After more than 15 years providing the UK premium bar and restaurant sector with a wealth of news and information, we have had to take the very difficult decision to cease publication at the end of this year.

As you all know the financial climate means trading is tough for all of us and magazines like Theme are no exception.

The last few years have also seen a change in a way brands interact with their bar operator customers and we felt that in the long term Theme would not meet their needs in the same way it has for the last decade and a half.

While this is obviously a very sad decision to have to make, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our loyal readers and to raise a glass to everything that Theme has achieved in its lifetime.

From its glossy re-designs, striking venue profiles and tongue-in-cheek interview style to the always-memorable entertainment at the annual Theme Awards and the unveiling of the Theme Top 100 – the industry’s Who’s Who. From its award-winning columnists, including The Maestro himself, Salvatore, to its quirky take on even the driest of subjects like law and marketing.

It has been a genuine privilege for the Theme team to work in such a vibrant industry and we hope you have enjoyed reading Theme as much as we have enjoyed writing it. 

Thank you to all our readers, all our contributors, everyone who has graced our pages over the years, welcomed us into their bars, made us cocktails, come along to our events, taken us to see their distilleries, visited our website or worked on the Theme team. We salute you all.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.