastings of these new beers. "Porter Street Brewery beers will, ultimately, be brewed in Essex, at a new brewing site and will brew three core brands and a group of unique seasonal beers designed exclusively for the London market. "I have worked with my brewing team and our technical advisors to create beers that echo the famous past of London brewing. We are ...

This week, beer lovers from around the UK will be spoilt for choice at the 'W-Ales Beer Festival' being held at the Millennium Stadium Cardiff from Thursday to Saturday, June 5-7 . International award-winning brewer Evan-Evans is to launch five new beers at the festival and will be unveiling a new beer brand called Porter Street London Brewery. Evan-Evans is now one of the UK’s leading specialist brewers, brewing a range of cask-conditioned ales that are widely recognised throughout the UK. The company enjoys UK-wide distribution through companies such as Carlsberg, JD Weatherspoon’s, and Mitchells and Butlers. Evan-Evans Group Chief Executive Simon Buckley said: "We will be launching five new beers from our extensive brand portfolio at the festival, including two from our new London Brewery which launches in June. "Beer lovers will be able to enjoy for the first time, Archers Summer Solstice, Artisan Craft Beers, Amarillo and Tank 3, as well as the new Porter S...

The latest 'Iechyd Da' beer column for the Carmarthen Journal newspaper, written by award-winning brewer Simon Buckley, chief executive of Llandeilo-based Evan-Evans Brewery Well, dear readers, it’s summer time; time for golden beers, lazy days and the thrill of trying new beers. Time for the brewery cricket team to find their kit and get ready for the Llandeilo ‘Ashes’ series (more of that in due course) and time for you to try some great ales from Wales at the Great W-Ales Beer Festival in Cardiff. The inaugural W-Ales Beer Festival is being held at Cardiff’s massive Millennium Stadium between June 5 and 7. Generally, the current market is difficult, and I sometime wonder if the economic recovery actually is getting to us in the regions? For your Llandeilo brewer, however, we are having one of the best years we have had in a very long time. But why are we succeeding where others are finding it difficult? We have now built our business predominantly outside Wales. Whi...

Letter to the editor of the Carmarthen Journal from Simon Buckley, chief executive of Llandeilo-based brewery Evan-Evans -  Dear Madam, It just goes to show that politicians do listen if you talk to the right ones! The Budget yet again produced a helping hand for the brewing and pub industry. If careful balloting of MPs and Government ministers can achieve this huge result, why is it that at a local level we cannot exercise democracy? Why can’t we see our independent councillors in Carmarthenshire do what they were elected to do: act independently and fight the corner for the electorate and council tax-payers? The Mark James fiasco is a poor example of so-called ‘Independent’ democracy at work. It was laughable. The simple fact is that Meryl’s Gravell’s Gang (and I think the former Leader is still calling the shots) respond to a ‘party’ whip line when voting. An ‘Independent’ group responding to a whip? That makes them far from ‘independent’, and certainly ema...

The Iechyd Da beer column written for the Carmarthen Journal by award-winning brewer Simon Buckley, chief executive of Llandeilo-based Evan-Evans Brewery. It’s been the sort of winter where Noah would have felt quite at home. I think this has been the longest wettest winter I have experienced in nearly 40 years in the brewing industry. We have had customers flooded out, customers without electricity for weeks on end, and a drinking public that gave up trying to get to the pub on the wettest of nights. That was January and February, then there was a lamentable Six Nations performance by Wales - and the pub trade was in the doldrums. But each year Easter is like a beacon. It’s the time when the brewers and the licensees of Wales look forward to the better seasons ahead and make strenuous efforts to make one with our God to make sure that the weather is kind to us! This year, spring started in a very different way, with the Budget. Regular readers of this column will know that I hav...

Wales’s leading specialist brewer, the Evan-Evans Group, has appointed Michelle Francis as operations manager for its growing retail pub estate. Michelle, 34, steps into the newly-created role following four years in charge of the Evan-Evans flagship pub, The Cricketers in Cathedral Road, Cardiff. “Michelle has driven one of the great success stories of the Welsh licensed trade,” said Evan-Evans chief executive Simon Buckley. “The Cricketers is widely recognised as the best eating pub in Cardiff and has consistently led from the front. Her appointment was an obvious one. “She is now going to work with me driving our new pub acquisitions and apprenticeship programme, building a team of young managers to take the business on to the next stage of development. “We are determined to grow our own management team from our ranks of talented Welsh men and women - and Michelle will lead the search.” Evan-Evans has five pubs throughout Wales and hopes to add a further five over the next six mon...

Iechyd Da beer column, written for the Carmarthen Journal by Simon Buckley, chief executive of the Llandeilo-based Evan-Evans brewery - As part of this year’s St David’s Day celebrations, I was very proud to host a dinner party at Parliament in Westminster, London. With the support of Roger Williams, Lib Dem MP for Brecon and Radnor, I was able to arrange a cross-party event to celebrate our patron saint and the Welsh brewing industry. With MPs from all parties present, the evening was a great opportunity to share with our political lords and masters what we are doing in the Welsh brewing industry. A surprise visitor was Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, who could not be influenced to take a drink and then spill the beans on the spring Budget! Naturally, when I was asked to share my ‘wish list’ for what I wanted from the Budget, I wasn’t backwards in coming forwards with ideas! As an award-winning brewer with a wonderful family history in the brewing business, it is m...

The Carmarthen Journal Iechyd Da beer column by Llandeilo brewer Simon Buckley, chief executive of Evan-Evans Brewery. It was Sigmund Freud who once asked ‘What do women really want?’ I am sure that question is not Politically Correct, but being PC would be a first for me! Over the last three months (while the Journal’s Iechyd Da column has been ‘off air’, so to speak), we have been far from idle in the Evan-Evans Brewery in Llandeilo. To the contrary we have been working like demons trying desperately to answer Freud’s big question. And the answer is? Well, if only it was a simple one-liner. It’s not - and we hope that after three months of market research we have come up with an answer that goes some of the way to answering what is really the question of the moment, how do we get ladies to enjoy beer and to sample new products? The answer, we believe, is to look at the opportunity of creating a new range of craft beers that develop wonderful new flavours, unique hop and m...

Llandeilo businessman Simon Buckley has published innovative plans to renovate Llandeilo's historic Market Hall. The chief executive of the Evan-Evans brewery has sent his draft document to Carmarthenshire Council. Here is what the document says -  Llandeilo Land The Old Market Hall Expression of Interest Introduction The Old Market hall is an important historic building in the centre of Llandeilo. The building is run down and dilapidated, and represents a major challenge for the development of a commercial hub that will serve as the launchpad for the creation of jobs, and the development of ancillary internet-based businesses. This plan sets out the proposal for a novel and dynamic approach to bringing this building back to life and creating the necessary portal for jobs and wealth creation. This is a business opportunity not for private developers but for a community-based project, that will be self-financing once built and will offer a template for other communities ac...

Leading Welsh brewer Evan-Evans has roundly condemned the national brewers for the new price increases that are planned for January 2014. With price increases across the board of over 6p per pint, which translates to 20p at the bar, this is a price increase too far. Simon Buckley, Chief Executive of Evan-Evans said: "This year the government gave way and supported the industry with the removal of the duty escalator and a duty reduction - the first time for 57 years. "Now the national brewers, Coors and the other top four, are pushing their prices up in the trade, and as a result are sending our on trade customers to the supermarkets. "When are they going to get the message that the consumer cannot and will not pay an additional 20p per pint? "The consumer is already spending more and more in the supermarkets. Despite the best efforts by companies like mine to drive the pub marketplace and to create customer value, the big brewers have lost touch and have forg...